Even Dodgers’ top rookies know chances of making the Opening Day roster are slim

The Dodgers have invited over 20 non-rostered players to join them at Camelback Ranch for spring training, but it's seemed pretty clear that invitations were more of a formality, or perhaps a pat on the back, than anything else.

LA kept the vast majority of their World Series-winning core from 2024, with the most notable exceptions being Walker Buehler, Jack Flaherty, Gavin Lux, and Joe Kelly. But they've also found ways to upgrade from all of those guys — Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki for the rotation, Hyeseong Kim for the infield (and probably the outfield), and Tanner Scott/Kirby Yates for the bullpen.

Basically, the Dodgers have covered all of their bases already, and there is very little real competition to look forward to in spring training.

NRIs won't be the only ones who are just in camp to get their feet wet. There are a number of players on the 40-man who don't have much of a hope to crack Opening Day's 26, and they seem to know it, too. Ben Casparius, the Dodgers' No. 23 prospect last year, called being in the organization as a ascending pitcher "a blessing and a curse" (subscription required).

Landon Knack, Ben Casparius, James Outman, and more know there are no guarantees they make Dodgers' Opening Day roster

Guys like Casparius, Landon Knack, James Outman, and Andy Pages have an uphill battle to fight if they want even a distant shot at making the Opening Day roster. Casparius and Knack may be positioned a little better if Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech start the season on the IL, but Outman and Pages' chances are slimmer with Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernández, and Miguel Rojas as the non-catcher position players on the bench.

It's clear that the Dodgers have just the beginning of a bottleneck of prospective talent. With most of the players who will be on the Opening Day roster set to stay there for anywhere between 2-to-10 more years, where does that leave the talent they're developing in the minors?

Dave Roberts said that he tries to encourage the younger players to focus on individual development rather than an organizational hierarchy, but that's a tall order when there are so few opportunities for those young players to see time in the majors and so many of them competing for that time.

At this point, it wouldn't be surprising if all of the aforementioned odd men out start the year in Triple-A, but the Dodgers won't be able to keep them there forever. It's almost a guarantee we'll see some of them in the event of injury for any of the players on the 26-man, but a long-term strategy is yet to be seen.