Pitching was the story for the Dodgers‘ farm system this week, but one positional prospect stood out and was recognized for his great offensive performance.

It’s nice to see youngsters take advantage of their given opportunities.

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Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (1-6)

Player Of The Week

Matt Angle – OF

.333/.448/.583/1.031, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 5 R, 2 SB, 4 BB, 9 K

Angle, who somehow remained on the 40-man roster for the entire 2012 season, is having a decent 2013 so far. He’s getting consistent playing time with the injury to Alex Castellanos. He, along with others, are going to have to pickup the slack with Tim Federowicz and Scott Van Slyke playing in LA these days.

Pitcher Of The Week

Kelvin De La Cruz – LHP

4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

De La Cruz was an under-the-radar minor-league signing this winter, and so far, he’s pitching well. He’s getting a lot of strikeouts (13.1 K/9) and proving to be a valuable reliever out of the Isotopes’ bullpen.

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Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts (4-2)

Player Of The Week

Joc Pederson – OF

.619/.692/.810/1.502, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 SB, 5 BB, 2 K

Pederson was somehow not named Southern League Player Of The Week, but he continues to do nothing but hit for Chattanooga. He’s making all kinds of noise and is quickly becoming a more realistic option to be recalled than Yasiel Puig.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ross Stripling – RHP

6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

Not bad for a Double-A debut. The 23-year-old was promoted to Chattanooga and was thoroughly impressive. Stripling is proving to be a fast mover and could be some time in LA next year.

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High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-4)

Player Of The Week

Ryan Mount – 3B

.556/.571/1.074/1.645, 3 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 12 RBI, 6 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Mount was named the California League Player Of The Week with an outstanding performance that included a 5-for-5 game. The nearly 27-year-old is this year’s version of C.J. Retherford. Honorable mention goes to Darnell Sweeney, who hit for the cycle in a game this week.

Pitcher Of The Week

Duke Von Schamann – RHP

6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

The Quakes’ starter had another good week and is adjusting to the Cal League rather nicely. With Stripling having been promoted to Double-A, Von Schamann is the most consistent starting pitcher the Quakes have remaining.

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Low-A Great Lakes Loons (1-5)

Player Of The Week

Kevin Taylor – 2B

.348/.423/.391/.814, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K

Taylor got his first action of the season this week and performed well. Too bad he’s about the only Loon who hit even remotely well. Corey Seager is on the disabled list and the “veteran” hitters aren’t hitting right now.

Pitcher Of The Week

Angel Sanchez – RHP

13 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 16 K

It’s disappointing to see Sanchez repeating Low-A, especially at the age of 23, but it’s nice to see he’s pitching well thus far. It’ll be interesting to see if he can continue it, get a call-up to High-A, and try to do better this time around.

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Dustin Nosler is the founder of the site Feelin’ Kinda Blue. He also co-hosts the weekly podcast Dugout Blues. Follow him on Twitter @FeelinKindaBlue or like his site on Facebook.

The Dodgers made their first four cuts of Spring Training, with Dallas McPherson, Nick Evans, Ozzie Martinez, and Kelvin De La Cruz getting their assignments to minor-league camp.

Later, Gregory Infante was reassigned to minor-league camp, and the club released lefty Wander Beras.

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44-year-old lefty Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi worked out at the open tryouts the Dodgers held at Camelback Ranch. He failed that tryout and wasn’t offered a contract.

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Javy Guerra decided to play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.

Dodgers reliever Javy Guerra said he will be a late addition to Team Mexico’s entry in the World Baseball Classic after Cleveland closer Chris Perez left the roster for Team USA due to injury.

However, he later had to drop out because of liability concerns involving his shoulder.

Guerra, who was added to the Mexican team last week because other pitchers dropped out, was taken off the roster Wednesday because of liability issues resulting from his offseason shoulder surgery, Guerra said.

It’s for the better anyway.

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Don Mattingly is trying Juan Uribe out at first base in Spring Training as the Dodgers appear desperate to find some way to keep him on the 25-man roster.

“I expect it to really be pretty good, other than not necessarily having played there being a little uncomfortable for him,” Mattingly said. “His hands work. He’s always had a good feel for the game, and timing. I really expect him to be pretty good and be able to do this if he’ll put a little time on it, and pay attention to what he’s doing.”

So Mattingly doesn’t see Uribe struggling during the transition to a position he’s never played before, which is funny, considering this GIF.

“Unless we have a better option, he is under contract so it’s not one of those situations where I can just say this doesn’t work,” Mattingly said. “My job is to get everyone prepared the best we can with the guys that we have. I’m going to try to take the roster as we see it or the possibilities of it, and try to get the absolute most out of that.”

So Mattingly doesn’t seem interested in suggesting the release of Uribe.

Swell.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

The Dodgers have sent a lot of guys to play in winter ball following the conclusion of the Arizona Fall League. They are well represented in the Caribbean Winter Leagues and it’s nice to see some guys getting consistent playing time.

