Chris Withrow, Scott Van Slyke, Alex Castellanos, John Wall, Stephen Fife, Michael Antonini, and Alfredo Silverio were optioned to minor league camp, while Russ Mitchell and Shane Lindsay, both non-roster invitees to camp, were reassigned to the minor league side.

No surprises there.

However, one surprise is third baseman Josh Fields, who apparently now has a good shot at making the roster.

Fields is Mitchell with a history of Major League success, a corner infielder who slugged 23 home runs as a rookie for the Chicago White Sox in 2007, only to have his career get sidetracked by knee and hip surgeries.

His road back to the Major Leagues hasn’t been an easy one and included a detour to Japan last summer. He’s in Dodgers camp on a Minor League contract, but he’s made enough of an early impression that he leaped past Mitchell as an insurance candidate at third base if Juan Uribe should fail again, and at first base behind James Loney.

Fields, Jerry Sands and Justin Sellers are probably fighting for the last roster spot, barring injury.

If that’s true, then Fields is making the team, I think.

Now I’ve basically come to terms with the fact that the Dodgers won’t be keeping Jerry Sands, because … Dodgers. Plus, carrying Justin Sellers would mean taking eleventy trillion utility infielders on the roster, so I’m pretty sure Fields ends up as the odd man in.

While I guess that’s a nice story, let’s get one thing straight here: Fields has a career rWAR of -1.3 and a career fWAR of -0.1. To say the reason his career is currently on the brink is due to injuries is asinine because even in that breakout season he was worth 0.9 rWAR and 0.6 fWAR.

My point is that people should stop pretending like he has a ton of upside because it isn’t true, and he’s far more likely to end up as the 2010 Garret Anderson than 2006 Olmedo Saenz.

MLB.com: Outfielder Jamie Hoffmann was claimed by the Rockies off waivers, which makes it unlikely the perennial sixth outfielder in the system will be back.

MLB.com: Remember Ronald Belisario? He wants back in.

Ronald Belisario, not seen by the Dodgers since 2010, is again working on obtaining a work visa that would allow him to return to the United States and compete for a Dodgers bullpen role next season.

General manager Ned Colletti wouldn’t characterize the odds of Belisario actually showing up at Camelback Ranch-Glendale in February, but he confirmed that the right-hander has been working with government officials to allow his return.

Everybody has wishes, I suppose.

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MLB.com: Logan White has been interviewed for the Astros vacant GM position.

The Astros have interviewed Dodgers assistant general manager Logan White for their vacant general manager position, a Major League Baseball source told MLB.com.

Just as Ned Colletti is about to be shown the door.

Los Angeles Times: Pat Gillick would have interest in being the president of baseball operations for the new owners.

Pat Gillick, one of the most successful executives in baseball history, said he would consider joining the Dodgers if a new owner wished to consider him.

Gillick said he has been approached by prospective bidders for the Dodgers but said he would not align with any potential ownership group. Once a new owner is selected — and if that new owner is interested — Gillick said he would consider a position as president of baseball operations.

It’s an upgrade, but his history is a bit spotty.

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MLB.com: Dodgers are in negotiations for minor league contracts with five players.

The Dodgers are in discussions with four non-roster players on Minor League contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training — three of them pitchers — and are close to a deal with another.

The four are: Jose Ascanio, a right-handed reliever; Jeff Baisley, a corner infielder; Wil Ledezma, a left-handed reliever; and Shane Lindsay, a right-handed reliever.

A tentative agreement has been reached with Alberto Castillo, a 35-year-old left-hander from Cuba who had a 2.31 ERA in 17 games in 2011 for the D-backs, his eighth organization. He missed August with shoulder tendinitis.

Wil Ledezma had been rumored to be signing for a while now, but the rest are new and rather uninspiring, which is to be expected.

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True Blue LA: Eric Stephen wrote a great article about how risk aversion can end up being risky as well.

In order to get these five marginal upgrades in 2012, the Dodgers will pay something like $26.5 million in 2013 for a group of older players ($23 million if Rivera’s option is not exercised). We could be paying $13 million in 2013 for three hitters who hit a combined .257/.314/.369 in 2011. Keep in mind, this group includes two players who were so bad in 2011 they were designated for assignment and dumped by their original teams, and a pair of homer-prone pitchers who made opposing hitters look like All-Stars outside of their friendly home parks.

I get not wanting to dive into the deep waters of the free agent market. Long-term commitments can be scary, and carry with them a lot of risk. But sometimes too much risk aversion can leave you saddled with the equivalent of a superstar price tag without anything close to superstar production.

Perhaps after all the dust settles, I’ll look at how everything actually shook out, but what this replacement level player spree is costing the Dodgers in 2013 was an eye opener for me.