Prospects and trade discussion

Ranma · Post #541 » by **Ranma** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 7:59 am

Ben Badler, Baseball America (1/13/16)

2017 Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects

Ben Badler, Baseball America (1/13/16)

2017 Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Insider

Baseball America (1/13/16)

Jerry (Hollywood, CA): Your scouting report on Cody Bellinger makes him sound like a deity. Problem is, A-Gonz is in his way. Predict for us - does he likely get dealt away, as opposed to being his heir apparent? Finally, should we expect him to rank in the top 5 of Baseball America's 100 best?
Ben Badler: He’s No. 8 on my Top 50 list in the Prospect Handbook and I have him ranked as the top first base prospect in baseball. Even though the Dodgers have Adrian Gonzalez, I don’t think they want to trade away one of the truly elite prospects in baseball, especially when Bellinger has the speed and athleticism to play in the outfield. Bellinger is a stellar defender at first base, but I think his ability to play the outfield will be important for him to break into that lineup.
...

Frank (Indianapolis IN): How many of these guys are likely to make the BA 100?
Ben Badler: Certainly the top five, for me. Chance for six.
...

Saint (NE MPLS): DJ Peters had a fantastic pro debut, showing both power and speed, alongside a respectable slash line. Any grades on his tools and future projection?
Ben Badler: Another nice pick by the Dodgers in the fourth round. Good blend of physicality, athleticism and tools with a strong performance in his debut, although just about everyone hits well at Ogden. But the power is real and he kept his strikeout rate reasonable, so there’s a lot to like going forward with D.J. Peters, especially for where the Dodgers got him.
...

Bob (LA): It's a shame that Austin Barnes isn't going to be starting somewhere. How many AB's you think he can get in a catcher+reserve INF role? Any chance he takes the 2B job and LA scrounges up a new backup catcher?
Ben Badler: I’m with you on that—Barnes would be the starting catcher on some teams. A lot of Barnes’ value comes from his defense behind the plate, so I don’t think the Dodgers want to take that away and make him their second baseman, but they have at least cleared a path for him to get playing time as a backup catcher with infield flexibility. Maybe 200-250 PAs depending on who else on the roster stays healthy.

Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects Chat

Ranma · Post #542 » by **Ranma** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 6:06 am

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Quake Griffin · Post #543 » by **Quake Griffin** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:37 pm

Ranma, I told you I liked our farm just fine even with Seager and Urias leaving. Personally, if Bellinger keeps emerging, I expect Buehler to emerge and create a pretty good top 3 in 2017 with Bellinger-Yadier-Buehler.

Jury is still out on Buehler but I am a fan and I think he soars up the charts this year once he starts consistently facing competition.

I'm not opposed to ANYTHING you're saying. We probably do need other elite pieces in the farm but this CERTAINLY is not the worst spot to be in a year and a half from another opportunity at the international market.

Neddy · Post #544 » by **Neddy** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 1:02 am

man, I am getting old and busier than ever. I think it is simply that it takes longer to do the same task than before. good to see you fellas still doing what you do around here.

like Quake said, I like our farm system, finally after years of povety we went through under McDirt. I don't think we need to hurry our process and sell off the youngsters to make our team resemble the Yankees of last several decades. I like our team even as is, without any more moves. but I also know more moves are coming.

I stil have hope for Ryu, although I am not sure if we will have any room left for him to operate in the rotation unless injuries happen sonner than later. we will need to sell some pieces and I see little to no trade value at all for Kazmir and Ryu. I think Brock and Jose will start the season down in AAA, and McCarthy will probably get the nod, with Kazmir and Ryu on the DL whether they are actually hurt or not, granted all starting pitchers are healthy and ready to go. Jose I think will take over the innings where Urias will leave off of, in the middle of the season for him to rest up his arm. Brock may be the spot starter when we need an extra day rest for say, Maeda.

I wonder where Greg Holland will eventually choose to sign with. it would be a huge lift for our bullpen come playoff time to have Holland and Jansen in the last 2 innings.

I like this talk about Jurickson Profar trade.. loved the kid before the injury but I bet it won't happen. Rangers won't sell him off at his lowest point in trade value.

lastly, yeah i surely hope and wish for Walker Buehler's stocks to rise. I haven't read what Quake was talking about regarding Walker changing his delivery motion to include more lower half of his body, but that is a real good news to hear. if Kershaw is not resigned after he opts out, I don't think it would be as impactful as most casual fans would think, to have a mature bodied Urias, Alvarez, Buehler, De Leon, Stewart, De Jung, even Stripling to add in that youth group to go with guys still under contract like Hil and Maeda, we have more than enough pitching to accommodate a potent lineup that is up and coming led by Seager, Bellinger, Pederson, Grandal/Barnes, Toles, and even Puig still. Turner will be under contract for some time also, although I fully expect the beginning of his regression starting 2017 and through out his remaning years. I just hope the decline is gradual and slow.

PS- going to the spring training on the weekend of March 24th. can't wait....

Ranma · Post #545 » by **Ranma** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 11:24 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:Ranma, I told you I liked our farm just fine even with Seager and Urias leaving. Personally, if Bellinger keeps emerging, I expect Buehler to emerge and create a pretty good top 3 in 2017 with Bellinger-Yadier-Buehler.

