Following Sunday’s 7-4 Dodgers win over the Colorado Rockies at Camelback Ranch, the Dodgers announced their first round of Spring Training roster cuts. This verbatim from the team:

“The Dodgers have optioned RHPs Landon Knack, Ricky Vanasco and Nick Frasso, catchers Hunter Feduccia and Diego Cartaya and OF Andy Pages, and re-assigned LHP Stephen Gonsalves, RHPs Jesse Hahn, Michael Petersen and Eduardo Salazar and OF Travis Swaggerty to minor league camp.”

While roster cuts are certainly necessary, there in one name on this list that a good many Dodgers fans did not expect – that of 23-year-old Andy Pages who, quite frankly, has been one of the Dodgers best players this Spring on both sides of the ball.

To be fair, it’s never a good idea to question or challenge decisions made by Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, considered by many (most) to be the very best in the business and a future Hall of Famer. It is also understood that there is zero doubt that Pages will be called up to the big club at some point during the 2024 regular – probably sooner rather than later.

“He’s having a terrific camp,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson. “He’s healthy, he looks good, and then, just with the at-bats, he just taking really good at-bats, he swinging at strikes, and he’s slugging ’em and today hit a homer, hit a triple, and then made a big play out there in right field to save our pitcher some extra pitches. So, he’s playing on both sides of the baseball and also running the bases really well.”

While this article is in no way intended to disparage anyone on the Dodgers roster, here are some numbers that are causing those Dodgers fans to question Pages’ reassignment:

• In the six games that Pages has appeared in thus far this Spring, he is 6-for-8 (.400), with two home runs and eight RBIs.
• In the five games that 34-year-old right fielder Jason Heyward has appeared in thus far this Spring, the 16-year MLB veteran, who owns five Gold Gloves, was an All-Star in 2010 (his rookie season), and won a World Series ring with the Atlanta Braves in 2016, is 2-for-13 (.154), with zero home runs and zero RBIs.

While is understood and accepted that Spring Training games are ‘meaningless games,’ there are others on the Dodgers Spring Training roster who were probably more deserving of a reassignment over Pages. That said, it is also understood and accepted there is no way that Friedman was going to send Heyward and his one-year/$9 million contract anywhere, regardless of what kind of Spring he has.

As they say: “Money talks.”

Play Ball!

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