DODGERS 2019 MINOR LEAGUE/PROSPECTS THREAD

Discussion in 'Los Angeles DODGERS' started by ColoradoKidWitGame, Jan 4, 2019.

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  1. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    The start to the year for Dodgers prospects was pretty rocky outside of a few. As the season has come along, a few dudes have really started to turn some heads. Some notes on a few of them:

    Josiah Gray- We all know about the great year he has had. The graduation of Will Smith put Gray into the MLB Pipeline Top 100 the other day. One updated scouting report had him upgraded from back rotation/high leverage reliever upside to "mid rotation starter or better". That is a huge compliment as that "or better" is not usually thrown around, especially for pitchers already graded with mid rotation upside so they feel that he is still evolving as a pitcher.

    Jeter Downs- Had a mediocre start to his Dodgers career, but he has been on a tear since April and is getting graded very highly for his hard contact rate. He has gotten the promotion to AA and has already hit 3 long balls in his first 8 games. There are concerns about his contact rate, but others think he still could turn himself into a solid starting 2B option. He is floating on the periphery of some Top 100 lists and could see himself on a few with a strong AA showing and I'd guess a look in the AFL.

    Diego Cartaya - Keith Law recently opined that the Dodgers #1 2018 Int'l signing has already shown that he is worthy of enough comfort that the club should trade Keibert Ruiz. Other reports are basically saying that he is going to be a monster and should be a Top 50 prospect no later than midway through next season. At 17, he has a combined .281/.343/.432 slash line and oh man is that swing pretty.

    Miguel Vargas- This is another potential monster in the making. Vargas has one of the smoothest swings already in MiLB at the ripe old age of 19 and he is more than holding his own in HiA. He got off to a slow start in the chilly MWL before going on an absolute tear and getting promoted and now he has been tearing shit up in Rancho after a slow start there as well. The biggest knock on Vargas is that he has displayed little power for a guy slated for either 3B or 1B. Most folks I see think he is going to figure it out, in the meantime he has put up a .311/.385/.447 slash line against much older competition.

    Edwin Uceta- This was another player who started the year on a tear, got promoted, got humbled and then started shutting down the competition. Uceta has been on a roll in Tulsa have a legit start to the season in HiA Rancho. Uceta still gets downgraded for his small stature, but for the most part has been a pretty dominant force since joining the org. Still just 21, Uceta could continue to build into an interesting prospect.

    Gerardo Carrillo - He has had an up and down season with Rancho, but has a 4 pitch mix that shows enough upside for a potential future rotation piece. DodgersNation went and saw him the other day and had a positive report on his progression this season. He is probably closing in on his innings limit for the year, but he will be one of the more intriguing pitching prospects going into 2020.

    Andre Jackson- Jackson fits the profile of many other Dodgers recent pitching pickups in that he is a fairly athletic dude. He never pitched full time until last season where he had a rough introduction to professional ball, but this year he has been getting the attention of a lot of scouts. The dude has been a K machine this year and does a good job of keeping the ball on the ground. He still has control issues, but his stuff is mid rotation upside at present. He could be a big one to watch in 2020.

    John Rooney- Unlike a lot of the aforementioned pitchers in here, Rooney is more of a finesse pitcher. Even at 6'5", the big lefty tends to sit in the low 90's with his FB and gets by with a bit more deception. He has worked over both A levels he has been at this year posting a 2.48 ERA in 27 starts. One thing that could be interesting to watch is if the Dodgers send him to Driveline in the offseason. They usually select a group of prospects to send to the academy to try to bolster velocity. They have mostly avoided doing this with their top prospects, but Rooney could be a necessary exception to their plan.

    Jeren Kendall- This one is not all that pretty yet, but if you have seen progression videos like I have, you can tell this guy is making gradual changes to his overhauled swing. Kendall has finally started to use his lower half in his swing and from that he has seen a boost to his power numbers. He still K's at an incredibly unhealthy rate, but you can see why as his mechanics are still a horrid mess... THOUGH THEY'RE GETTING BETTER. Since the beginning of June, his power numbers have spiked and in August he is having the best month of his professional career. He is now 23 and in HiA, but the dude is a tremendous athlete and as we have seen, guys can still have huge careers after very very slow starts. Continuing to integrate his lower half and developing a better swing is still key, and if he does he could still become a monster prospect.


    One other note, the Dodgers system is routinely checking in around the 3-5 org rankings. FG has them as #3, but #1 in pure talent from a depth standpoint. They only have the Braves and Padres ahead of us with more elite talent, but more significant dropoffs after that.
     
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  2. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    Gavin Lux was named BA’s player of the year in MiLB and was first team all MiLB. Second team all MiLB had Jeter Downs as its SS. The Dodgers in general had 9 BA All League players across the MiLB ranks on top of those two awards.

