Dodgers add Gutierrez to already loaded roster

GLENDALE, Ariz.—Although Franklin Gutierrez officially joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday afternoon, the veteran outfielder had already been working out at their spring training complex for two days.

The Dodgers reached a deal with him last week, but they couldn’t formally announce his arrival because they hadn’t been able to clear a spot for him on their 40-man roster until they traded veteran left-hander Vidal Nuno to Baltimore for a prospect on Sunday.

Such is the nature of the Dodgers’ remarkable roster depth heading into a season of enormous expectations. The four-time defending NL West champions are bursting with quality big-leaguers at every position, ranging from seasoned veterans to blue-chip young talent, as they chase their first World Series title since 1988.

The Dodgers’ extraordinary depth is a luxury for manager Dave Roberts, but it also means spring training is uncommonly important as they begin the difficult process of trimming this roster to a 25-man group.

For instance, Roberts can choose among 10 legitimate big-league starters for his five-man rotation. The club also must make tough calls from the bullpen to the outfield, and the process takes another step forward Tuesday with the first full-squad workout.

“We’re going to have a lot of competition around here, and someone is not going to be happy,” ace Clayton Kershaw said. “But it’s going to be good for us in the long run.”

Since the deep-pocketed Guggenheim Baseball Management ownership group took over the team in 2012 and hired top baseball executive Andrew Friedman away from Tampa Bay two years later, the Dodgers have spent the bounty from their multibillion-dollar television deal with remarkable vigor. They did it again during this offseason, committing a combined $192 million to keep third baseman Justin Turner, closer Kenley Jansen and starter Rich Hill from the team that finished two wins shy of the World Series.

The Dodgers also were deep last season, and they had to be: They won 91 games and reached the NL Championship Series despite setting a single-season major league record by putting 28 different players on the disabled list. They had seven starting pitchers on the DL at the same time in August, and they used 55 different players, tying a team record.

If injury problems ravage them again, the Dodgers think they will be ready.