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2012 Dodgers Spring Training Roster

Pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch on Tuesday, February 21.

Pitchers and catchers report for the Dodgers on Tuesday, February 21, with their first workout one day later. Position players report on Monday, February 27, with the first full squad workout to be held on February 28. Here is a look at the Dodgers spring training roster, which runs 61 deep this year to open big league camp:

Dodgers Spring Training Roster
Pitchers (33)
No. Player 2012 Age* On 40-man?
78 Michael Antonini lhp 26 Yes
63 Jose Ascanio 27 No
51 Ronald Belisario 29 No^
58 Chad Billingsley 27 Yes
35 Chris Capuano lhp 33 Yes
61 Alberto Castillo lhp 36 No
56 Matt Chico lhp 29 No
60 Todd Coffey 31 Yes
41 Rubby De La Rosa 23 Yes
57 Scott Elbert lhp 26 Yes
50 Nathan Eovaldi 22 Yes
79 Stephen Fife 25 Yes
33 John Grabow lhp 33 No
54 Javy Guerra 26 Yes
55 Matt Guerrier 33 Yes
59 Angel Guzman 30 No
44 Aaron Harang 34 Yes
36 Blake Hawksworth 28 Yes
74 Kenley Jansen 24 Yes
22 Clayton Kershaw lhp 24 Yes
47 Wil Ledezma lhp 31 No
29 Ted Lilly lhp 36 Yes
52 Josh Lindblom 25 Yes
72 Shane Lindsay 27 No
66 Mike MacDougal 35 Yes
62 Fernando Nieve lhp 29 No
73 Scott Rice lhp 30 No
70 Will Savage 27 No
38 Ramon Troncoso 29 Yes
71 Ryan Tucker 25 No
80 Josh Wall 25 Yes
68 Chris Withrow 23 Yes
28 Jamey Wright 37 No
Catchers (6)
No. Player 2012 Age* On 40-man?
30 Josh Bard 34 No
17 A.J. Ellis 31 Yes
82 Gorman Erickson 24
No
31 Tim Federowicz 24 Yes
18 Matt Treanor 36 Yes
81 Matt Wallach 26 No
Infielders (12)
No. Player 2012 Age* On 40-man?
67 Jeff Baisley 29 No
65 Luis Cruz 28 No
13 Ivan DeJesus Jr. 25 Yes
14 Mark Ellis 35 Yes
37 Josh Fields 29 No
9 Dee Gordon 24 Yes
6 Jerry Hairston, Jr. 36 Yes
3
Adam Kennedy 36 Yes
7 James Loney 28 Yes
12 Justin Sellers 26 Yes
5 Juan Uribe 32 Yes
64 Lance Zawadzki 27 No
Outfieders (10)
No. Player 2012 Age* On 40-man?
76 Alex Castellanos 25 Yes
16 Andre Ethier 30 Yes
10 Tony Gwynn Jr. 29 Yes
27 Matt Kemp 27 Yes
49 Trent Oeltjen 29 Yes
21 Juan Rivera 33 Yes
23 Jerry Sands 24 Yes
75 Alfredo Silverio 25 Yes
56 Cory Sullivan 32 No
77 Scott Van Slyke 25 Yes
*Age as of June 30, 2012; ^Restricted list

Minor league camp opens in full on March 3 when pitchers and catchers report, with the first workout on March 5. All others report on March 9, with a first full minor league workout on March 11. Minor league early camp opens on February 27.

The Dodgers first spring training game is on March 5 at 12:05 p.m. PST against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch.

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True Blue Los Angeles Fantastical Base Ball League

Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and those who've yet to decide, to the 2012 TBLA Fantasy Baseball League! It's going to be fun, it's going to be awesome, it's going to be super great.

Start here. The league name is True Blue Los Angeles (ID# 22409), our custom URL is http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/trueblue. The password is drematic.

