February 15th, 2020 at 10:00 am 
by 0799291000348 It is hard to recall a Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man roster with as much veteran talent and ready-now prospects like the 2020 group. Currently, there are twelve veteran position players: catchers Austin Barnes and Will Smith; infielders Max Muncy, Corey Seager and Justin Turner; outfielders Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Joc Pederson, and A.J. Pollock; and utility players Matt Beaty, Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor. And then there are Baseball America’s 2019 Minor League Player of the Year middle infielder Gavin Lux and utility infielder/outfielder Edwin Rios who are also ready for The Show.
But the real dilemma for the Dodgers decision-makers is the number of pitchers on the roster. Valentines Day 2020 was the first official spring training workout for pitchers, and the Dodgers will have 15 rostered pitchers in camp including: left-handers Scott Alexander, Caleb Ferguson, Clayton Kershaw, Adam Kolarek, David Price, Julio Urias, and Alex Wood; and right-handers Pedro Baez, Walker Buehler, Dylan Floro, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Jimmy Nelson, Ross Stripling, and Blake Treinen. And, three highly regarded, right-handed pitching prospects who are considered MLB-ready right now: Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and recently acquired Brusdar Graterol.
Also in camp are well-regarded bullpen prospects: left-hander Victor Gonzalez, and right-handers Dennis Santana, Josh Sborz and Mitchell White. For most Major League teams, these four pitchers would have a legitimate shot at making the opening day, active roster, but for the Dodgers, they are almost certain to begin the 2020 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Assuming the Dodgers carry thirteen pitchers on the active roster – the new maximum allowed by MLB – there are at least two veterans who could start the season on the injured list or optioned to OKC. Floro, Kolarek, and Stripling all have remaining minor league options, and as talented as May, Gonsolin, and Graterol are, all three could also be optioned to OKC.
Competition amongst the pitchers will be intense, especially for the eight bullpen spots, where there are as many question marks as there are pitchers, notably the four left-handers: Alexander’s health, Ferguson’s uneven 2019 performance, the prospect Gonzalez’s ability to get major league hitters out, and whether Kolarek can be more than a LOOGY (Left-handed One Out Guy). The right-handers have their own set of question marks: will Dylan Floro, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, and Blake Treinen have bounce-back seasons and pitch to their capabilities?; and will Jimmy Nelson be healthy.
Position Players Decisions
- Unless Gavin Lux is injured or has a horrid spring, room must be made for the precocious 22-year old infielder on the Opening Day roster and starting lineup.
- MVPs Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts are the regulars in center-field, and right-field respectively. That leaves Joc Pederson and AJ Pollock platooning in left-field – a roll that neither player wants.
- The Dodgers will have a 5-man bench that will include one catcher, either Pederson or Pollock, Kiké Hernandez, and Chris Taylor. That leaves left-handed hitters Matt Beaty, and Edwin Rios competing for the final spot.
Other Issues
- According to Fangraphs Roster Resource, the Dodgers 2020 payroll is $28.1 million over this season’s Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold of $208 million. The Dodgers avoided the CBT in 2018 and 2019, so the penalty has reset for 2020. However, it will not be surprising for the team to reduce payroll by trading a couple of players. For example, Joc Pederson (~$7.8M), Kiké Hernandez (~$6M), and Pedro Baez (~$4M) are all in their respective walk-years before free agency, and the team has ready-now replacements for all three.
- Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling know that the Dodgers attempted to trade them to the Angels in return for prospects. Stripling seemed happy to remain a Dodger, but Pederson appears to be disgruntled; and once someone is disgruntled, it is almost impossible to gruntle them again. Joc is outspoken that he is unhappy with being labeled a platoon player. Add to that the fact that he lost his recent arbitration case, with the Dodgers using the platoon role as their key argument and it appears that Joc was looking forward to playing with another team in his final season before free agency.
