A few of the aforementioned players that are starting the season at AAA, but were important to the Dodgers’ success in 2016, are Trayce Thompson, Adam Liberatore, Charlie Culberson, Rob Segedin, and Josh Fields. Of these players, it seems that Liberatore, Culberson, Segedin, and Fields are only in AAA because their fellow competitors did not have any more options left,. Thus, LA had to keep them on the major league roster instead.
Liberatore was arguably the Dodgers’ best lefty specialist out of the pen last year, until he went down with injuries, while Josh Fields was one of the team’s most effective right-handed relievers.