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Dodgers notes: FanFest, the other Jose Molina, Charley Steiner honored

By Eric Stephen
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The Dodgers haven't released a full schedule of events for FanFest, but we do know a few details of the annual winter fan gathering at Dodger Stadium, to be held this year on Saturday, January 31.

Unlike the last few years, this year the events are inside the stadium instead of the parking lot. There will be interviews on a main stage, and single game tickets will be on sale on that Saturday as well as opening day mini-plans.

Autograph sessions run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and with the caveat that the schedule could change, as of now 12 of 17 new additions to the 40-man roster will be there: Austin Barnes, Mike Bolsinger, Yasmani Grandal, Chris Hatcher, Enrique Hernandez, Howie Kendrick, Zach Lee, Adam Liberatore, Brandon McCarthy, Joel Peralta, Chris Reed and Joe Wieland.

Friedman gets Molina again

The long-foreseen reunion of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Jose Molina, both formerly of the Rays, is upon us. The Dodgers have signed Molina to a minor league contract, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America, but not the catcher who in 2014 stole three bases but also with four runs scored became the first player ever with at least 200 plate appearances and fewer than six runs scored in a season.

This Jose Molina is a left-handed relief pitcher from the Dominican Republic who turns 24 in June, 16 years younger than the catcher. The younger Molina was 5-5 with a 3.78 ERA in 39 games for Advanced Class-A Charlotte in 2014, with 45 strikeouts and 33 walks in 64⅓ innings. In seven years in the Tampa Bay system, Molina never advanced past Class-A.

In case you missed it

Julio Urias this week showed his pitching grips to Cry Osborne of Dodger Insider, who also got input on the pitches from catcher Tyler Ogle.

Outside of Wednesday's meeting with manager Don Mattingly, this week's winter development program was off limits to media. Jon Weisman of Dodger Insider gave us a nice glimpse into one of the sessions.

Among the people to speak with Dodgers players during the winter development program were social psychologist and Harvard professor Amy Cuddy on body language and confidence, and former President Obama staffers and Fenway Strategies founders Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor on public image.

"Information is king and should be shared lovingly and liberally," wrote Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler.

Dodgers broadcaster Charley Steiner had his alma mater, Bradley University, on Thursday name its sports communication program in his honor, The Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication.

"My career began at a time when the words ‘sports’ and ‘journalism’ rarely shared the same book, much less the same sentence," Steiner said in a press release. "Bradley’s history can become a driving force into the future in ways we can’t even begin to project. Being a part of that process going forward, from the place where it all began for me, brings me an overwhelming sense of pride and joy."

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