By every indication, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has no intention whatsoever of further postponing or even canceling the 2020 MLB season, this despite soaring increases in newly reported COVID-19 cases and related deaths. In fact, on Sunday afternoon, his mandated deadline for teams to announce their 60-Player Pools took place, with all but five of the 30 MLB teams reporting in. One can only assume that these five teams were given some type of extension by Manfred.

The Dodgers, however, were among the 25 teams who played by the rules, submitting their 60-Man Player Pool right at the 1:00 pm (PT) deadline. Here is their list:

Pitchers (28):

• Scott Alexander (L)
• Pedro Báez       
• Walker Buehler
• Gerardo Carrillo*
• Caleb Ferguson (L)
• Dylan Floro
• Tony Gonsolin
• Victor González (L)
• Brusdar Graterol
• Josiah Gray*
• Michael Grove*
• Andre Jackson*
• Kenley Jansen
• Marshall Kasowski*
• Joe Kelly
• Clayton Kershaw (L)
• Adam Kolarek (L)
• Dustin May
• Jimmy Nelson
• David Price (L)
• Dennis Santana
• Josh Sborz
• Ross Stripling
• Blake Treinen
• Edwin Uceta*
• Julio Urías (L)
• Mitch White
• Alex Wood (L)

Catchers (5):

• Austin Barnes
• Diego Cartaya*
• Rocky Gale*
• Keibert Ruiz
• Will Smith

Infielders (7):

• Matt Beaty
• Omar Estevez*
• Gavin Lux
• Max Muncy
• Edwin Ríos
• Corey Seager
• Justin Turner

Outfielders (7):

• Mookie Betts
• Joc Pederson
• DJ Peters
• AJ Pollock
• Luke Raley
• Zach Reks*
• Cody Thomas*

Infielder/Outfielder (4):

• Cody Bellinger
• Kiké Hernandez
• Zach McKinstry
• Chris Taylor

(*Indicates non 40-Man Roster)

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A quick glance of this list reveals that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts utilized only 51 of their 60 allotted Players Pool slots.

Smart men.

It goes without saying that there will be injuries during Spring Training-2 for the Dodgers, which is set to begin on Friday, July 3 at Dodger Stadium ahead of their scheduled July 24 Opening Day. If (when) these injuries occur and barring serious injury, these players will be placed on the standard 10-day Disabled List. However, should a player test positive for the coronavirus – and it will happen – they will immediately be quarantined and placed on a special COVID-19 DL, which does not have a return limitation and, in fact, is the very reason for this whole 60-man Players Pool thing.

“I think there’s no question we’re going to have a decent number of positive tests in Spring Training and the season,” Friedman told reporters late last week. “And to me it’s much more about how quick we are to respond to that, the treatment options, the quarantining part of it, making sure it doesn’t spread among the group.

“And to the extent that we can contain it, and we have really good health and safety protocols in place, I think it’s something that collectively as a group, everyone working together, I think it’s something we can manage,” Friedman added. “But here again, I think that anyone that pretends like they can sit here today and tell you exactly how things are going to play out, I don’t subscribe to that, I don’t agree with it. There’s a lot we don’t know. A lot of our conversations internally have just been about staying on our toes, staying nimble, trying to communicate our way through everything, read and react as things pop up. That’s our plan and as we continue to learn more, we’ll get smarter with how we do things”

By having a little (nine-player) wiggle room, the Dodgers have the luxury of being able to add to their Player Pool at any time during what is proposed to be (and supposed to be) a 60-game 2020 regular season. It also allows them room to pick up a free agent or two (or more) along the way – and there are a lot of available free agents out there, including Rusell Martin (you can never have too many catchers) and Yasiel Puig, among others. Keep in mind that the Designated Hitter rule will be used in the National League during the pandemic-shortened 2020 regular season (but not the postseason), and quite possibly for the 2021 season as well.

But the Dodgers aren’t the only MLB team with wiggle room. In fact, of the (thus far) 25 MLB teams who have announced the Players Pool, only the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, and Washington Nationals used all 60 of their allotted slots. On the other side of that coin, the Oakland A’s used only 42, the St. Louis Cardinals only 44, and the Baltimore Orioles only 45.

But here again, things could change in an instant. With newly reported COVID-19 cases and deaths increasing by the minute, medical experts and city, county, state, and federal officials could nix the proposed 2020 MLB season with the stroke of a pen … regardless of what Rob Manfred wants.

Stay tuned…

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