It is now open season on free agents both at the major league and minor league levels. For minor league players, the season has been open since November 7, five days after the World Series ended.

Players who signed a Uniformed Player Contract (UPC) in 2010 are eligible for free agency this year. Teams can renew a player’s UPC six times before the player either is declared a minor league free agent or his club adds him to the 40-man roster. That is, he becomes a free agent following his seventh season of minor league play. Players may become free agents earlier if they are released by their parent team.

Free agency status for a minor league players simply means he is able to offer his services to another MLB organization. In doing so he can perhaps gain a better pay day and move to an organization in which his path to major league baseball is a bit more clear. That is, he meets a more immediate need for his new organization or he is not backed up as far as he was in his previous organization. Minor league players are often looking for that little raise but also a spring training invitation after seven years in the minor leagues.

In 2016 the Dodgers have 30 players who are listed as minor league free agents by Baseball America after their consultation with MLB. This list includes Casey Fien and Brandon Beachy who had been on the Dodgers 40-man roster and later accepted an outright to the minors. It also includes left-hander Jorge Gonzalez who was released by the Dodgers on September 18.

Matt Eddy of Baseball America has posted the top 30 minor league free agent pitchers and hitters according to 2016 wins above average (WAA). Five Dodger minor leaguers are included in those lists. It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers sign them again, especially Bawcom. Their rankings are bracketed:

• Right-hander Logan Bawcom (2)
• Right-hander Alex Burgos (13)
• Left-hander Jeff Malm (26)
• First baseman Lars Anderson (20)
• Second baseman Noah Perio (27)

To date three of the players on the Dodgers minor league free agent list have been signed by other major league teams.

• Right-hander Seth Frankoff by the Cubs
• Right-hander Felipe Gonzalez by the Marlins
• Left-hander Jorge Gonzalez by the Angels

In the meantime, the Dodgers have signed five minor league free agents.

Wynston Sawyer

They quickly signed San Diego High School product Wynston Sawyer when he hit the minor league free agent market this fall. An Orioles eighth-round pick in 2010, he experienced a breakthrough offensive season at high Class A Frederick in 2016, hitting .281 with good power and excellent strikeout (81st percentile) and walk rates (96th) in the Carolina League. Sawyer played first base and DH

as much as catcher this season, but he hovered near average in terms of throwing out base stealers and preventing passed balls when behind the plate.

Stetson Allie

First baseman Stetson Allie was signed out of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He had been selected as a pitcher by the Pirates in the second round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio. In 2012 Allie was converted to a position player playing primarily first base before moving to the outfield. He has shown good power averaging 19 home runs a season over the past four seasons but has had a high number of strikeouts each season. The 6’2”/130-pound right-handed hitter sees his movement from position to position as a positive step in his career.

“For me it’s been nothing but a positive, ” Allie said. “As a player, it’s about versatility. The Pirates made me a first baseman, a right fielder, a left fielder. The more positions I can play, the more valuable I become.”

Patrick Schuster

The Dodgers also quickly signed 26-year old left-hander Patrick Schuster and assigned him to the Oklahoma Dodgers. He was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 13th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft and has played in the Arizona, Oakland and Philadelphia organizations. Schuster pitched 8.2 innings at the MLB level in 2016 with disappointing results. However, he posted a 1.21 ERA over 44 2/3 innings of work, which included seven saves, at the Triple-A level in 2016. He definitely has LOOGY possibilities in a role he now embraces. During the 2016 season at the AAA level left-handed batters hit .171 against Schuster in 98 plate appearances.

Initially he was determined to be a starter and why not? He had pitched four consecutive no-hitters as a senior in high school. “I had a pretty bad attitude about it,” Schuster said. “I wanted to be a starter, thought I had starter stuff. From then on, I just had this chip on my shoulder to prove that I had the stuff to be a starter.”

“Now I have this great pride in getting lefties out,” Schuster said. “So, I think it’s worked out for me.”

Madison Younginer

Another 26-year old pitcher signed with the Dodgers on November 18 out of the Atlanta Braves organization. Madison Younginer was a seventh-round selection by the Boston red Sox in 2009. He has a live right arm, regularly reaching 95 mph and a curveball with a nice break.

In 42 relief appearances in 2016 between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett, Younginer posted a 3.46 ERA while striking out 54 batters in 52 innings.

He made his MLB debut with the Braves on August 7 giving up two runs in two thirds of an inning. His manager was not disappointed in his debut.

“I was keeping an eye on him and watching the reports and they’re like, really good reports one right after the other,” said Braves interim manager Brian Snitker. “The velocities were spiking and he’s got that good curveball.”

“We just decided to put him in the fire today,” Snitker said. “He’s got stuff and his velocity has picked up. It was a positive first outing for him.”

Narciso Mesa

On November 10, the Dodgers signed outfielder Narciso Mesa to a minor league contract and assigned him to the Tulsa Drillers. The 25-year old Mesa has spent seven seasons in the Washington Nationals farm system, none above the advanced A level. The native of Azua in the Dominican Republic had a triple slash of .198/.250/.333 in 64 games in 2016 between two Class-A levels in the Nationals’ system. He did steal 10 bases in 13 attempts.