3 Dodgers who could lose their 40-man roster spots soon

2. Garrett Cleavinger

Garrett Cleavinger’s in an interesting position.

After all, he’s both an option to swipe an Opening Day roster spot from Alexander, as well as a candidate for roster removal. Last in, first out, right?

Cleavinger arrived in Los Angeles thanks to a trade with the Phillies while most people were getting familial over the holidays, and he wasn’t exactly coming off a bright spot last year, allowing an earned run in under an inning of pitching in Philadelphia.

This spring, he’s been among the standout arms, whiffing nine in five innings of one-earned-run baseball. But if the Dodgers make a deadline trade for a relief upgrade, Cleavinger is certainly one of the lower-echelon bullpen arms who might see his spot usurped.

After all, he hasn’t exactly been in Los Angeles’ plans for long.

Nearly 27, the Dodgers took a chance on Cleavinger when given the option to deal for him at his lowest value, and there’s a chance they uncovered yet another contributor in the process.

But in the instance of a roster crunch, Cleavinger’s one of the less integral members of this team, and one of those whose sacrifice would sting the least. We’d say the team probably has fewer plans for him than, say, recently-acquired third baseman Sheldon Neuse, who also owns a roster spot at the moment. Cleavinger is much more fungible.