Ryan Webb not expected to join Dodgers in Arizona

The Dodgers opened their weekend series against the Diamondbacks on Friday night but they did not have Ryan Webb in their bullpen, after acquiring him from the Orioles on Thursday in a four-player trade.

The Dodgers likely won't have Webb all weekend in Arizona either, per reports from Friday.

"I just know those guys are saying, ‘Don’t expect him to be here in Arizona,’" manager Don Mattingly told reporters Friday, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

Those guys are president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi, both of whom made the trip to Phoenix with the team.

Webb, 29, was designated for assignment on Monday by the Orioles. The Dodgers acquired the right-hander from Baltimore on Thursday in a four-player trade that also saw the Dodgers acquire a competitive balance draft pick, No. 74 overall.

The Dodgers are responsible for all but four days of Webb's $2.75 million salary. They already added him to the 40-man roster, but haven't activated him. Usually a player has 72 hours to report to his new team, which would put him in line for Sunday.

If the Dodgers want him on the major league roster right now, that is.

Webb cleared outright waivers with the Orioles, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun, and with that salary would likely clear again. But with five years, 11 days of major league service time Webb can decline any outright assignment to the minor leagues, something he already did with Baltimore.

"That's already been taken care of," Webb said Monday, per Roch Kubatko of MASN. "I will not accept assignment."

Perhaps that is what the Dodgers are waiting on, trying to take the weekend to convince Webb to spend some time in Triple-A Oklahoma City, perhaps adding an out clause should he not be added to the major league roster by a certain date.

Or the front office might be working on another trade.

Whatever happens with Webb, we should have a better idea by Sunday, or perhaps Monday at the latest.

Webb was 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA and 2.95 FIP in 51 games last year in 2014 with the Orioles, with 37 strikeouts and 12 walks in 49⅓ innings. Webb has allowed only 15 home runs in 325⅓ innings in his six major league seasons. His 56.1-percent career ground ball rate ranks 25th among the 417 pitchers with at least 200 innings during that span, though his 48.7-percent ground ball rate was the lowest of his career.

On the minor league side, Triple-A Oklahoma City added catcher Brian Ward — who came with Webb from the Orioles — to the active roster on Friday, and placed catcher Ralph Henriquez to the seven-day disabled list.