With the busy off-season and all of the acquisitions, the Dodgers have filled up their 40-man roster. In our last article, we covered how some additional players could be added, so today’s article is going to focus on how it will affect the 26-man, or “active” roster.
26 Man Roster
As we’ve covered before, for the numbers to work, at least 14 players on the 40-man roster have to have Minor League options available. So, here is a list of all of the players that have remaining options.
- Gavin Lux
- James Outman
- Andy Pages
- Ben Casparius
- Jack Dreyer
- Nick Frasso
- Landon Knack
- Bobby Miller
- Justin Wrobleski
- Tony Gonsolin
- Alex Vesia
- Edgardo Henriquez
- Michael Grove
- Kyle Hurt
- River Ryan
- Emmet Sheehan
- Gavin Stone
- Brusdar Graterol
- Hunter Feduccia
- Diego Cartaya
ILs
As you can see, 20 players on the 40-Man Roster have Minor League options, but that list shrinks when you consider that Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Kyle Hurt and Nick Frasso are injured. If those guys were added to the 60-day IL, and replaced by Tanner Scott, Clayton Kershaw, Kike Hernandez, Ha-Seong Kim, and Roki Sasaki, then that leaves the Dodgers with just 15 players with Minor League options available.
And, of those 15, that includes Gavin Lux and Alex Vesia, who aren’t getting sent down, and one of those injured pitchers. So, just by doing simple math, it shows that some of the 60-Day IL guys will have to be replaced by someone with Minor League options who is not currently on the 40-man.
That opens the door for someone like Dalton Rushing and any of the veteran types that they like to sign, who might have options, like David Bote.
Who Gets Squeezed?
Of course, the Dodgers could also just not replace any of the 60-day IL guys, or at least not all of them, but that still doesn’t help with the roster flexibility piece to the puzzle. One way in which the Dodgers have gained an advantage is by using the AAA up/down train to constantly keep the MLB club stocked with fresh arms. Having Shohei Ohtani helps that situation because he allows the Dodgers to legally carry 14 pitchers, which allows for a 6-man rotation, so, maybe the up/down train won’t be needed as much in 2025.
But, the Dodgers are the kings of transactions, so don’t bet on it.
The players that get squeezed the most in this scenario are all of the pitching prospects, and then James Outman and Andy Pages. Both Outman and Pages have flashed lots of talent, but haven’t had the opportunity to truly prove whether or not they can be consistent.
And, here’s the problem.
Both Pages and Outman only have one more option year, so, after 2025, they can’t be sent back down to the Minor Leagues. So, they will either have to be put on the active roster and left there or moved. And, it appears that at-bats this year may be hard to come by for those two considering the Conforto signing, combined with Edman and Teo in the outfield. And, adding to that is Chris Taylor who can play outfield, as well as Kike Hernandez whom they will likely sign.
So, as things stand, both Pages and Outman will have a limited MLB track record to showcase after this season.
Having a limited MLB track record and no Minor League options is THE worst-case scenario in terms of value for a young player, because it’s like being upside down on a car or a house. And, as talented as those two young men are, that situation will not be very attractive to other clubs, so, at that point, the Dodgers would just have to hope they perform well enough to stay on the 26-man roster.
Both are very capable, but still, a situation that a club would like to avoid. So, finding consistent at-bats for both Pages and Outman, one way or the other, would be, in my opinion, very beneficial. How to get that done, I have no solution, but, one thing we know is that there is no other organization that is more creative in solving these puzzles.
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