    For those that haven’t been following closely, Downs had a terrible start to his Dodgers career and basically since about mid May, he has been an absolute force to be reckoned with. After a promotion to AA, he took things to another level and has turned Even more heads. Another Dodgers MIF prospect did something similar a year ago(Lux) and it would be very interesting to see where this explosion could take this potential rising star. Most scouts feel that Downs is destined for 2B as he has a fairly mediocre arm and slower reactions for that side of the diamond. Rising belief is he will be a bat first 2B that drives the gaps religiously, but could suffer from high K totals.

    How the club handles Downs will be interesting. Do they develop him in AA and AAA next year as the Turner replacement? Or do they use him as a prodigious trade piece to land a front line starter? Downs stock has risen from UTL to 2nd/3rd tier starter to potential first tier starter all in the span of one year. The FO has once again shown that if anything, their ability to find and develop talent is easily their best asset.
     
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  3. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    Half truth. I mean, we definitely know that McCarthy shouldn't have happened..ditto for Kazmir. But how many times has a team on the doorstep of winning a WS handed out a monster contract to a star FA in his prime with designs on that putting them over the top for multiple WS titles? Can't say off the top of my head, but we just saw one example of it and they slammed it home against us..JD Martinez/Sox. Wonder if the Red Sox regret giving JD Martinez his contract since his decline has already somewhat begun..

    [​IMG]


    Not that Martinez made any sense for the Dodgers. Just an example. And the Sox are actually reportedly tossing around the idea of trading Martinez. Which brings about the question..why can't LAD just do that? Why can't they hand down a monster contract, accomplish their goal, and then ditch the guy if they want a couple years later? And another example..Justin Verlander. Because money played a major part in the Dodgers not trading for Verlander as well, when he was practically begging to be a Dodger.

    Yes, these are 1 year sample sizes, but also..are we going to be so simple that we believe it's a guarantee that Harper or Machado would be performing the way they are this season for a better organization with more talent surrounding them? Shockingly, Verlander found his best baseball when he joined a perennial WS contender in Houston, right? Wrong. Not shocking.

    But again, you are correct that most times the best moves in FA are the ones that aren't made. However, that's because those signings aren't putting those teams over the top in terms of the ultimate goal..like cosmetic changes to a person with a shit diet. The Dodgers, however, are stacked with talent and perennial WS favorites like the Red Sox, and so they are in a different situation than your Padres/Phillies/Rockies/etc. And there are obviously more teams that are in the Padres/Phillies/Rockies category because this is MLB..parity is shit.

    Which brings us back around to asking what's really important to this ownership group? Because Guggenheim will overpay guys..we know this..we've seen this quite a bit. They just pick the lesser talented guys and overpay a handful of those guys, as opposed to going big for the stars in their prime. And when they get to the WS VS. the Astros, Sox..Yankees..they run up against teams with stars in their prime and they're outgunned. But they don't care about their lack of stars in their prime because attendance is great. Kasten answered that question..now, can't you just wait until they've denied fans of star FA talents in their prime, only to also deny homegrown Lux of postseason ABs that he deserves this fall? Which way is up? The question that hasn't been answered in 30 years.
     
  4. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    great post
     
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  5. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    The pic is sort of soul wrenching, so I wouldn't say great
     
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  6. Go Dodgers

    Go Dodgers Well-Known Member

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    It really is @Fall Winslow. I understand not going after Harper, but IMO there was no excuse to not sign Kimbrel. Verlander is a great example. The front office might be good at finding the Morrows, Taylors and Muncys of the world, but they suck at adding talent via Free Agency.
     
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  7. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    The Harper thing was so weird. I definitely don't believe that the LAD FO met with Harper twice just for the sake of meeting with him. They wanted him because he's a star talent in his prime, but they didn't like the price. I'm all about depth, but I'm more so behind the philosophy of trading for it and developing it on the farm. Not grabbing a handful of mediocre guys/fading FAs and overpaying them..and thereby crippling yourself when a potential difference maker hits the market and is banging down your door.

    But all in all, I really didn't mean to be a buzzkill. :D Carry on with the future and such, men.
     
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  8. Go Dodgers

    Go Dodgers Well-Known Member

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    You're right. Seems they signed Pollock to try to appease the fanbase after passing on Harper. May not have been the case, but it sure looked that way.
     
  9. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    I was honestly shocked last off-season when the Dodgers played it so quietly. Their farm was getting to the overflow point where they had enough guys on the cusp that were valuable MLB pieces that they could have used to get someone that was of a larger impact variety. Instead they made one fantastic trade that added more MiLB depth and then signed a mediocre injury plagued OF’er for money that could have been better spent elsewhere(to be fair, he’s been great lately at least).

    This year, they will need to do something as the amount of talent/depth is going to be overwhelming and almost unnecessary. Edwin Rios, Chris Taylor, Kyle Garlic, Enrique Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Matt Beaty should probably be starters for second tier teams. With guys like DJ Peters, Keibert Ruiz and Jeter Downs likely entering the fold next year as well. My guess is that a year from Free Agency, Joc will ask to be given a shot to play everyday, or get traded somewhere he can. With Hill and Ryu’s contracts over, will the club look to add a big arm to pair with Buehler at the top of the rotation?

    I feel we are going to fall short and this offseason will tell me how much the FO truly cares about winning it all. They need their Fred McGriff, go out and fucking get him.
     
