Dodgers invite top prospects to 7th annual Winter Development Program

As they've done for seven straight years, the Dodgers are holding their Winter Development Program at Dodger Stadium, beginning Sunday.

The main goals of the program are to help Dodger minor-leaguers not only prepare for the majors, but also to prepare themselves for the off-the-field aspect of being a Major League Baseball player.

From the Dodgers' official press release:

"Fifteen of the club’s top minor league prospects will be in Los Angeles for the event, which includes seminars with Dodger staffers and workouts that focus on fundamentals, strength training and conditioning. Throughout the week, Dodger prospects will familiarize themselves with the greater Los Angeles area through social events and a community service visit to A Place Called Home, a youth center in South Los Angeles. The program is highlighted by sessions with Don Mattingly, Tommy Lasorda, Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, Eric Karros, Shawn Green, Stan Kasten and Ned Colletti and the annual Legends Dinner with Dodger alumni."

The attendees are as follows:

Pedro Baez
Chili Buss
Jose Dominguez
Yimi Garcia
Zach Lee
Matt Magill
Jarret Martin
Pratt Maynard
Chris O'Brien
Joc Pederson
Chris Reed
Miguel Rojas
Seth Rosin
Scott Schebler
Ross Stripling

Lee, Magill, Pederson and Reed all attended the 2013 Winter Development Program.

Baez, Garcia and Martin were added to the 40-man roster in November, so they were locks to be there. Lee and Schebeler were the Dodgers (and my) minor-league pitcher and player of the year, respectively.

Rosin was acquired from the Mets after they selected him from the Phillies in December's Rule 5 Draft. Stripling is the best prospect of the first-timers.

Magill threw a handful of games with the Dodgers, while Dominguez pitched briefly with them last season before suffering a quad injury. Buss had the smallest cup of coffee of any of the minor-leaguers invited to the program.

O'Brien

The two catchers -- Maynard and O'Brien -- both played in the Arizona Fall League (as did Garcia and Martin).

The most interesting -- and I use that term loosely -- is the inclusion of Rojas. General Manager Ned Colletti mentioned Rojas by name in a radio interview a couple weeks ago as someone who could be in the second base mix if Alexander Guerrero isn't ready to go. I blew off the thought, as did others. But the invitation to the program leads me to believe there's at least been some talk about him either being a utility infielder or the team's second baseman come March in Australia.

The Dodgers are really doing this just to spite me. I still maintain there's no way Rojas is on the Dodgers' roster come opening day. His glove may be really good (though, it probably isn't even a 65 or 70), but one has to at least hit a little to be a major leaguer. Rojas has displayed minimal ability to hit at the minor-league level. If I can say something nice about his offense, it's the fact he's walks a little (7.6 percent) and doesn't strikeout a whole lot (11.4 percent).

Photo credits: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Dodgers add Nick Chili Buss and Alex Castellanos to active roster

With Andre Ethier nursing a sore ankle and Hanley Ramirez nursing a sore hamstring (caused by an irritated nerve in his back), the Dodgers added a couple bats to the active roster today in the form of Nick Buss (who goes by Chili, his middle name) and Alex Castellanos.

Castellanos was already on the 40-man roster and played in four games earlier this season. What's interesting is Buss was not on the 40-man roster. Since there's no disabled list in September and the Dodgers' 40-man roster is already full-up. So, there needs to be a corresponding roster move. Here's what I see as the possibilities:

• Jose Dominguez to the 60-day disabled list
• Elian Herrera outrighted/designated for assignment
• Justin Sellers outrighted/designated for assignment

Nothing else really makes sense. My prediction (on Twitter) was a Herrera DFA, but perhaps Dominguez could be the guy. He hasn't fully recovered from his quad injury and probably won't be called upon to do anything this month or next anyway. If not, I'd put my money on Herrera being outrighted.

Dominguez went on the 15-day DL on July 22, so he'd be eligible to come off in the next week or so.

But back to Buss. We already know what Castellanos is (for the most part), but what's the deal with Buss? Well, he's not a top prospect, but he's been a solid minor-leaguer for the last three seasons.

As the Albuquerque Isotopes' best and most consistent player, he was named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star team and postseason All-Star team by hitting .303/.363/.525 with 17 home runs, 100 RBI, 29 doubles, 11 triples, 84 runs scored and 21 stolen bases (in 23 attempts).

His home/road splits have something to do with the overall good numbers Buss posted in 2013:

Home
.362/.434/.642
Road
.249/.295/.419

But he hits pretty well against lefties (probably aided by the home/road splits):

vs. RHP
.311/.373/.546
vs. LHP
.282/.338/.473

Buss, 26, has experience in all three outfield spots. He's played 449 games in center in his minor-league career, so he can obviously handle it. He has a little pop and has increased his walk rate four years in a row. He'll be a minor-league free agent after this year if the Dodgers don't to retain him.

Buss doesn't have any standout tools, but his baserunning and defense are probably the best. For this team, he could spell one of the regular outfielders (or even the backups) late in a game or be the second pinch-runner off the bench after Dee Gordon.

If nothing else, Buss will have a cool story to tell his children. It'd be a shock if he did anything of significance for the Dodgers this season.

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue