Brandon League Helps Clear Up The 40-Man Roster Crunch

So earlier today, I noted that the Dodgers would need to find some 40-man spots for Hector Olivera and (probably) Sergio Santos.

I focused on Darwin Barney, but, well, part of that problem seems like it might already be solved:

Brandon League probably won’t pitch for a couple of months, Mattingly said.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) March 27, 2015

That’s because Brandon League‘s sore shoulder is still acting up, and while it won’t require surgery, it does seem like it’s going to be quite a while until we see him again — and as weird as this is going to sound, that’s going to go a long way towards him keeping his job.

As I said this morning, you can cut League, or you can put him on the 60-day DL (which takes him off the 40-man), but the most inefficient use of his existence would be for him to be on the 15-day DL and eat up a 40-man roster spot that you so clearly need. Now, if Hernandez’ report is accurate, League is a very good candidate for the 60-day DL, right alongside Brandon Beachy and Chris Withrow.

This doesn’t get Barney (or whomever else) out of danger, because you still likely need two spots. But this is at least halfway there. It might be the most useful thing League has done in years, though depending on how things go, there’s at least some chance we’ll be happy to see a ground ball special becoming available in June or whatever.

Also, Chad Gaudin has been shut down. No one cares.