Dansby Swanson, Sean Newcomb, and Ozzie Albies among prospects invited to Spring Training

We're in the first week of a brand new calendar year, which means that Spring Training is right around the corner! That means that in addition to teams making their last few transactions before pitchers and catchers report next month, we're starting to see teams release their list of non-roster invitees to Spring Training. This includes players who have signed minor-league deals with an invite to Spring Training, and this also includes minor leaguers who could spend some time with the major league squad during camp this Spring.

The Atlanta #Braves Announce Spring Training Non-Roster Invitees for 2016: pic.twitter.com/SiXQGFD80y

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) January 7, 2016

As you can see, there are some familiar names there, such as the recently signed players such as Alex Torres, David Carpenter, Kyle Kendrick, and Alexi Ogando. Then, there are some intriguing names on that list -- namely, the prospects.

Dansby Swanson, Sean Newcomb, Ozhaino Albies, Lucas Sims, Rio Ruiz, Chris Ellis, Aaron Blair, and Braxton Davidson are the big-name prospects who have been given non-roster invites to Spring Training. Now, we really shouldn't expect to see any of these guys contend for a spot on the Major League team yet, but it's always nice to be able to get a look at these guys during Spring Training and it'll also be beneficial for the players to be able to get a bit of experience with the big leaguers.

The Braves have been giving their promising minor leaguers plenty of attention this winter, and this is a continuation of that. Now may not be the time for most of these prospects to make the jump to the big leagues, but this is a decent-sized step in that process.