It's a head to head league, with a live draft. The draft will be Thursday, March 1st at 8pm. There is a limit of 12 teams, so I'll update this fanpost as teams are taken. An FYI on the first week:

The Major League Baseball season opens this season on March 28, with the Mariners and Athletics playing a two-game series in Tokyo, Japan. As a result, Yahoo! has combined those two games with the abbreviated opening week for all other teams that begins with the Cardinals-Marlins game on April 4.

Week 1 of the Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head season will run from March 28-April 8.

**Update**

Ladies and Gentlemen we've got nine teams now, that's three quarters of the league full. Super proud y'all, like a peacock. Get 'em while they're hot!

  • Hollywood Stars (Josie Becker)
  • OC Batmans of LA (Going out on a limb and say nolander)
  • Houston Memes (Nolij)
  • The Kyle Russells (IVDown)
  • Ya Blue It! (funkyjam)
  • Downs Syndrome (IIIDown)
  • Powers of a Mod (David Young)
  • Frogtown Tadpoles
  • Soccer Rules (Xeifrank)

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2012 NL West Offseason Review: Los Angeles Dodgers

Matt Kemp had himself quite an offseason.

After a thorough review of the offseason moves of the other four teams in the National League West, we turn our investigation inward, looking at our very own Los Angeles Dodgers.

In case you missed the rest of the NL West, here are offseason reviews of Arizona, San Francisco, Colorado, and San Diego.

Five Questions

Los Angeles Dodgers
2011 Record: 82-79
Division Finish:
Third place, 11½ GB
2012 Opening Day: Apr 5 at Petco Park in San Diego
2012 Home Opener: Apr 10 vs. Pittsburgh
Other SB Nation coverage: SB Nation Los Angeles

1) Did the season-ending ACL injury to Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers cost the Dodgers Prince Fielder?

Yes.

2) If the Dodgers had all this money to sign Prince Fielder, shouldn't they have at least made a formal offer to Hiroki Kuroda, who signed for one year, $10 million with the New York Yankees?

Yes.

3) Will Clayton Kershaw in 2012 become the second Dodgers pitcher ever to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards, joining Sandy Koufax?

Yes.

4) Will Dee Gordon steal at least 60 bases for the Dodgers in 2012?

Yes.

5) Did you mail in this final question and answer session of the week?

Yes.

Dodgers Trades, Etc. This Winter
Team Traded Acquired
Rockies Jamie Hoffmann of (claimed by Colorado)
Orioles Dana Eveland lhp Jarret Martin lhp
Tyler Henson of

Eveland was arbitration eligible and not in the plans for the Dodgers' starting rotation in 2012, so he was shipped off to Baltimore for two players ranked by our own Brandon Lennox as the No. 59 and No. 77 prospects in the Dodgers' system.

Dodgers Contracts Signed This Winter
Pos Player Type Total Contract 2012 Salary
OF Matt Kemp Arb 8-year, $160m $10,000,000
SP Clayton Kershaw Arb 2-year, $19m $6,000,000
SP Aaron Harang FA 2-year, $12m + option $3,000,000
OF Andre Ethier Arb 1-year, $10.95m $10,950,000
SP Chris Capuano FA 2-year, $10m + option $3,000,000
2B Mark Ellis FA 2-year, $8.75m + option $2,500,000
1B James Loney Arb 1-year, $6.375m $6,375,000
IF/OF Jerry Hairston, Jr. FA 2-year, $6m $2,250,000
OF/1B Juan Rivera FA 1-year, $4.5m + option $4,000,000
OF Tony Gwynn, Jr. Arb 2-year, $2m $850,000
RP Todd Coffey FA 1-year, $1.3m + option $1,000,000
RP Mike MacDougal FA 1-year, $1m + option $650,000
C Matt Treanor FA 1-year, $1m + option $850,000
IF Adam Kennedy FA 1-year, $800k $800,000

Matt Kemp signed the largest contract in National League history. That feels good just saying that out loud.

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572 comments  | 

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Ultimate Sports Social Media Job: An Update

You might recall a couple weeks back, we posted about the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest from XFINITY. The entrants are in, and here is your chance to vote for the winner. If you entered, best of luck to you and please let us know in the comments section. This is a sponsored post.

Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where from thousands of hopefuls, one star is born? Well, True Blue LA readers, here's your chance to play "starmaker" and help pick the new voice of sports in social media!

XFINITY is looking for the next renowned sports social media star through its Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The winning candidate will serve as the new voice of XFINITY in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans.

From February 9-19, you can review qualified entry videos and vote for the contestant you'd like to see advance to the finals of the XFINITY Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The five entrants with the most votes will advance to the final round of the contest where they will cover one of five premier sporting events the weekend of March 8-11. Fans can head today to Facebook.com/XFINITY and click on the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest tab to vote for your favorite personality (once per day)!

Will you choose the brainiac with the encyclopedia of stats, the former jock who knows the game inside out, or the corporate type who gets the marketing side of the business? You decide. Vote today at Facebook.com/XFINITY!

Best of luck to all who entered!

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Dodgers 2012 Minor League Countdown: 50 - 41

Matt Magill throwing for the Quakes

As we move into the top 50 of my minor league countdown we are going to start seeing some of the best Dodger league prospects. Just like last year, for the final 50 players I'm going to add a short justification to the end of each paragraph to provide a little more insight as to why I ranked each player where I did. Just as a reminder, the age I list for each player is as of 2012 opening day. As always, let me know what you think.

50. Russell Mitchell, 1B/3B (93 games in AAA, 25 games in Majors in 2011)
Drafted by Dodgers 2003, 15th round
5’10”, 210 lbs, 27 years old, bats right handed
.283 average, .875 OPS, 16 HR’s, 69 RBI’s, 1 SB (minor league stats only)
Pre 2011 Rank: 34; Pre 2010 Rank: 52; Pre 2009 Rank: 32

Most people wouldn’t really consider Russ Mitchell a prospect at this point, but heading into 2012 he still qualifies as a rookie and has just 93 big league at bats. He is also just 27 years old despite the fact that he was drafted way back in 2003. Mitchell’s journey as a Dodger has a been a long one as he has played on 9 different minor league teams and has spent time at 6 different positions during his minor league career. The organization even considered trying him out as a catcher at one point, but after a lot of hard work he has established himself as a serviceable 3rd baseman. Russ has spent the majority of the past two seasons in Albuquerque, and has been a September big league call up both years. His stats for the Isotopes have been very strong, and in 2011 he hit 16 homers and posted a .875 OPS while striking out in just 15.8% of his plate appearances. The only drawback to his success is that Mitchell has been much better at home than on the road since joining the Isotopes, which obviously gives the impression that he has been aided by Albuquerque’s hitter friendly park. For 2012 there didn’t look to be any room for Russ in Los Angeles, so he was designated for assignment and removed from the 40 man roster. That will make it difficult for him to make it back up to the big leagues, but you never know so he’ll serve as an insurance policy while spending a 3rd season in Albuquerque.

Why #50: While Mitchell was never going to be a big league regular, give his marginal power and ability to 3rd base I always considered him a cheap option that had the ability to fill in as a bench player for a major league team. The fact that the Dodgers chose to take him off their 40 man roster over guys like Troncoso and Oeltjen isn’t a good sign for his future, however, and the two home runs he hit for Los Angeles in 2011 might be the highlight of his big league career.

49. Noel Cuevas, OF (23 games in HiA, 60 games in Pioneer Rookie Lg in 2011)
Drafted by Dodgers 2010, 21st round
6’2”, 187 lbs, 20.5 years old, bats right handed
.267 average, .740 OPS, 8 HR’s, 43 RBI’s, 15 SB’s
Pre 2011 Rank: 52; Pre 2010 Rank: N/A; Pre 2009 Rank: N/A

