Josh Hamilton Highlights 4 Non-Roster Invites to Watch at Spring Training

Spring training is right around the corner. A new year brings new questions and a few high-profile position battles to keep an eye on throughout the spring. There will also be players fighting for a roster spot, invited to camp as a non-roster invitee.

You smell that? Spring is in the air. Pitchers and catchers are reporting. The pop of baseballs hitting the mitt fills the Florida and Arizona air. Baseball is back.

For some players, it may be their last spring training.

Mike Axisa of CBS Sports recently took a look at one NRI from each team worth watching. That’s an exhausting 30-player list, and quite frankly, not all of them need to have eyes kept on them.

Instead, we’ll look at four players that could legitimately break spring training on the big league roster. It’s not uncommon, and with many of the veterans on a minor league deal, it’s quite the investment.

Missing from this list will be younger prospects that do not have a serious shot at their respective big league rosters. Everyone wants to see how Eloy Jimenez and Gleyber Torres will do. People should also realize that they have no serious shot at making the Opening Day roster. While they may provide some excitement watching them compete with the big boys, they are both at least a year away, if not more.

Here, the focus will be a few crafty veterans looking for one last chance. Three are former high-profile All-Stars, and one hasn’t been heard from in half a decade. They all have one thing in common.

If they don’t make the roster out of spring training, it’s likely they won’t make a roster ever again.

(All of the players were picked based on the most updated non-roster invites listed on MLB.com.)