2016 Dodger Spring Training Info and Complete Roster

The Dodgers just released their entire 2016 Spring Training roster, so I thought I would pass that along (see at very bottom).  This should be a helpful guide for those of you attending games at Camelback Ranch.  After all, it just isn't reasonable for you to know everybody's number.  BTW, this list will likely adjust/change as Spring Training moves along.  I'll do my best to update this.  Below are some pertinent dates:

• February 19 - Pitchers and Catchers Report 
• February 20 - Pitchers and Catchers 1st Workout
• February 24 - Position Players Report 
• February 25 - First Full-Squad Workout 
• February 27 - Dodgers Photo Day (media related) 
• March 9 - All Minor League Players 1st Workout

Here are the batting and field practice schedules for home games.

Afternoon Games (1:05 p.m. starts):

Dodger BP: Until 11:15 a.m.
Visitor BP: 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Visitor Infield: 12:20 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
Dodger Infield: 12:30 p.m.-12:40 p.m.

Night Games (7:05 p.m. starts):

Dodger BP: Until 5:15 p.m.
Visitor BP: 5:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m.
Visitor Infield: 6:20 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Dodger Infield: 6:30 p.m.-6:40 p.m.

Dodgers 2016 Spring Training Roster
3	Carl Crawford	OF	40-Man
5	Corey Seager	SS	40-Man
6	Charlie Culberson	INF	NRI
7	Steve Yeager	Catching Coach	Coach
7	Alex Guerrero	INF	40-Man
8	Bob Geren	Bench Coach	Coach
9	Yasmani Grandal	C	40-Man
10	Justin Turner	3rd Base	40-Man
11	Micah Johnson	INF	40-Man
12	Turner Ward	Hitting Coach	Coach
13	Juan Castro	QA Coach	Coach
14	Enrique Hernandez	INF	40-Man
15	Brandon Hicks	INF	NRI
16	Andre Ethier	OF	40-Man
17	AJ Ellis	Catcher	40-Man
18	Kenta Maeda	RHP	40-Man
21	Trayce Thompson	OF	40-Man
22	Clayton Kershaw	LHP	40-Man
23	Adrian Gonzalez	1st Base	40-Man
25	Corey Brown	OF	NRI
26	Chase Utley	INF	40-Man
27	George Lombard	1st Base Coach	Coach
28	Austin Barnes	C/INF	40-Man
29	Scott Kazmir	LHP	40-Man
30	Dave Roberts	Manager	Coach
31	Joc Pederson	OF	40-Man
33	Scott Van Slyke	OF	40-Man
35	Brett Anderson	LHP	40-Man
36	Adam Liberatore	LHP	40-Man
37	Brandon Beachy	RHP	NRI
38	Brandon McCarthy	RHP	40-Man
40	Rick Honeycutt	Pitching Coach	Coach
41	Chris Hatcher	RHP	40-Man
43	Luis Avilan	LHP	40-Man
44	Frankie Montas	RHP	40-Man
45	Chris Woodward	3rd Base Coach	Coach
46	Mike Bolsinger	RHP	40-Man
47	Howie Kendrick	2nd Base	40-Man
48	Elian Herrera	INF/OF	NRI
49	Tim Hyers	Asst Hitting Coach	Coach
50	Brooks Brown	RHP	NRI
51	Zach Lee	RHP	40-Man
53	Pedro Baez	RHP	40-Man
54	Josh Bard	Bullpen Coach	Coach
55	Joe Blanton	RHP	40-Man
56	J.P. Howell	LHP	40-Man
57	Alex Wood	LHP	40-Man
58	Ian Thomas	LHP	40-Man
59	Lisalverto Bonilla	RHP	NRI
60	Jack Murphy	C	NRI
61 62	Cody Bellinger Louis Coleman	INF/OF RHP	NRI 40-Man
63	Yimi Garcia	RHP	40-Man
64	Rico Noel	OF	NRI
65	Kyle Farmer	C	NRI
66	Yasiel Puig	OF	40-Man
67	Jharel Cotton	RHP	40-Man
68 70	Ross Stripling Yaisel Sierra	RHP RHP	40-Man
71	Josh Ravin	RHP	40-Man
72	Chris Anderson	RHP	NRI
73	Shawn Zarraga	C	NRI
74	Kenley Jansen	RHP	40-Man
75	Alex Hassan	OF	NRI
76	Matt West	RHP	NRI
77	Carlos Frias	RHP	40-Man
78	Julio Urias	LHP	NRI
79	Jacob Rhame	RHP	NRI
80	Caleb Dirks	RHP	NRI
81	Chase De Jong	RHP	NRI
82	Steve Cilladi	Bullpen Catcher	Coach
83	Rob Segedin	INF	NRI
85	Rob Flippo	Bullpen Catcher	Coach
87 96	Jose De Leon Jamey Wright	RHP RHP	NRI NRI
99	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LHP	40-Man

