MINOR LEAGUE/PROSPECTS Thread

Btw did anyone post the BA reports yet on our top ten?

 

Colorado did

 

Went back through the pages and just saw it.

Considering how horrible our top picks were that year I'm so glad we salvaged something out of it. Heres a little gem btw, his BA draft report before we signed him.

Scouts in the Four Corners frequently throw around the old saying, "pay him now or pay him later," because they run across a lot of projectable players like Bellinger in their area. Bellinger has big league bloodlines and excellent makeup. His father Clay won World Series rings with the Yankees in 1999 and 2000 as part of a four-year major league career. Cody, who played in the 2007 Little League World Series, is still thin and lacks strength in his rangy 6-foot-4, 180-pound frame. Scouts like Bellinger's lefthanded swing and just want to see him get stronger. He has natural timing and puts together solid at-bats with good pitch recognition. Scouts who believe in him see above-average power potential. Bellinger is also a well above-average defender at first base. He is light on his feet and shows smooth hands. He also pitches, and his fastball sits in the 87-89 mph range. Some scouts compare him to a young Adam LaRoche, and the right team will probably take him high enough to buy him out of his commitment to Oregon.

 

Man, the early part of that 2013 draft is just horrible. I remember when it happened it was a total, "WTF!?!". They had some decent talent, but it was one of those where everything in the world would have to go right for those guys to hit their ceilings. Just looking at it and there was some damn good players in there early, but honestly not losing much sleep at the guys picked after us in the first. Aaron Judge is the biggest name I feel, and I believe he will be a AAAA player, but his MiLB numbers would make for a nice trade piece. Sure woulda been nice if J.P. Crawford fell two more spots. Crawford and Seager back to back years woulda been fucking sweet.

For all the accolades that White gets, he had some TERRIBLE drafts. 2011 has produced 2 innings I believe of MLB experience. The players picked immediately after Reed are some decent/good ones too. Cron, Gray, Matt Barnes, Tyler Anderson, Giants top prospect Beede, Wong... Yikes this is just one that will piss you off. Before our next pick Ross, Bradley, Story, Snell, Josh Bell, Brad Miller... what a terrible, terrible draft that was.

There is definitely some potential redemption in 13 if Bellinger does what he is projected to do, but it also has Rhame and Farmer who are projected to be MLB'ers and a little known 24th round pick that is now with the Rays . His parting class in 14 is pretty top heavy and could be a good parting gift... Holmes, Verdugo, Richy(got us Utley), Stewart, Oaks, Broussard and a 38th round picked that climbed the ladder into some scouting hearts, Caleb Ferguson. I was upset at first that he left, but I feel that the org has done a much better job since... though he also did not have the available assets these guys now do.

 

I'm not going to put 2011 totally on White. This was before assigned draft pools and we were in full swing of the McCourt era. When we reached for Chris Reed when Sonny Fuckin Gray (and thats who we were rumored to take) was there even Harold Reynolds called it a "travesty". Harold doesn't know drafts at all and even he could see what was going on. We missed a great opportunity there.

 

Interesting to note 3 of the top 5 HS players are all out of Southern California. Can't remember the last time that happened.

 

Eric Stephen ‏@truebluela 1m1 minute ago
Baseball America is revealing top 50 prospects on MLB Network right now. Dodgers from 51-100: Alex Verdugo ranked 58th, Willie Calhoun 92nd
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Up to #35 on the show, still no Alvarez or Bellinger, can't imagine we'll see Buehler this close to the top.

 

Alvarez checks in at #26.
Bellinger at #7

 

Yadier Alvarez cruising to the top w/1 and a half pitches..smh
If and when he finally tames his slider/change..man.

 

Dustin Nosler ‏@DustinNosler 4m4 minutes ago
5 #Dodgers prospects in @baseballpro's Top 101: Yadier Alvarez 23, Cody Bellinger 26, Alex Verdugo 66, Yusniel Diaz 90, Walker Buehler 94.
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No love for Willie.

 

Homophobes

 

Baseball pro is high on Bellinger, but out of everyone, they're the least excited about his overall skillset. They seem to knock him down the ladder for not being above average in OF and his K rate is a red flag to them. I like Prospectus, but their report on him seems to be very first half driven as there are more than a couple reports about him getting better as the season rolled on and making adjustments. He went from one type of hitter to the other in one year and now is trying to find that middle ground, if 2016 is any indication, there is a lot of reason for excitement.

Also, yeah they don't think highly of Calhoun at all. Everyone says the same thing about him, if he can learn to play just average D, he is suddenly one of the best 2B in the game. That is a stretch though.

 

I deserve whatever I get. Poorly thought out.

 

Just listened to the BA Podcast on our system by I believe Ben Badler and JJ Cooper. Some takeaways
- We have the best mix of prospects and young talent in the West.
- They feel that Bellinger is a legit star that will be just a step behind Seager with the bat and should NOT be traded. Think a mix between Rizzo and Hosmer.
- Calhoun has the skills to be one of the best hitters in the league, but his defense is woefully bad and they just don't see the instincts to be passable at the position. With that said, they feel he is a 4+ WAR guy at 2B even if his D doesn't take a huge jump(though still needs to improve). There were reports that he had worked all offseason with a coach to improve his D. They also said they have seen things like this before where an all bat no glove, undersized 2B suddenly turned it on(Marcus Giles), so they still have some hope. Like it has been said, he becomes passable at 2B and he will be an all star. If not, he could be a decent LF'er (with crappy D) or he's a DH. No chance at 1B as he would be the smallest 1B in something like 100 years. His age allows him plenty of time to improve, but his bat is so advanced it may force the issue to be a big leaguer.
- Alvarez is a beast, but they need to see how he does with more innings under his belt. + Curve, Avg Change plays up due to velocity and working on a Splitter. One of highest ceilings in MiLB, but tons of risk.
- Dustin May could be the next guy that we are talking about as a front of the rotation pitcher and they think he could leap into the Top 100 very soon. For his size to already have the command he does, they think he could develop into something extremely special. Mid-Rotation stuff as of now, but tons of projection left.
- Austin Barnes is underrated and they think if he was a regular, he would be a top 15 catcher.
- They think our draft last year was fantastic. Tons of huge upside.
- Oaks is probably MLB ready, pounds the zone, + Sinker makes him a high contact, but worm killing back end starter.

 

Seems like an embarrassment of riches at this point

 

It is definitely not what it was, but it is still damn good. If the 2016 draft shows that last season was not a fluke, we should be right back into things. White, May, Sheffield, Peters and Lux have all shown signs of being better than originally advertised. They added, that it's remarkable what the FO has done while not drafting high, nor even doing super great on the international market thus far. Though I would say grabbing two potential aces and 2 potential above average OF'ers is not bad. The recent crop will be a group to watch. Our development has been top notch and it will be interesting to see how the new facilities and practices in the Caribbean work for these guys.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=31209

Mentions Mitchell White and Dustin May as candidates for next years 101. Both, in addition to Buehler, should be ones to watch at the lower levels early on, assuming Buehler doesn't start in Tulsa.

As far as innings for White or May in 2017, White had about 115 including his college season and May had ~85 including his high school season, so restrictions should be minimal.

 

Cody Bellinger has switched agents to Scott Boras... not good