As we prepare to compose our second edition of 2017 roster projections, three significant questions stand out which may have an impact on which players appear on the Dodgers‘ 25-man roster come Opening Day in April.
The first issue for the management crew is determining whether to carry a seven-man or an eight-man bullpen. We’ll get into the finer details of this concern later when we publish our intermediate roster projections, but leaning towards a eight-man relief corps could be the difference between having only four players available off the bench as opposed to five.
Another question is whether or not the Dodgers will indeed decide to hold back 20-year-old lefty Julio Urias, and elect to have him begin the regular season in extended spring training in an effort to conserve his arm for later in the season.