Category Archives: Ramon Castro

Projecting the Dodgers’ Minor-League Rosters: Double-A & Triple-A

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Editor’s note: Chris Jackson rounds off the minor league roster projections with Chattanooga & Albuquerque. Also, don’t forget to enter the Opening Day roster contest — open through 9pm PT tonight!

Van Slyke is one of nine outfielders who will vie for an Isotopes roster spot this spring. (Photo courtesy of the Isotopes)

Scott Van Slyke is one of nine outfielders who will vie for an Isotopes roster spot this spring. (Photo courtesy of the Isotopes)

Chattanooga Lookouts (Double-A Southern League)

Starting rotation: Onelki Garcia, Zach Lee, Aaron Miller, Rob Rasmussen, Chris Reed

All prospects, all the time, in east Tennessee this year! Garcia has the most pure stuff, but the least experience. Lee and Reed will hope their potential matches the results this season. Miller will have to fight to keep his starting spot after a middling season. Rasmussen will get some attention as the new guy in the organization.

Bulllpen: Geison Aguasviva, Steve Ames, Kelvin De La Cruz, Eric Eadington, Jordan Roberts, Andres Santiago, Chris Withrow

That is a lot of lefties, but it is hard to figure out where else to put them. De la Cruz is not a LOOGY and will give them a second long reliever to go with Santiago, who could start if Miller struggles. Aguasviva could fight his way to Albuquerque. Roberts is 27, so if he can’t stick here, his time with the Dodgers may be done. Ames and Eadington figure to share the closing job, though Withrow could see saves, too, now that the Dodgers have committed to him as a reliever. Just missed: Javier Solano

Catchers: Gorman Erickson, Christopher O’Brien

Erickson will be looking for some redemption after a lousy 2012. O’Brien was decent enough at Rancho to merit the promotion.

Infielders: 1B–J.T. Wise, 2B–Rafael Ynoa, SS–Alexis Aguilar, 3B–C.J. Retherford, UTIL–Joe Becker, Omar Luna

Wise and Ynoa have played well enough to earn promotions, but they are blocked at Albuquerque barring some trades. Aguilar is the pick I am least confident in; it could be a half-dozen other guys. In other words, please, Dodgers, sign some random Cuban defector shortstop to spare the poor fans in Chattanooga watching a guy with a career .662 OPS. Retherford had a big year at Rancho, but struggled with the Lookouts, so he will return here. Luna and Becker didn’t play a lot of shortstop last year, but they sure could this year. Just missed: Chris Jacobs 1B, Elevys Gonzalez 3B/2B, Miguel Rojas 2B/SS

Outfielders: LF–Yasiel Puig, CF–Joc Pederson, RF–Blake Smith, OF–Nick Buss, Bobby Coyle

Puig and Pederson are premium prospects. They both figure to play all three outfield spots here. Smith deserves to move up, and he certainly could, but for now I have him starting with the Lookouts. Buss and the talented but oft-injured Coyle return. Just missed: Kyle Russell

Final analysis: If some of the pitchers can translate their potential into results, then this team could be the favorite to win the Southern League. The rotation is six-deep and strong, while the bullpen is strong from both sides of the mound. The outfield should carry the offense, with shortstop being the only real concern on the infield. The Lookouts should be fun to watch this season.

Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A Pacific Coast League)

Starting rotation: Fabio Castro, Stephen Fife, Matt Magill, Matt Palmer, Mario Santiago

Magill is the legit prospect here. Fife returns and will be the first called up in the event of an injury to a starter in L.A. Palmer can chew up innings, but that is it. Castro was terrible last year with the A’s organization and might not last long in Albuquerque. Santiago is a gamble, with the Dodgers/Isotopes hoping he can carry over the success he found in Korea last year with the SK Wyverns.