The Dodgers selected Noel Cuevas in the 21st round of the 2010 draft, and after a lengthy holdout he finally inked a deal with the club for $100K. The outfielder from Puerto Rico was just 18 years old when he signed, and according to Baseball America he had “intriguing raw power”. Even though Cuevas only had 3 professional games under his belt heading into 2012, the Dodgers sent Noel to the California League in May. Cuevas was mostly overmatched against the advanced competition, however, and after hitting .220 the month long experiment was over as he was sent back down to the Pioneer League. Noel fared much better in Ogden as he saw his OPS rise from .538 with the Quakes to .814 with the Raptors, and he ranked 3rd on the team with 29 extra base hits. He also made decent contact as he struck out in 19.9% of plate appearances for the season, and even stole 15 bases. Here he is getting a hit during the Raptors’ playoff run. Defensively Cuevas was pegged as a left fielder when he was drafted, but he held his own in center field during James Baldwin's absence. Left field is probably still his best position, but it’s still encouraging to know that he's athletic enough to handing playing in the middle of the field. In 2012 I’m guessing that Cuevas will get another shot with the Quakes, although it’s just as likely that he’ll spend the season in the Midwest League. He’s got an interesting set of tools and is still quite young so he’ll definitely be someone worth following next season.

Why #49: Cuevas’ power potential makes him deserving of a spot in my top 50, although he’s still quite raw and has a long ways to go before reaching Los Angeles. I’m guessing that his defense limitations will be more apparent as he moves up through the system, although I was encouraged by his stolen base numbers and his ability to handle center this past season. Overall Noel’s ceiling appears to be that of big league outfielder with 25 homer potential, but he obviously has a long ways to go before we can even think about him reaching that level.

Follow the jump for #'s 48 - 41

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All-star predictions

I'm not sure if you guys normally do this sort of thing and if so, feel free to do anything you want with it but if not, let's just have some fun!

First I'll give you my projections and then let's hold a voting and see how close we get to what's going to happen.
Here are my All-star starting roster predictions.

  1. 1b: Freddie Freeman
  2. 2b: Rickie Weeks
  3. SS: Dee Gordon
  4. 3b: Ryan Zimmerman
  5. SP: Clayton Kershaw
  6. NextP: Roy Halladay
  7. LF: Ryan Braun
  8. CF: Matt Kemp
  9. RF: Mike Stanton
  10. C: Buster Posey

Now, can people name their two top picks for each position in the comments, and I'll count 'em up and see what we've got. Get started!

(The voting should be open for about a week.)

8 comments  | 

2012 NL West Offseason Review: San Diego Padres

The Dodgers open up their 2012 season at Petco Park. Hopefully it doesn't rain, like it did a year ago.

Our final road stop on the National League West offseason review tour brings us to the San Diego Padres. Here is a look at the offseason for the rivals down south, where the Dodgers will open their regular season on April 5.

Five Questions

San Diego Padres
2011 Record: 71-91
Division Finish:
Fifth Place, 23 GB
2012 at Dodger Stadium:
Apr 13-15, Jul 13-15, Sep 3-5
2012 Dodgers at Petco Park: Apr 5-8, May 16-17, Sep 25-27
SB Nation coverage: Gaslamp Ball

1) Who 'won' the Mat Latos trade?

At first glance, it seems like the Padres got the better end of the deal just by sheer volume, as they got catcher Yasmani Grandal, first baseman Yonder Alonso, starting pitcher Edinson Volquez, and right-handed pitcher Brad Boxberger from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for their ace.

The Padres picked up three of the Reds' top 10 prospects (per Baseball America) and two top-100 guys in Alonso and Grandal. Restocking the farm system with deals like these helped Keith Law of ESPN rank the Padres' farm system as the best in MLB.

But what San Diego gave up is a pitcher who just turned 24 with 31 starts in each of the last two seasons and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than three-to-one. Latos isn't even eligible for salary arbitration until next season.

It seems both teams got what they wanted out of the transaction, as Cincinnati got a cost-controlled front-of-the-rotation starter during their current window of contention in the National League Central, while San Diego added to the foundation of a team that could be pretty good in a year or two.

2) Will Carlos Quentin be healthy enough to matter for the Padres?

The outfielder was one of the favorites for the American League MVP while with the Chicago White Sox in 2008 before missing the final month of the season. In the three years since, Quentin has been a productive hitter, hitting .245/.336/.479 for Chicago, but he has averaged just 116 games per season during the last three campaigns, never playing in more than 131 games in a season during his career.