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  10. Go Dodgers

    Go Dodgers Well-Known Member

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    It's clear they only care about butts in seats, but don't they have to sign someone every once in a while to at least give the appearance they're trying to win? Would rather they not waste money on fringe journeymen like AJ Pollock and save up for actual impact players who could make a difference. I doubt there's anyone outside of Pollock's family who believe he's enough to push LA over the top.
     
  11. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    I mean, we have seen flashes of superstar Pollock in seasons before and he has quietly been a monster since the ASB(when healthy), but he really wasn’t the player that this team needed. They should have put the funds to better use and tried to pair Kimbrel with Jansen. I don’t care that he’s hurt now, that’s what happens when you’re a pitcher and you fucking miss ST. Or they could have left the finances open and acquired a RH OF bat at the deadline. Castellanos sure woulda looked good in our lineup and not cost 15M in AAV over 5 seasons, well into his descent. They’ve basically painted themselves into a corner now, win the WS this year, or pay the fuck up this offseason and get a star or two to lead these guys.
     
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  12. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    Feels like I say that at least once every couple weeks..why hasn't Braves' guy Kasten landed our Crime Dog McGriff to get us over the top? A star in his prime with staying power. Granted, the Braves traded for McGriff, but it's ultimately the same deal. Braves were on the 1 yard, like the Dodgers have been for the last 4 or so years.

    And now, it looks like we're going to sit through Arenado trade rumors this winter ( and probably watch the Dodgers sit out of those talks, if they happen)..Rosenthal throwing it out there.
     
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  13. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    If Arenado does in fact demand a trade, I’d bet he’d say Dodgers, Angels, Yanks, Sox, Astros and MAYBE the Braves. Yanks, Sox and Astros don’t have room for him, Braves may choose to go with Austin Reilly, leaving the Dodgers and Angels his two most viable options. Doubt the Rox would want to trade him to LA as that would leave a huge scarlet letter on this FO if he lead us to a WS championship. With the Angels being pretty weak on the farm, it could make it tough for the Dodgers to realistically sit that out.
     
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  14. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    For sure. Arenado has the heart of a winner. Has the right approach, sets the right tone as a leader. They just lack talent.

    Angels do lack trade chips, but I think we can safely assume that Moreno will be looking to give Trout/Ohtani some high level help.

    As for the Yanks, I wouldn't count them out. Plenty of Arenado/Yanks smoke before signed his deal. I know Urshela is having a strong year at the plate, but he's not Arenado defensively. Not even close, really. Arenado has a captain-like mindset..think he would fit very well there
     
  15. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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    Don't leave Rendon out of your 3B discussion. All he would cost is $$$.
     
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  16. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    My only thing about the Yanks is that they do have one big long term contract and a second one on the way in Judge. Could they afford it? Absofuckinglutely, but they’ve also built up a strong team in the field and an incredible bullpen with a putrid starting rotation. I just think if they move assets at this point it would be to try and nab some starting pitching.
     
  17. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    I'm with you, they definitely need starting pitching more than anything. But if those opportunities don't line up for them, would they upgrade at 3B for their 1st real IF captain since Jeter? I think it'd be on the table. It's the Yankees. They're not taking shit lying down over there. It's not enough to just win division titles there. In some form or fashion, they'll be aggressive..especially if they fall short in OCT. They've got the money and aren't shy about it. They are definitely a team that'll drop a money bag on a guy and then ship him out a couple years later to make room or give themselves payroll relief..in the name of a WS title
     
  18. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    Interesting write up on the Dodgers AZL guys. I have seen from multiple different outlets that the feelings on Cartaya and De Jesus are that they’re both potential superstars. Keith Law said that Cartaya paired with Smith have already shown enough that it makes sense to trade Keibert Ruiz(I don’t agree with that anymore). De Jesus is not getting the same publicity that his fellow signee is, but reviews have been incredibly positive. Expectations are that Cartaya will break into the top 100 at some point next season.

    https://www.prospectslive.com/live-looks/2019/9/12/azl-notes-los-angeles-dodgers
     
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  19. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    Dodgers reportedly " covet " Anthony Rendon.

    Is that Rendon's agent leaking info for leverage against the Nats/Mets this winter? Is it Dodgers leaking info to set leverage against the ROX for the Arenado trade talks this winter? Was this leaked in order to prepare JT for his move to 1B? All of the above, or none? Or maybe this old news? Don't really know what to make of it, but smart money says we end up with neither
     
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  20. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    This is old news that Olney is bringing back up. There were rumors that the Dodgers were said to covet Arenado and to a lesser extent, Rendon well before last offseason began which got all sorts of "see they don't want to spend money" headlines from fans that thought the plan was to get Bryce or Machado last year when the real financial drop-offs happened this offseason. I had heard that they were thinking plan A. Arenado, B. was Rendon and if they missed on both, sit tight and go hard after Trout and Betts in 2021. Extensions are cutting those opportunities way down, so they will need to start doing something if and when they fall short again this year.
     
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