- The Dodgers have Matt Beaty, and Edwin Rios on the roster, either of whom could rotate with A.J. Pollock in left field, and in the Kenta Maeda trade, they reacquired 25-year old left-handed-hitting outfielder Luke Raley, who they drafted in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Trading Pederson seems like a foregone conclusion – the only question is: to whom and for what return?
Now that spring training 2020 is officially underway, we can watch the competition and see how the roster will be tweaked before Opening Day on Thursday, March 26 against The Hated Ones.
Go Dodgers!
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Posted in 
Excellent Summary of the Dodgers Roster!
You are correct the current roster represents, “a real dilemma for the Dodgers decision-makers”. But what a dilemma! The current Dodgers roster could possibly become the new definition of an Embarrassment of riches….
Friedman still has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks/months. Hopefully, he can trade some of the excess riches for a young upcoming stud pitcher, just like the Graterol acquisition.
I am no luxury tax expert, but I don’t think Dodgers are as over the threshold as you are stating. Spotrac’s latest estimate has them over about $14M. I’d think, even though Kasten has said they will be over luxury tax threshold, they will do everything they can to stay out of luxury tax. Dodgers will definitely offer Betts a QO and possibly Wood (if he has a big year). If you aren’t in luxury tax the team would get a draft pick after 2nd round, if in the luxury tax a draft pick after 4th round. Big difference.
I believe there will be a couple of roster moves as there is redundancy in a few players, plus those who will be free agents after this season and will not receive qualifying offers. I see the disparity between Spotrac and Fangraphs – most of it is how they account for the $10M the Dodgers paid to the Twins in the Maeda deal. It looks like Fangraphs has the entire amount counting against the Dodgers 2020 payroll whereas Spotrac has it phased over the next 3 years. I am not sure how the rule apply, but I think the Dodgers sent the entire $10M to the Twins this year. It will be interesting to see what the Dodgers do with David Price if he has a really good 2020; keep him, or trade him?
Joc had 36 bombs last season – a WS hopeful team can’t use more of that ?? Who sees any combination of Rios, Raley and Beatty putting up that production?
Hopefully Joc plays with productive and focused anger as he plays for a new contract. Elsewhere, unfortunately.
Unless Pederson signs a reasonable extension with the Dodgers I believe he will be traded. I do not believe Dodgers will give him a qualifying offer (~$18M) after this season, so he leaves with no return to Dodgers if not traded. As far as offense goes, I believe Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux, Beaty/Rios, etc. will more than make up the difference. I believe the bullpen is the huge question mark? If it comes through as they are capable, the Dodgers will have an excellent chance to win the World Series.
Jesse, while I am not advocating trading Joc, but if it happens they HAVE TO get more in return than what they were getting from the Angels IMHO. But they also should not allow him to walk with no QO thereby getting zero if he remains this year. With his arbitration loss, he (Joc) says there are no ill feelings towards Dodgers but it almost is guaranteed that he will end up elsewhere in 2021 if he’s not dealt this year. and I get that Joc wants a chance to play daily but he brought this current platoon situation with him on himself, with basically 5 years of poor showings against LHP, albeit more limited AB’s as years have passed. Again, Ripken of MLBN points out that he should be able to hit LHP because in 2014 he batted .290 against them in the minors , BUT it’s different up here against the MLB LHP..
My thoughts. We don’t know what the final return would have been from the Angels. Reportedly the Angels were getting Joc, Ross Stripling, and a very good outfield prospect in Andy Pages, so there had to be more coming to the Dodgers that the middle infielder – perhaps another outfielder and pitcher — likely we will never know, but Friedman’s MO is a tough trader. The only way Joc gets a QO from Dodgers is to repeat his 2019 performance, which is possible, but not probable. No doubt I could be wrong, it has happened before, but I don’t see a Pederson / Pollock platoon being acceptable to either player. I would rather see the Dodgers trade Pollock, but that is not going to happen until he proves to be healthy AND productive against all pitching.