Tim Rogers
This article originally appeared on Dodgers Nation 12/3/2021.
In organized baseball, the month of November is very busy and very important for players that are considered as prospects. Some end up being released from their home organization after being there for their whole careers. Others are added to the 40-man Major League roster which gives them are great opportunity to become a big leaguer sooner, rather than later. Let’s take a look at what the Dodgers did during this key month and some other news about some prospects.
Major League Roster Moves
At the beginning of the month, the Dodgers had a significant number of players from the 60-day Injured List (IL) and even more players declare to be free agents. During these moves, the Dodgers needed to open up 3 roster spots so they outrighted Scott Alexander, Andy Burns, and Jimmie Sherfy off the roster.
Later in the month, the Dodgers needed to make further roster decisions to decide who they wanted to protect from the Rule 5 Draft. There were a lot of prospects that are subject to the Rule 5 Draft and the Dodgers chose to add Jacob Amaya, James Outman, Jorbit Vivas, Eddys Leonard, and Michael Grove to the 40-man roster. We wrote further about them on our sister site, Dodgers 2080.
In order for the Dodgers to add those five players, the Dodgers had to Designate for Assignment (DFA) Billy McKinney and Zach Reks. Those players were later traded to the Rangers for cash.
In order to make room for re-signing Chris Taylor and signing Daniel Hudson, the Dodgers had to DFA Sheldon Neuse and Andrew Vasquez. When the lockout ends and the Dodgers end up signing more free agents, they will need to make more moves since the 40-man roster is full.
Minor League Free Agents
One of the sad parts of the off-season is that there are players who have been with the organization for their first six full seasons and who did not make the 40-man roster are either declared free agents or released. Some familiar names included Cristian Santana, Romer Cuadrado, and Brock Stewart. We wish them all the best.
Prospect Roundup
On Dodgers 2080 we spoke about Michael Grove, who, as stated above, was just added to the 40-man roster. Casey Porter wrote extensively about him and it is well worth the read. Casey also did a feature cut on Jacob Amaya.
The Arizona Fall League completed action in November with the Dodgers having the following players assigned to the league:
- RHP Kyle Hurt
- RHP Landon Knack
- LHP Jeff Belge
- RHP Bobby Miller
- C Carson Taylor
- SS Jacob Amaya
- OF James Outman
Bobby's back on the bump!@Dodgers No. 4 prospect Bobby Miller makes the start for the Glendale Desert Dogs in AFL action.
Follow live: https://t.co/2BMOfeVtiI pic.twitter.com/V2JPLpNzkr
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 8, 2021
After the fall league season was completed the Dodgers placed three players on the All-Star team: Miller, Outman, and Knack.
During the lockout, we will be providing some extra coverage of minor leaguers on both Dodgers Nation and Dodgers 2080. The good news is that the players not on the 40-man roster are not impacted by the lockout. They will report to Spring Training and will have a regular-season of games. Now, let’s just hope the players on the 40-man roster can be at Spring Training, also.
