June 28th, 2020 at 11:00 am 
by 0799291000348 If you thought that Major League Baseball roster rules were complicated prior to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Here are a few of the special rules for the 60-game regular season:
- Each team may establish up to a 60-player pool, with the initial list submitted to the MLB offices no later than Sunday, June 28, at 1:00 PM PDT.
- There can be changes to the 60-player pool, but when a player is removed from the pool, he cannot be added back to that team’s pool (He could be added to another team’s pool of players, however).
- Up to 30-players (minimum of 25) will be on the “active” roster for the first two weeks of the season, after which the roster size is reduced to a maximum of 28 players. After two more weeks, the active roster will be fixed at 26 players (27 if a team is playing a doubleheader).
- Although teams may carry up to 60-players, only those on the 40-man roster may be assigned to the active roster.
- Every team will have a 3-player taxi squad (at least one catcher must be included).
- Only the 60-players in a team’s pool may participate in Spring Training-2. Teams may operate two camps. Once the regular season begins, all teams will have a separate training site for those players not on the active roster or taxi squad.
Assuming that each of the Dodgers currently on the 40-man roster will be included in the 60-player pool, which additional 20-players will be submitted to MLB today?
Several non-roster invitees who attended Spring Training-1 seem likely to be included, such as highly regarded pitching prospect Josiah Gray, veteran relief pitcher Edubray Ramos, journeyman minor league catcher Rocky Gale, middle infield prospect Omar Estevez, veteran outfielder Terrance Gore, and first baseman/designated hitter Tyler White.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
There are other NRI’s who are on the pool bubble: left-handed relief pitchers Reymin Guduan and Tyler Gilbert, and catcher Jose Lobaton.
In addition, there are a large number of available free agents: longtime Dodger fan-favorite catcher Russell Martin, utility player Scooter Gennett, designated hitters Hanley Ramirez, Mark Reynolds, Mark Trumbo, and pitchers Matt Harvey, Clayton Richard, Clay Bucholz, Arodys Vizcaino, among others.
Another option for the Dodgers is to include prospects who would not likely help the team this season, but by being included in the 60-player pool can train at the team’s second location. Prospects who might be included by the Dodgers include infielders Cristian Santana, Kody Hoese, Michael Busch, Devin Mann, catcher Stevie Berman, outfielders Cody Thomas, and Zach Reks, and pitchers Edwin Uceta, Brett de Geus, Gerardo Carrillo, and Michael Grove.
Dodgers fans will soon know the team’s 60-player pool (hopefully the one and only). Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his staff have likely put together many iterations of the initial pool, balancing need with prospect player development. And it is almost certain that this initial pool will be tweaked several times over the next couple of months.
Who do you think will round out the Dodgers 2020 player pool?
Isn’t it great to be talking about Dodgers baseball again?
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Good stuff, Jesse, although the thought of bringing Hanley Ramirez back is a tough pill for me to swallow. That E-6 will haunt me until my final breath.
My bad! Did not mean to imply that I want Hanley Ramirez back. Worse than the error depriving Kershaw a perfect game, I thought Ramirez was a lazy, selfish player who was a clubhouse distraction.