*NRI= Non Roster Invitee

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Blog Kiosk: 2/16/2016 - Dodgers Links - Garvey, Turner and Kenta Maeda

Steve Garvey was the Grand Marshal at the 70th Annual Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival Presidents’ Day Parade.  Photo above via Garvey on twitter.

Below are more links to check out:

• Yesterday I posted up a brief story on recent 16-year old signee from Mexico Oscar Arzaga (here).  In addition to his signing, the Dodgers also signed 18-year old Pitcher Ronald Valenzuela and 19-year old RHP Maikel Pineda.  Both of them are from the Dominican Republic.  Unfortunately, information on both of them is a bit scarce right now.
• Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Small procedures lead to bigger hopes this season for Dodgers' Justin Turner."

“It was scary when I first heard it,” Turner said recently. “I knew nothing about microfracture surgery other than Matt Kemp had a hard time coming back from it. But his was in a bad spot to have it.

“Talking with Dr. ElAttrache more, mine was in a non-weight-bearing area. … Even though it looks scary and sounds scary, it was actually the best-case scenario.”

• Kenta Maeda is so jazzed about being a Dodger.  Heck, he has already reported to Spring Training.  Via a tweet by Joseph Kim:

Yeah, Kenta Maeda has arrived early at Camelback Ranch – Glendale #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/cEFrCvOdCR

— Joseph Kim (@blackwings2011) February 16, 2016

• BTW, it was reported last week in the Japan Times that we had left for Arizona on Thursday (Hat Tip: Dodgers Low-Down on twitter):

“I’m thrilled. I’m just looking forward to playing baseball over there,” Maeda said at a news conference at Narita airport. “The preparation has been coming along nicely. I’ve been throwing strong pitches.”

• Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest shares his "2016 Dodgers Top 100 Prospects: No. 30-21."
• Via Tom Bartsch at Sports Collectors Digest, "Military Museum Shows How Sports Helped Mold Its Troops."

“For the Development of First-Class Fighting Men: Sports and the New York National Guard, 1890-1950” is showing at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Visitors are treated to a display of antique memorabilia, such as an old-time baseball catcher’s chest protector and mask, a well-worn first baseman’s mitt and baseballs autographed by championship team members. However, a variety of sports are represented, including basketball, boxing and polo.

• Joe Vasile at Beyond the Boxscore writes, "Black players in organized white baseball in the pre-integration era."

The stories of the brave pioneers who came before Robinson and Rickey are virtually unknown outside the inner circles of baseball history, being recounted only in a piecemeal fashion. Maybe casual fans have heard of Moses Fleetwood Walker in passing or are aware of Bill Veeck's attempt to buy the Philadelphia Phillies because they read Veeck as in Wreck. But the stories and the struggles of these early pioneers are important to remember in the historical context of pre-integration baseball history. What these men accomplished on and off the field and what they had to endure because of the overt racism of the era should not be lost to history.

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Welcome to the Blue, Oscar Arzaga!

Here's a new Dodger signing that I first noticed due to a Reddit post by r/mevans93308 (first mentioned by @MiLBMoves on twitter).  The Dodgers apparently signed 16-year old right-handed Mexican pitching prospect Oscar Alejandro Arzaga a couple weeks ago.