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Dominican Winter League

Geison Aguasviva has a 7.71 ERA in 2 1/3 innings.

Juan Abreu has thrown 6 2/3 innings, allowed 6 hits, two runs, two earned runs (2.70 ERA), six walks, and struck out five.

Wilkin Castro is 22-for-98 (.224) with a home run and nine walks.

Brian Cavazos-Galvez is 8-for-33 (.242). He’s not doing much down there.

Kelvin De La Cruz (your guess is as good as mine) has thrown 14 1/3 innings, allowed 16 hits, nine runs, seven earned runs (3.91 ERA), six walks, and has struck out 19. He’s a 6’5″ left-hander from the Dominican Republic.

Jose Dominguez was just added to the roster. He’s given up one hit and struck out two in 2/3 of an inning. Still throwing hard despite his suspension.

Tim Federowicz hasn’t played since Nov. 10. Only concerning because he’s on pace to be the team’s backup and could use the playing time.

Dee Gordon finished his winter league season by hitting .269/.350/.407/.757 with 11 walks in 108 at-bats. He had six triples, but was just 9-for-15 in stolen base attempts.

Elian Herrera is 20-for-86 (.233) with five doubles and 12 walks.

Luis Vazquez has thrown 12 2/3 innings, allowed up 10 hits, four runs, three earned runs (2.13 ERA), and struck out 13. The blemish: he’s given up 12 walks.

Rafael Ynoa is 4-for-18 (.222) with a home run. He’s basically been playing baseball since March, so it’s safe to say he’s running out of gas.

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Venezuelan Winter League

Blake Johnson finished his season with a 0.69 ERA. He allowed eight hits, three runs, one earned run, one walk, and struck out four in 13 innings.

Miguel Sulbaran has a 2.45 ERA in 3 2/3 innings. The 18-year-old has allowed five hits, one run, two walks, and two strikeouts.

C.J. Retherford has a .299/.392/.485 triple-slash with seven home runs, 15 doubles, and 30 walks.

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Mexican Winter League

Jesus Alberto Arredondo has a .214/.299/.257 triple-slash with five doubles, 28 walks, and 13 stolen bases.

Juan Noriega has thrown 23 2/3 innings, allowed 29 hits, 11 runs, 10 earned runs, eight walks, and struck out 16.

Francisco Villa has allowed six hits, two runs, no earned runs, three walks, and struck out five in six innings.

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Puerto Rican Winter League

Freddie Cabrera has thrown 17 innings, allowed 26 hits, seven runs, six earned runs, five walks, and struck out eight.

Onelki Garcia has thrown 10 1/3 innings, allowed 15 hits, five runs, five earned runs (4.35 ERA), three walks, and struck out nine. It’s just nice to see him getting some work.

Jarret Martin hasn’t pitched since Nov. 17.

Osvaldo Martinez is 25-for-96 (.291) with five doubles and a triple.

Aaron Miller made his debut on Saturday. He went two innings, allowed three hits, three runs, two earned runs, two walks, and struck out two.

Andres Santiago has given up three hits, two runs, one earned run (3.00 ERA), one walk, and struck out one in two innings.

Yasiel Puig is 9-for-33 (.273) with a home run, seven RBI, and an ugly 1/13 BB:K ratio. He missed about 10 days with a knee injury.

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Dustin Nosler is the founder of the site Feelin’ Kinda Blue. He also co-hosts the weekly podcast Dugout Blues. Follow him on Twitter @FeelinKindaBlue or like his site on Facebook.

The Dodgers announced their full coaching staff for 2013:

Don Mattingly – Manager (3rd Season)
Chuck Crim – Bullpen Coach (1st Season)
Trey Hillman – Bench Coach (3rd Season)
Rick Honeycutt – Pitching Coach (8th Season)
Davey Lopes – First Base Coach (3rd Season)
Mark McGwire – Hitting Coach (1st Season)
Tim Wallach – Third Base Coach (3rd Season)
Ken Howell – Assistant Pitching Coach (1st Season, 6th On Staff)
John Valentin – Assistant Hitting Coach (1st Season)
Manny Mota – Coach (34th Season)
Steve Yeager – Coach (2nd Season)

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As Chad noted, the Dodgers recently hired a slew of international scouts. Credit to the new ownership group for their renewed emphasis on building a farm system that includes international players.

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Matt Magill and Steven Ames were added to the 40-man roster, bringing the total for the club to 38.

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The Dodgers signed former Mets first/third baseman Nick Evans to a minor-league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, as reported first by Chris Jackson. Evans will likely be stationed in AAA, as Jackson notes, but could feasibly find himself at the back of the bench with a monster Spring or if an injury arises.

Additionally, the Dodgers added RHP Juan Abreu, RHP Hector Correa, RHP Greg Infante, LHP Kelvin De La Cruz, LHP Thomas Melgarejo, C Wilkin Castillo, and SS Miguel Rojas on minor-league deals. Also, 3B C.J. Retherford was re-signed.