But the Padres gave up only a pair of lightly regarded pitchers to nab Quentin from the White Sox, so there is minimal risk for San Diego, outside his $7 million salary. San Diego is banking on Quentin hitting well enough and staying healthy enough to either help them somehow contend or to increase his trade value come June or July.

Maybe to stay healthy, Quentin could stop getting hit by so many pitches. Over the last four seasons, Quentin has been plunked 78 times, second most in MLB (behind Chase Utley's 83) and 26 more than the third-most HBP during that span.

Trivial Padres Fact:
Orlando-hudson-padres-dodger-stadium-getty_medium
Other than four career games at designated hitter, Orlando Hudson has never played any other position but second base in his 10 years in the big leagues.

3) How will Mike Adams continue to help the Padres, even though he's in Texas?

The Padres picked up Adams nine days before his 28th birthday in 2006, for pitcher Brian Sikorski. In 2008 Adams became a fixture in the San Diego bullpen, and for three and a half years was awesome, with a 1.66 ERA, 241 strikeouts and 59 walks in 217 innings.

But the Padres sent Adams to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline last year, picking up left-handed pitcher Robbie Erlin and right-hander Joseph Weiland. Erlin put up a 3.50 ERA with a strikeout per inning in 17 games at Double A last year at age 20, while Weiland had a 1.80 ERA in 12 Double A starts with 54 strikeouts in 70 innings, at age 21.

Both pitchers will be in the San Diego starting rotation sooner rather than later, and Corey Brock of MLB.com speculated that at least Weiland, if not both, will end 2012 starting games at Petco Park.

4) How much will it cost to go see the Dodgers play at Petco Park?

That could depend on several factors.

The Padres have partnered up with Texas software company Qcue to offer dynamic ticket pricing this season for single-game tickets. "By using advanced computer programming, dynamic pricing will give the team the ability to adjust ticket costs higher or lower based on market demand and such factors as pitching matchups, the team's performance, weather and potential milestones," wrote Corey Brock of MLB.com.

Dynamic ticket pricing is also being implemented in St. Louis, San Francisco, Oakland, Minnesota, Seattle, and Pittsburgh in MLB this season.

5) What about Micah Owings?

I'm glad you asked. The Padres signed the former Diamondbacks pitcher/hitter to a $1 million contract, and Owings is expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. He will also get a chance to improve on his standing as the 27th-highest active slugging percentage (.507) among all major leaguers with at least 200 career plate appearances.

Offseason Moves

Padres Trades, Etc. This Winter
Team Traded Acquired
Athletics Cedric Hunter of (claimed off waivers by Oakland)
Athletics Evan Scribner rhp (claimed off waivers by Oakland)
Marlins Wade LeBlanc lhp John Baker c
Rockies Nick Schmidt lhp Huston Street rhp
$500,000
Indians Aaron Cunningham of Cory Burns of
Reds Mat Latos rhp Edinson Volquez rhp
Yonder Alonso 1b
Yasmani Grandal c
Brad Boxberger rhp
Rangers Luis Martinez c Ryan Kelly rhp
White Sox Simon Castro rhp
Pedro Hernandez lhp
Carlos Quentin of
Cubs Anthony Rizzo 1b
Zach Cates rhp
Andrew Cashner rhp
Kyung-Min Na of

In addition to the $500,000 sent to San Diego in the trade for Street, Colorado is on the hook for the $500,000 buyout should the Padres decide to decline the closer's $9 million club option for 2013.