Bullpen: Michael Antonini, Blake Johnson, Hector Nelo, Red Patterson, Paco Rodriguez, Cole St. Clair, Shawn Tolleson, Josh Wall

Antonini’s health is in question, so he might not crack this group. Rodriguez and Tolleson both deserve to pitch in the Majors, but I have Javy Guerra and Ted Lilly taking the last two spots. Johnson and St. Clair return in the long relief roles. Wall should close again. Patterson moves up, but it could easily be Ames instead. Nelo, a minor-league Rule 5 pick, gets the nod over the plethora of Triple-A vets signed this off-season. I am also betting that the veteran trio of Kevin Gregg, Mark Lowe, and Peter Moylan will opt out at the end of the spring. Just missed: Juan Abreu, Victor Garate, Gregory Infante, Wilmin Rodriguez, Luis Vasquez

Catchers: Jesus Flores, Matt Wallach

Flores could easily be subbed out for Federowicz if the Dodgers opt to have the prospect play every day and the veteran back up A.J. Ellis. Consider them interchangeable. Wallach has never hit, but he plays good defense and seems like a safe bet to the backup. Just missed: Eliezer Alfonzo, Wilkin Castillo, Ramon Castro

Infielders: 1B–Nick Evans, 2B–Elian Herrera, SS–Dee Gordon, 3B–Dallas McPherson, UTIL–Rusty Ryal, Justin Sellers

Evans always earned rave reviews for his defense, which could be a big help for Gordon’s wild throws (remember how Mark Teixeira made Derek Jeter look better back in 2009?). While it can be speculated that Gordon could or should be in the Majors, until he proves otherwise, I have him here. Sellers is another guy most people are counting out, but the Dodgers have not dumped him yet, even after his arrest in Sacramento. Herrera can, and likely will, play everywhere, but he should play almost every day. McPherson will DH against AL teams, since his back is unlikely to hold up for 144 games. Ryal gets the nod because the Isotopes need the left-handed bat. Just missed: Alfredo Amezaga UTIL, Brian Barden 3B, Ozzie Martinez SS

Outfielders: LF–Scott Van Slyke, CF–Tony Gwynn Jr., RF–Alex Castellanos, OF–Jeremy Moore

Unless Castellanos returns to the infield, this outfield is tough to figure out. Both he, Moore and Van Slyke are all right-handed hitters, so it would make a lot of sense for someone like Smith (who hits left-handed) to move up from Chattanooga. Unless the Isotopes only carry seven relievers (which, fat chance), it won’t happen unless the Dodgers move Van Slyke in a trade. Moore gets that backup spot because he can play all three positions and because the Dodgers obviously think very highly of him as he was the only free agent to participate in their prospect minicamp last month. Just missed: Matt Angle, Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Final analysis: This team does not look as talented as last year’s playoff squad, at least on paper. The rotation looks awfully suspect behind Fife and Magill. The bullpen could be good, at least. The lineup lacks left-handed bats, but should be able to score enough runs to keep games interesting. If the Dodgers can’t find any additional starting pitchers, however, it could be a long summer of 12-10 scores in Albuquerque, which this reporter is not very interested in watching anymore.

Dodgers Invite Four Former Big Leaguers to Camp

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As expected, the BBWAA completely spit the bit by failing to induct even a single candidate from a field that arguably had 10-12 electable candidates. Nicely done, gents. Nicely done.

mike_espnBut enough of that, because we have other things to attend to. First of all, I made my debut at ESPN this morning, writing about the perception of how the Texas Rangers had a disappointing offseason. It’s Insider-only — sorry, but I do like being paid — and I should hopefully be appearing there every few weeks throughout the season.

Secondly, we have four new Dodger non-roster invites, thanks to the team’s PR account, and all four have prior big-league experience. I shouldn’t have to remind you at this point that every team brings in a ton of these guys every year for depth and camp bodies, and so none have glowing resumes, but I still feel like I do. They are…

RHP Matt Palmer. Palmer, 34 in March, was briefly notable for going 11-2 for the 2009 Angels, pitching in 40 games (13 starts) in his age-30 season despite having only made his big league debut with three games for the 2008 Giants the season before after seven minor-league seasons. As you might have expected, he was in no way as good as the win/loss record might have indicated, since the not-even-that-great 3.93 ERA was definitely not backed up by a 4.77 FIP. He started just four games for Anaheim over the next two seasons, missing most of 2010 with a right shoulder strain, and last year he made it into just two innings for the Padres. Having pitched for Fresno, Salt Lake, & Tuscon in the past, Palmer is almost sure to continue his tour of the PCL by joining the Albuquerque rotation, which badly needs starters.