From what I understand, he did some training at the Gonzalez Sports Academy in Chula Vista that is operated by the father of Adrian Gonzalez and his brother.  He stands 6'5" tall and is 210 lbs, so he's certainly a big kid.  Also, Arzaga was reported to have been throwing in the mid-90's last year.  Perfect Game gave him a prospect grade of 10 out of 10.  Per a scouting report posted by Jason Shetler at Bucco Nation on 2/2/2015 when he was 15-years old:

Arzaga is a tall right-hander who stands 6’5. Along with the fastball, he throws a curveball, changeup and slider. His slider is already being considered a good pitch. Given his huge upside, Arzaga will likely be the most sought after Latin amateur player once the International signing period begins July 2nd.

Of course, at only 16-years of age you shouldn't expect the world from him.  He's got a long way to go before he really shows up on anybody's radar screens.  Still, this signing has got to make Dodgers fans feel good.  We continue to solidify an already great minor league system with players who could potentially be on everybody's lips in four to five years.  

BTW, there is no word yet on what his signing bonus was, but it was reported by Más Béisbol Dorados de Chihuahua on Facebook that he received an higher offer from the Cardinals.  His dream, though, was to be a Dodger.  FanGraphs projected his bonus would be at about $350,000.00.

Per Más Béisbol Dorados de Chihuahua on Facebook:

Via a poor online translation:  "I'm very happy for this step so big, ' cause I worked to get this triumph, but best of all, I know that I love what I do and I'm proud to be an example to all, because if you propose a goal nothing more is Issue of desire and love what you do, give thanks to God for this opportunity so big and I would like to say to all my fellow countrymen of Chihuahua, every dream can be achieved just got to have discipline, enjoy and trust in what you do and never give Up, as hard as this is the way. That makes you stronger. Give thanks to my angels guardiánes, Adrian Gonzalez, Edgar Gonzalez and Mr. David Gonzalez."

On another note, the teenager already has a Baseball card available on the market.  It's a part of the 2014 Leaf Perfect Game set.  Arzaga has a base and autograph card available.  Check them both out below:

 #238 Oscar Arzaga                                #AOA2 Oscar Arzaga

In celebration of his signing with the Dodgers I made the above  (at the very top) fantasy Baseball card of him using a photo grabbed at Más Béisbol Dorados de Chihuahua on Facebook and the 1982 Topps Baseball card design.

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2015 Panini National Treasures College - The Dodgers Base Cards - Jackie Robinson at UCLA

Panini does this every year, and it's annoying.  A couple weeks ago they released their collegiate version of National Treasures, and decided to continue calling it a 2015 set.  Why? We're already well into the new year.

Anyway, this product is notable for including college athletes, both past and present, on an high-end brand, and it includes several notable Dodgers.  Go here for a complete checklist.

One name of note is former UCLA four-sport legend Jackie Robinson.  As you know, he lettered in baseball, basketball, football, and track, so seeing him in this set is fantastic.  When Panini originally announced their college sports licenses several months back I wondered if we would see anything featuring Robinson.  Fortunately, that answer is yes.  He has two base cards in the set, but neither show him in a Baseball uniform.  Check them out below.

#25 Chase Utley

Blog Kiosk: 2/16/2016 - Dodgers Links - Buehler, Montas and Dave Roberts

You know Spring Training is around the corner when the Dodgers trucks are packed up and shipped to Arizona.   Via a pic by the @Dodgers on twitter, they filled them with cargo and arrived safely in Glendale on Saturday.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

Each truck holds 20 tons of gear, which includes computers and front-office supplies and even a 1,500-pound bobblehead of Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda, which normally resides at the Lasorda Italian Restaurant behind the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

In other developments, the Dodgers ground crew have been hard at work transforming the field at Dodger Stadium into game-ready shape.  Check out the process in all of its time-lapsed glory in the tweet below:

Watch the #Dodgers Grounds Crew do work. #HurryUpBaseball pic.twitter.com/SHCTzDdPkL

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 13, 2016

Below are more links to check out:

• This Mike Trout rumors are proof of how bored sports writers are, and how gullible reporters think fans are.
• Fantastic.  Jeff Sanders at the San Diego Tribune writes, "How San Diego's Dave Roberts won the Los Angeles Dodgers over."  