Padres Contracts Signed This Winter
Pos Player Type Total Contract 2012 Salary
OF Mark Kotsay FA 1-year, $1.25m $1,250,000
P/DH Micah Owings FA 1-year, $1m $1,000,000
OF Carlos Quentin Arb 1-year, $7.025m $7,025,000
3B Chase Headley Arb 1-year, $3.425m $3,425,000
SP Tim Stauffer Arb 1-year, $3.2m $3,200,000
SP Clayton Richard Arb 1-year, $2.705m $2,705,000
SP Edinson Volquez Arb 1-year, $2.2375m $2,237,500
SP Dustin Moseley Arb 1-year, $2.0125m $2,012,500
C Nick Hundley Arb 1-year, $2m $2,000,000
RP Luke Gregerson Arb 1-year, $1.55m $1,550,000
OF Will Venable Arb 1-year, $1.475m $1,475,000
OF Chris Denorfia
Arb 1-year, $1.165m $1,165,000
C John Baker
Arb 1-year, $750k $750,000
RP Joe Thatcher
Arb 1-year, $700k $700,000

The Padres had a whopping 12 players eligible for salary arbitration, and got them all signed by the end of January. San Diego also signed pitcher Jeff Suppan and outfielder Jeremy Hermida, among others, to minor-league contracts.

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Dodgers.com might have a job opening...

Who's job is it to "verify" the Dodgers Depth Chart on Dodgers.com. Today's depth chart looks just like the Feb. 7th verified depth chart and they both have H. Kuo out of the bullpen! There are others errors as well and they may have not updated it, but why would it say it was verified today. It is misleading to the casual fan and they should pay closer attention to these things. It is better for TrueBlueLA, because people here give a damn about getting things right and fans know where to get the truth!

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A place for Dodger fans to congregate without spending $15 on parking.

2012 Dodgers Payroll

Italics denote estimates
Pos No Player 2012 Salary
C 17 Ellis $500,000 team control
1B 7 Loney $6,375,000
2B 14 Ellis $2,500,000
3B 5 Uribe $8,000,000
SS 9 Gordon $485,000 team control
LF 21 Rivera $4,000,000
CF 27 Kemp $10,000,000
RF 16 Ethier $10,950,000

IF/OF 6 Hairston $2,250,000
OF 10 Gwynn $850,000
2B/3B 3 Kennedy $800,000
C 18 Treanor $850,000
IF 12 Sellers $485,000 team control

SP 22 Kershaw $6,000,000
SP 58 Billingsley $9,000,000
SP 29 Lilly $12,000,000
SP 35 Capuano $3,000,000
SP 44
Harang $3,000,000

CL 54 Guerra $485,000 team control
RHP 74
Jansen $500,000 team control
RHP 55 Guerrier $4,750,000
RHP 60 Coffey $1,000,000
RHP 66 MacDougal $650,000
LHP 57 Elbert $485,000 team control
RHP 36
Hawksworth $500,000 team control

TJ 41 De La Rosa $485,000 team control



Manny $8,087,432 deferred


Andruw $3,375,000 deferred


Pierre $3,050,000 deferred
Furcal $3,000,000 deferred
Kuroda $2,000,000 deferred
Garland $1,500,000 option buyout
Blake $1,250,000 option buyout

Totals
$112,162,432

For more detailed information, click here.

Players on 40-man roster used as roster
fillers until moves are made.

Current 40-man roster count: 40
(not including Belisario)

2012 Non-Roster Invitees

No Player Age*
63 Jose Ascanio rhp
27
61 Alberto Castillo lhp
36
56 Matt Chico lhp
29
33 John Grabow lhp
33
59 Angel Guzman rhp
30
47 Wil Ledezma lhp
31
72 Shane Lindsay rhp
27
62 Fernando Nieve rhp 29
73 Scott Rice lhp 30
70 Will Savage rhp
27
71 Ryan Tucker rhp
25
28 Jamey Wright rhp
37

30 Josh Bard c 34
82 Griff Erickson c 24
81 Matt Wallachc 26
67 Jeff Baisley 3b/1b 29
65 Luis Cruz ss/2b 28
37 Josh Fields 3b 29
64 Lance Zawadzki if 27
56 Cory Sullivan of 32

*Age on June 30, 2012

NRI count: 20

For more info, click here.


Manager

Eric___ned___reporters_2011_trade_deadline_small Eric Stephen

Editors

100_1427_small Phil Gurnee

Dgy_small David Young

Hanauma_bay_small Chad Moriyama

2501_small Michael White

Raptors_small Brandon Lennox