Under the heading of ‘The Inevitable,’ the inevitable happened on Saturday afternoon. The Dodgers designated oft-troubled soon-to-be (on March 7) 24-year-old Cuban right-hander Yadier Alvarez for assignment one day after he was a late scratch from what was supposed to be his first scheduled Cactus League appearance.

As most Dodger fans know, the Matanzas, Cuba native was signed by the Dodgers in 2015 as a 16-year-old for a $16 million signing bonus, which also cost the Dodgers an additional $16 million in competitive balance tax penalties. His near triple-digit fastball quickly moved him up to the number three spot on MLB Pipeline’s ranking of Dodgers prospects and led to his quick promotion from the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quaked to their Double-A affiliate Tulsa Drillers.

Seeing his true potential, the Dodgers added Alvarez to their 40-man roster in 2018 to prevent him from being snatched up in the Rule-5 draft. However, and the first sign of things to come, the Dodgers placed him on the restricted list that same season for leaving the club without permission after appearing in only two games with the Drillers.

Alvarez was scheduled to pitch one inning in relief against the Brewers on Friday, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was informed that the young right-hander “didn’t feel right” while warming up in the visitor’s bullpen at American Family Fields in Maryvale, AZ.

“We were going to have to make a move in the next couple weeks, and so now he’s kind of dealing with a lat/shoulder thing that we’re still getting testing on,” Roberts said after Friday’s game. “We wish him the best and see what happens.”

When Dodgers pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training on February 14, Alvarez was given a 30-day window to show the Dodgers that his past indiscretions were indeed past and that he was ready to move forward. He acknowledged that he had worked with a psychologist and fully realized this could be – and probably was – his last opportunity; at least with the Dodgers.

“I worked really hard in the offseason,” Alvarez told reporters when pitchers and catchers reported. “But I have to work on my direction, and by that I mean getting here on time, focus and work on discipline. I was acting like a child and I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to things.”

From what has transpired on Friday, it appears that little has changed.

Play Ball!

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