LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers invited 15 players, including nine former Great Lakes Loons, to their fifth annual developmental minicamp at Dodger Stadium in January.

Former Loons include pitcher Steven Ames, pitcher Rubby De La Rosa, pitcher Shawn Tolleson, pitcher Josh Wall, pitcher Allen Webster, catcher Griff Erickson, outfielder Alfredo Silverio, outfielder Scott Van Slyke and catcher Matt Wallach.

Other Dodger minor leaguers invited include itchers Michael Antonini, Stephen Fife and Chris Withrow, plus position players Alex Castellanos, Tim Federowicz and Tyler Henson.

Two of the former Loons netted organizational honors, with Tolleson named the Dodgers minor league Pitcher of the Year and Van Slyke earning minor league Player of the Year honors.

De La Rosa, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was at last year’s mini-camp, as was Erickson and Wallach.

The minicamps is to help the top prospects in the farm system get a little extra help as they near a possible promotion to the major leagues. It also gives Dodgers officials a chance to get a closer look at the prospects, while also giving the coaches a chance at some early instruction prior to spring training.

“He’d bring out a football every once in a while and throw me routes,” Pratt said. “We’d always talk about, ‘If baseball doesn’t work out, we’ll go back and play football.’ Everybody else is like, ‘Yeah right, that’ll never happen.’ And the two of us were kind of like in the back of our minds thinking, ‘Yeah? We’re going to do this if baseball doesn’t work out.’”

They might be the only the ones not surprised by this rare Fiesta Bowl reunion.

Weeden, Oklahoma State’s 28-year-old starting quarterback nicknamed “Grandpa” by students, dropped baseball in 2007 for the gridiron. Pratt, a freshman walk-on wide receiver at Stanford some call “The Professor,” is just beginning his college career at age 26 after eight years in the minors.

As their teams get ready to meet in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, both are playing out that football fantasy on opposite ends of odd college careers — something they could only imagine six years ago on baseball diamonds thousands of miles away.

“It’s kind of ironic when you look back at how things kind of evolve from those days,” Weeden said.

The two formed a teammate bond while chasing the dream of pitching on Dodger Stadium’s mound.

They lived in the same apartment complex, played beach volleyball with other teammates during down time, spent countless hours together on bus rides, eating meals at truck stops and staying in motels.

Both spent time in a variety of cities and leagues. Columbus offered shorter travel than most; the longest bus trip was about seven hours that season.

The Catfish also had several future major leaguers, including Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp in 2004. However, it was not one of the most desirable places to play.

“It was hotter than crap. We didn’t get many fans,” Weeden said.

While they played multiple sports in high school, each turned to baseball first.

Weeden spent five years in the minor leagues after being a second-round pick — and first player taken — by the New York Yankees in the 2002 draft. He always had an idea of what he’d do if baseball didn’t work out, and that’s exactly what led to him to being an unexpected Cowboys sensation.

Pratt played for eight years in the minors before seeking out Stanford. He received a $175,000 signing bonus with the Dodgers and is now taking advantage of a $120,000 college scholarship program with his baseball days done.

“Scouts were telling me I had a chance to do some things if things worked out baseball wise, and so I really wanted to give that a shot and leave no stone unturned,” Pratt said. “So that’s why I was always focusing on baseball. It was always kind of my first love. I knew I could always go back to school.”

Read More: John Grabow (P – LOS), Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers

According to reports, the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed left-handed reliever John Grabow to a minor league deal. The transaction was first tweeted by John Scanlan on Saturday and was verified by MLB Trade Rumors.

The 33-year-old Grabow struggled after he was acquired by the Chicago Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates in July 2009. Grabow posted a 5.52 ERA in 88 innings while knee and shoulder injuries caused him to miss games. It was a disappointing tenure especially after Grabow signed a two-year, $7.5 million extension four months into his time with the Cubs.

In 506 games over a nine-year career, Grabow is 24-19 with a 4.31 ERA in 476.1 innings pitched. He started his MLB career in 2003 with the Pirates after being selected in the 3rd round of the 1997 amateur draft.

For more on the Dodgers and their minor league deals, and more, be sure to read True Blue LA.

I think things are starting to look up for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger fans too. Off the field, the sale of the team, with the approval of owner Frank McCourt and MLB is moving forward. A recent court ruling in the Dodgers’ favor regarding the sale of broadcast rights means things do look good for a sale by this spring. The bidding process is expected to open January 13 and go until April 1, with a sale by April 30.

Los Angels Dodgers.
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After some big signings of players like Matt Kemp and Mark Ellis, Dodgers’ GM Ned Colletti is making some moves behind the scenes. I think the team struggled this year and I was disappointed to see Colletti just moving people around instead of bringing in new blood. I’m ready for a new owner to come in and I hope he fires Colletti and brings back Kim Ng.

I still think the team has not recovered from the departure of former assistant GM Kim Ng, who is now working with Joe Torre in the MLB commissioner’s office. She should have been named GM instead of Colletti and I would have left the mess that was the Dodgers too. She’s now the senior vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner’s office and her name is always mentioned as the best candidate to become the first female general manager in professional baseball. This possibility is endorsed by the great Joe Torre himself, who said “I think she’s ready,” in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

As far as front office changes, Vance Lovelace, who may have the greatest name in Dodgers’ front office history, is now the director of professional personnel. He was a special assistant to the GM and director of player scouting. Lovelace was a Dodger pitcher, coming to the team from the Chicago Cubs in the 1983 Ron Cey trade.

Rick Ragazzo is now the director of pro scouting, so I hope he’s out there scouting for the next big deal the team can make to further booster its 2012 roster. He was formerly a special assistant to the GM. He’s been with the Dodgers for four years, after 17 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, where he worked with Colletti. The team will retain special assistants Bill Mueller, Aaron Sele, Mark Sweeney, Juan Castro and Jose Vizcaino, who are all also former players.

Freddy Sherman grew up in Philadelphia, which didn’t make being a Los Angeles Dodgers fan easy. He has lived in Los Angeles for twenty years, now able to follow the Dodgers openly and attends games frequently. You can follow him on Twitter -@thefredsherman.

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