GLENDALE, Ariz. — Life on the fringes of a major-league roster is not easy. Michael Siani is a light-hitting outfielder valued for his glove. He has played in the majors for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals over the past four seasons but as many as 20 games just once (124 in 2024 with t he Cardinals). He opened last season with the Cardinals but played his last game for them in mid-June and ended the season playing in Triple-A. That’s when things really picked up for the 26-year-old Siani. Every November, players who might be eligible for the Rule 5 draft are added to major-league rosters to protect them from the draft. When the Cardinals made their additions, Siani was knocked off the 40-man and placed on waivers. The Atlanta Braves claimed him. A little over a month later, the Braves signed free agent outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and designated Siani for assignment to clear a roster spot. Siani was claimed on waivers by the Dodgers. In January, the Dodgers made a bigger move to add an outfielder, signing Kyle Tucker. Once again, Siani was knocked off the 40-man roster. He was designated for assignment again and claimed by the New York Yankees. Siani was a member of the Yankees organization for about 10 days. They designated him for assignment after acquiring free-agent reliever Angel Chivili in a trade with the Colorado Rockies. The Yankees needed a roster spot. It was Siani’s. This time, he was reclaimed by the Dodgers on waivers, completing his offseason journey – for now. “Kind of waiting for the phone to ring a lot this offseason,” Siani said. “Fortunately, I was home for it. I wasn’t traveling, having to figure out ‘Oh, I have to be at this place at this time’ and such.” What are those calls like? “They’re usually very short,” Siani said with a wry chuckle. “Some representative from the team lets you know, ‘Hey, we made this move. We need a roster spot.’ Then they have to call you again and say, ‘Hey, this team claimed you off waivers. They’re going to reach out to you.’ Same thing, such and such. It’s pretty much two calls each time – they’re letting you know they got you and we’re going to take you off. Then they let you know if someone else grabs you.” All of the movement this offseason just reinforced what Siani already knew. “This game is a business,” he said. “Sometimes you learn that the hard way. Sometimes you learn that the easy way. I think it’s important to understand that.” Business or not, it must be hard not to get insulted by each DFA. “It does put a little bit of a chip on your shoulder,” Siani said. “All 30 teams had a chance to grab me. Luckily, the Dodgers held on to me to this point. It gives you more motivation and makes you want to be successful. You see the guys in this locker room and how successful a lot of them are. Them winning two championships in a row and some of them having even more shows how much they value winning here in this organization. It’s why a lot of people want to come here and play.” With each move, Siani said he might reach out to anyone he knew in that organization to get a feel for the situation he might be stepping into. But “I try not to get ahead of myself” and go too far in imagining himself in that new home. “Yes and no,” he said. “I’m not the GM. I’m not the President of Baseball Operations. I’m not going to act like I am. I’m not going to play that game. However it’s going to play out is how it’s going to play out. I just have to deal with the reality.” That can be a harsh reality, as Siani found out multiple times this winter. But he isn’t complaining. “Listen – I signed up for it. This is what I want to do. It comes with it,” he said. “They always say if you don’t like it, play better. That’s what I’ve got to do.” READY FREDDIE First baseman Freddie Freeman made his spring debut Tuesday and drove in two runs with a double into the left-center field gap. “Right now today is as good as I’ve seen his swing, over the course of a week sample, than I have in two years,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s in a good spot physically, mechanically. If we can keep him healthy, I just don’t see why he can’t have the year he expects and with everything that he went through the last couple years he was still productive. That says a lot, for me, about the character.” Freeman’s most important swing analyst passed the same judgment on his swing this spring. “My dad said it also,” Freeman said Tuesday. Over his first two seasons with the Dodgers, Freeman hit .328 with a .948 OPS. In 2024, however, he dealt with a broken finger, the illness of his son, Maximus, and a severe ankle injury in September. That injury required surgery following the season and limited Freeman into 2025. His average dipped below .300 and his OPS under .900 each of those two seasons. After a fully healthy offseason, Freeman expects a return to the 2022-23 level. “The whole offseason last year, I was seeing if I could get into a stance,” Freeman said, recalling the discomfort caused by his ankle injury. “And I hadn’t swung a bat until a day before Fanfest last year. So obviously just a normal offseason definitely helps. “I had no offseason last year. I still thought I did all right. … I expect to play like I normally do. I thought I did all right with no offseason and nursing something for five straight months. It’s not what I’m used to, but I still think we did all right, and we won the World Series. If I can stay healthy, which I think I know how to do … I expect to play like I normally do.” Freeman batted fourth in his spring debut on Tuesday with Kyle Tucker second. Roberts indicated that might be the order to start the season (with Shohei Ohtani at leadoff and Mookie Betts likely third). “As we stand here today, I like that going forward. It could change at some point for whatever unforeseen circumstances,” Roberts said. “But I just feel with Kyle in the two, lefty-righty matchups don’t bother him. He’s an on-base machine and that starts to bleed into guys in the 3-4-5 that I feel really good about being run producers and hitting with guys on base – yeah, I sort of like that now.” Related Articles Dodgers dominate Guardians for 4th consecutive win Dodgers’ Alex Vesia returns to mound, gets ovation from fans Dodgers shut out Mariners, win 3rd straight to start Cactus League play Sho and go: After two-way day in Dodgers camp, Shohei Ohtani packs for Japan Low-key Kyle Tucker quietly slipping into Dodgers’ star-studded lineup ...read more read less