Monday, March 17, 2014

30-man Australia roster is set

*** UPDATE ***

To check out the 25-man roster for the two-game set in Australia, scroll down a bit and look at the lineup on the right side where it's all spelled out for you.

***

The Dodgers have until Friday to set their 25-man roster for the first couple of games Down Under, but for now, here's a look at the 30 men who made the trip overseas:

Catchers
A.J. Ellis
Tim Federowicz
Drew Butera

Infielders
Adrian Gonzalez
Hanley Ramirez
Juan Uribe
Dee Gordon
Alex Guerrero
Miguel Rojas
Chone Figgins
Justin Turner

Outfielders
Andre Ethier
Yasiel Puig
Scott Van Slyke
Joc Pederson
Mike Baxter

Starters
Clayton Kershaw
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Paul Maholm

Bullpen
Kenley Jansen
Brian Wilson
J.P. Howell
Paco Rodriguez
Jamey Wright
Chris Perez
Seth Rosin
Chris Withrow
Jose Dominguez
Zach Lee
Red Patterson

If I had to venture a guess as to the five who will NOT be on the final roster, I would go with Patterson, Lee, Baxter, Rojas, and Maholm.

Despite the rocky spring from Kershaw, you can still see him giving at least 6-7 innings in the first game, and Ryu can easily give the same.  So, they might only need 4-6 innings of bullpen work between the two games, which is why I see a couple names, if not more, slashed off the bullpen list.

Maholm is only there in case of an emergency to Kershaw or Ryu.  Assuming those two stay healthy (please let them stay healthy!), then Wright can handle the long relief role, and Maholm won't be needed.

As for Rojas and Baxter getting off my list, that's more of a toss up than anything.  I thought maybe Butera would be left off, but maybe carrying that extra catcher isn't a bad idea.  Someone like Figgins is capable of playing in the outfield as well, so there's any extra body to play multiple positions if necessary.

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