Outside, the No. 42 that once emblazoned Robinson’s Dodgers jersey hangs below the outfield’s pavilion roofing, the sacred number peeled right from a Brooklyn-era jersey that Dave Roberts wears today as a storied franchise’s first minority manager.

“I asked him about that just before he was hired,” Waymon Roberts acknowledged while standing off to the corner following his son’s official introduction. “It initially didn’t register that it was such a big deal.”

• Via Andy McCullough at the LA Times, "How the new Dodgers manager is preparing his team for success." 

"The No. 1 goal ... is for us ... to create an unbreakable bond within the group," Roberts said over breakfast at a cafe in Carlsbad. "Where no distractions ... get us away from staying together ... or getting our focus off track."

• David Hood at True Blue LA takes a look at Dodgers prospect Walker Buehler, here.

"Good things come to those who wait," as the old adage goes, so I elected not to ding Buehler for the surgery because the value when healthy is just too significant to downgrade. Buehler is the last prospect ranked before the elite tiers, and has the highest floor and ceiling of pitching prospects rated thus far. Though this review will likely look the same at this time next season, be patient, because Buehler could be battling for the position of top pitching prospect in the system at some point in 2017.

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Montas may miss 4 months after rib surgery."

Rookie right-hander Frankie Montas, the centerpiece for the Dodgers in a December three-team trade, will miss two to four months after undergoing rib resection surgery on Friday, it was announced.

According to the club, Montas had a stress reaction in his rib, and the procedure was performed by Dr. Greg Pearl in Dallas. Pearl performed a similar operation for thoracic outlet syndrome on Josh Beckett two years ago when the veteran right-hander experienced numbness in his pitching hand. Beckett returned to action, threw a no-hitter, then retired at the end of the 2014 season.

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Great Lakes Loons unveil new logos, uniforms for 2016."
• Via Bill Plaschke at the LA Times, "His job is a hunt-and-peck type of thing at Dodger Stadium." 

This is a Valentine's Day tale about the hopeless romantic who spends his summers scouring the Los Angeles sports landscape looking for love. His cuddly nickname is "Panda," he's been married 21 years to a woman with whom he's had four wedding ceremonies, and he has a job where every day is sprinkled with tiny candy hearts.

Valdivia directs the Dodger Stadium Kiss Cam.

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Early Peek at some 2016 Promotional Game Giveaways - Turner Chia Pet and some Bobbleheads

With "Pitchers & Catchers" reporting to Spring Training within a week and Opening Day just around the corner I thought it would be a good time to share some preview picks of an handful of Dodger Stadium giveaways for the upcoming season.  Go here to check out a complete promotional schedule.

Probably the most anticipated freebie this season is the Justin Turner "Chia Pet" being given out on Saturday, April 30th against the Padres.  Check out a preview pic of it above.  Wow, right?  It is the perfect combination of awesome and hilarious.  Something tells me we'll be seeing many more of these in the future.

As you know, the Dodgers will continue giving out bobbleheads this season.  They are slated to hand out ten new bobbles, and they have recently updated their checklist since they made their original announcement in late-November.  They have since added bobbleheads for Adrian Gonzalez, Kenta Maeda and Howie Kendrick.  Below is an updated schedule:

• Clayton Kershaw on April 25 (vs. MIA)
• Dodger manager Dave Roberts May 11 (vs. NYM)
• **Adrian Gonzalez on May 25 (vs. CIN)
• Don Newcombe on June 8 (vs. COL)
• Dusty Baker on June 22 (vs. WAS)
• 1981 World Series tri-MVPs Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager on July 2 (vs. COL)
• **Kenta Maeda on July 26 (vs. TB)
• **Howie Kendrick on August 9 (vs. PHI)
• TBD August 25 (vs. SF)
• TBD September 20 (vs. SF)

And below are preview picks of the Clayton Kershaw nodder being given out on April 25th and the Dave Roberts bobble on May 11th.

As for the other giveaways, here is an early look at the Jackie Robinson jersey being given out on Jackie Robinson Day, Friday, April 15th against the Giants, the Dodgers sweetshirt/hoodie on April 13th against the Diamondbacks and the knit cap on April 16th.

Jackie Robinson Jersey

Sweatshirt/Hoodie                                    Knit Cap

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