Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
I’m starting to get the feeling that we’re never going to have a game thread this year that doesn’t include at least one roster move. Hang on, I just DFA’d Dustin. Sorry, Dustin. Hope you clear waivers.
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Dodgers
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Padres
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7:10 p.m.
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San Diego, Ca.
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SS
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Rollins
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CF
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Myers
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RF
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Puig
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2B
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Spangenberg
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1B
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Gonzalez
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RF
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Kemp
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2B
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Kendrick
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LF
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Upton
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C
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Grandal
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1B
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Alonso
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LF
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Crawford
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C
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Norris
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3B
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Uribe
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3B
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Middlebrooks
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CF
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Pederson
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SS
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Amarista
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P
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Greinke (R)
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P
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Cashner (R)
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So the moves today are varied and both somewhat expected and far more surprising. Mike Bolsinger gets optioned back to Triple-A after a successful spot start, which was all but guaranteed to happen since he wouldn’t be available for the next few days anyway. You might have expected that newly-acquired lefty reliever Xavier Cedeno would take the spot, and by “might have expected” I of course mean “Andrew Friedman had specifically said earlier this week that Cedeno would be added to the roster in San Diego.”
Except, Cedeno was DFA’d so the team could recall Sergio Santos and add him to the roster instead. Why? Well, why not, I guess. Allow me to present one possibility: The Padres are very right-handed, and Cedeno is basically a LOOGY. He has no use against righty hitters, so having Santos for this series rather than Cedeno makes sense. Well, “series,” because Scott Baker is reportedly going to make the start on Sunday, so he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster himself, which means someone’s going to lose their spot. I’m not saying it’s definitely Santos; I’m not saying anyone else seems more likely.
Anyway, so far the “claim and DFA” plan has worked. Ryan Dennick cleared waivers and remained in the organization. So did Daniel Corcino. So did David Huff. Clearly, the plan is for Cedeno to do the same. And if he doesn’t? All it cost was “cash considerations.” It’s not a strategy we’re used to seeing from this team, but that’s not a bad thing. It just might be an exhausting thing.
Oh, and Alex Guerrero isn’t starting tonight because Don Mattingly hates success and fans and America. Or, it’s because Juan Uribe is an above-average third baseman on both sides of the ball who has been more valuable than David Wright or Chase Headley or Pablo Sandoval since the start of 2013. Definitely one of those. (Mattingly said Guerrero will start at least one game.)
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