Dodger fans expecting to see top Dodgers prospect Corey Seager begin the 2015 minor league season with the Triple-A received a rude awakening on Tuesday morning when the Dodgers officially released their minor league rosters.
Instead of heading to Oklahoma City – home of the Dodgers new Triple-A affiliate OKC Dodgers – Seager is on the roster of the Dodgers new Double-A affiliate Tulsa Drillers 107 miles to the northeast.
One of the main reasons for the Seager move is that the Dodgers acquired quite a few top level pitchers and position players this past off-season, including several with major league experience that still had options – most notably pitchers Joe Wieland and David Huff and super-sub utility infielder/outfielder Kike Hernandez. Additionally, utility infielder Darwin Barney might also end up being optioned to Triple-A OKC when Hyun-jin Ryu returns from the disabled list. Although Barney hasn’t played in the minors for three seasons, he, too, still has an option left.
The thing to keep in mind is that minor league rosters are very fluid and those released on Tuesday morning are preliminary at best. Things will eventually begin to settle in with the minor league rosters becoming more permanent once the MiLB season is officially underway.
There is a lot of reshuffling to do at the minor league levels. Sweeney and Dickson are also on the Tulsa roster. There is a lot of reshuffling in the minor league system to do or so it would seem with more players than spaces to put them at the AA and AAA levels, especially with pitching.