C Eliezer Alfonzo. Alfonzo turns 33 in a month and saw time with the Giants, Padres, Mariners, & Rockies between 2006-11, hitting .240/.241/.377 in 624 plate appearances. He played only in Mexico last year, and… well, hang on a second, because Alfonzo is actually interesting. Not in a baseball sense, because he’s of course terrible, but because these are two of the primary stories about him. He’s been suspended twice for PED usage, first for 50 games in 2008 and then again for 100 games last year, but he only had to serve the first 48 games of it before having the rest overturned on the same procedural grounds that saved Ryan Braun.

Then there’s this, from pal Eno Sarris back in 2011:

All those years in all those parks, and Alfonzo has developed quite the pre-game ritual. Once he settles down just a little from his usual loud and jovial self, Alfonzo begins his preparation for action. Pull on the uniform, one step at a time. Pull on the cleats. Check the catching gear. Once the sliding shorts are up to the armpits, there’s one last thing before he heads out of the locker room.

That’s when Alfonso pulls out his glass bottle with semi-clear liquid. Floating near the bottom is a large dead snake. Not a garter snake. Not a worm. An impressively large, very dead snake.

“Snake Juice time!” he declares to the room whether or not they care. This time, a staffer nearly vomits. Justin Smoak spits “that’s f*ing gross” into his glove. No-one moves closer. No-one wants a taste. A few people hold their noses, literally.

But Eliezer Alfonso is not fazed, and his smile does not fade. A few strong swigs of the potion and one more proclamation — “Ahhhh, Snake Juice gives me power!” Then the journeyman heads out the door.

No word on whether Alfonso tested positive for Snake Juice.

ramon_castro_headshotC Ramon Castro. While Alfonso is probably just another camp backstop for pitchers to throw to, Castro is pretty much the definition of “veteran guy who comes in to ostensibly challenge Tim Federowicz but almost certainly ends up hanging in New Mexico with Wilkin Castillo and maybe Matt Wallach.”

In addition to having one of my favorite official headshots of all time (seen at right), the soon-to-be 37-year-old Castro has experience in parts of 13 big-league seasons with the Marlins, Mets, & White Sox, dating back to the 1999 Marlins. He actually caught Josh Beckett 8 times back in 2002 & 2004, and could hit a little as far as backup catchers go, putting up a career .237/.310/.424 (91 OPS+) line. But Castro didn’t play in 2012 after breaking his hand the season before, and there’s a lot of mileage on these tires — after all, he was a first-round pick of the Astros in 1994. Still, there’s an International Brotherhood of Backup Catchers for a reason, and every team needs to stash guys like in case of emergency. He can’t be worse than Matt Treanor, right?

IF Brian Barden. Not to be confused with Brian Barton, another ex-Cardinal the Dodgers had in camp in 2010, the infielder has experience in parts of four seasons for Arizona, St. Louis, and Florida between 2007-10. He played in Japan in 2011 and I can’t find any record of him having played in 2012. He’s played mainly on the left side of the infield, and while I have no problem with more depth, I have absolutely no idea where he fits in to what is an absurdly overcrowded potential Isotopes roster. I’m not even going to add him to the depth chart at this point.

******

The quartet makes for 14 non-roster invites, according to the Dodgers, though I believe Tony Gwynn will be included as well.

C Eliezer Alfonzo
C Wilkin Castillo
C Ramon Castro
1B Nick Evans
SS Osvaldo Martinez
3B Dallas McPherson
IF Alfredo Amezaga
IF Brian Barden
IF Omar Luna
OF Jeremy Moore
RHP Juan Abreu
LHP Kelvin De La Cruz
RHP Gregory Infante
RHP Matt Palmer