Chris

Okey

No real surprises among this batch of early spring cuts, as none of the five players were expected to crack the Opening Day roster. With the Dodgers opening their season in Japan against the Cubs in a couple of weeks though, expect them to cut down their roster quicker than they would have in a traditional spring training.

The 23-year-old backstop doesn’t have much left to prove in the minor leagues, but with Will Smit and Austin Barnes holding things down at the game’s highest level, he’ll need to work his way into the crowded outfield mix in order to have any shot of breaking camp. He’ll be an intriguing option for fantasy purposes when he does finally arrive in Los Angeles, but it’ll probably take an injury to Smith or Barnes for it to happen. Roki Sasaki and Zyhir Hope also received official invitations to spring training on Friday.

Okey doesn’t have far to relocate as he heads to the Dodgers as emergency organizational catching depth after spending last year with the Angels. The 29-year-old backstop got into a pair of contests last year for the Halos and also posted a respectable .759 OPS with six homers and two steals in 235 plate appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake.

The 28-year-old backstop had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, but he passed through waivers unclaimed and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake. He’ll continue to function as excess catching depth for the Halos.

The Angels needed to free up a spot on the 40-man roster with David Fletceher returning and Eduardo Escobar arriving on Saturday, and Okey became a roster casualty in that carnage. The 28-year-old backstop should pass through waivers unclaimed and continue to function as catching depth for the Halos.

Okey has been sent back to the minors with Chad Wallach returning from the 7-day concussion injured list. The 28-year-old backstop wound up appearing in two games for the injury-depleted Angels.

That escalated quickly. Okey just signed a minor league contract last month with the Angels and will head to Los Angeles on Tuesday evening to catch two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani’s start. The 28-year-old backstop got into seven games last year for the Reds in his major league debut.

Chris Okey has been brought up on the Angels’ taxi squad in case Wallach requires a trip to the injured list, but it sounds like they’re going to wait and see how he feels on Tuesday before potentially making a roster move.

Okey gives the Angels some extra organizational catching depth at Triple-A Salt Lake while Logan O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss handle the catching duties in the majors with Max Stassi dealing with a hip injury and an undisclosed family emergency as well. The 28-year-old backstop got into seven games last year for the Reds in his big league debut.

Okey got into seven contests for the Reds earlier this season and was removed from Cincinnati’s 40-man roster last month. The 27-year-old backstop should be able to latch on elsewhere as organizational catching depth.