Jury is still out on Buehler but I am a fan and I think he soars up the charts this year once he starts consistently facing competition.

I'm not opposed to ANYTHING you're saying. We probably do need other elite pieces in the farm but this CERTAINLY is not the worst spot to be in a year and a half from another opportunity at the international market.

The rise of both Cody Bellinger and Walker Buehler has certainly kept the Dodgers' farm system aloft in the team rankings. While neither are as esteemed as Corey Seager or Julio Urias, Cody is maybe a notch below where Corey was projected when he was coming up in the minors. Walker and Yadier Alvarez each have higher upside than Jose De Leon; Buehler may even be more polished than Jose. The concern with Walker Buehler is how healthy he will be long-term in recovering from TJ surgery. He's already got a nice repertoire of pitches, good mechanics albeit in need of incorporating his lower body more, and now a spike in velocity.

I've given Billy Gasparino credit for his approach to building up the depth of our developmental pipeline, but I'm still critical of his conservative approach with respect to use of our high draft picks. Ben Badler mentioned that he would have preferred Delvin Perez over Gavin Lux in his latest Dodgers prospects chat. Likewise, I've pointed out previously that the selection of Will Smith with one of our 2016 first-rounders kept us from taking Alec Hansen, Buddy Reed, or Nolan Jones. Furthermore, I've also cited that not taking J.J. Schwarz in a prior draft put us in such a position when catching depth should have been a priority before our latest draft.

This has been a concern of mine since he took Hunter Renfroe over J.P. Crawford in the 2013 MLB Draft. While Renfroe is a fine prospect in his own right (currently rated higher than Alex Verdugo), Crawford is on the verge of becoming arguably the best prospect in baseball with Yoan Moncada the only prospect currently ranked ahead of him in MLB Pipeline's Top 100.

I am conflicted about Perez given his PED violation and Lux was always seen as a long-term project, but our selection doesn't alleviate my concerns over Gasparino's overly conservative approach. At the same time, he also made the right call in selecting Trea Turner in the 2014 draft.

I was never really concerned about the overall depth of our farm system post-McCourt since it looked like we had the right philosophy and were committed to investing the necessary resources when the Guggenheim Partners took over ownership. My concern is admittedly one of being spoiled because I didn't like the idea of Verdugo and Willie Calhoun as being considered the Dodgers' top propects. Again, it's really a First-World problem because we've done such a great job of developing the likes of Seager, Urias, Pederson, De Leon, and now Bellinger in timely fashion, if not even sooner.

With Bellinger anticipated to make the big club sometime past mid-season or next year, having high-upside prospects like Alvarez and Buehler maintaining the top spots in our developmental rankings has us in good position and one where I'm definitely more comfortable with than before.

Neddy · Post #546 » by **Neddy** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:47 am

now with Forsythe in fold, what is our lineup?

C: Grandal
1B: Gonzo
2B: Forsythe
SS: Seager
3B Turner
LF: Toles? Ethier?
CF: Joc
RF: Puig

then,

1. R RF Puig
2. L SS Seager
3. R 3B Turner
4. L 1B Gonzo
5. L. LF Ethier
6. R 2B Forsythe
7. L CF Joc
8. S C Grandal

???

1. L LF Toles
2. R RF Puig
3. L SS Seager
4. R 3B Turner
5. L 1B Gonzo
6. R 2B Forsythe
7. L CF Joc
8. S C Grandal

???

or go with Forsythe as the lead off and go

1. R 2B Forsythe
2. L SS Seager
3. R 3B Turner
4. L 1B Gonzo
5. R RF Puig
6. S C Grandal
7. L CF Joc
8. platoon of Toles/Ethier/Thompson/SVS in LF.

Quake Griffin · Post #547 » by **Quake Griffin** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:21 pm

Forsythe as lead off against lefties.
Toles as lead off against righties.

Keep coming Bellinger.
Gonzo should be up next to get sold for spare parts.

Neddy · Post #548 » by **Neddy** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:13 am

Quake Griffin wrote:Forsythe as lead off against lefties.
Toles as lead off against righties.

Keep coming Bellinger.
Gonzo should be up next to get sold for spare parts.

against RHP,

1. L LF Toles
2. L SS Seager
3. R 3B Turner
4. L 1B Gonzo
5. R RF Puig
6. S C Grandal
7. L CF Joc
8. R 2B Forsythe

against LHP.

1. R 2B Forsythe
2. L SS Seager
3. R RF Puig
4. L 1B Gonzo
5. R 3B Turner
6. S C Grandal
7. R LF SVS
8. R CF ****/Thompson

I Guess this is more realistic, even Forsythe being a full time lead off...

we need an 8th inning set up man, and another all- purpose set up guy for the pen... but we are very close to being a complete team.

I also see that with Ethier pending a vesting option for 2018, he won't be starting for us but be a pinch hitter at the most, he will fade out after 2017 in dodger blue. I see more or less the same for Gonxo. I see Bellinger getting his promotion before 2017 is over, then rather than getting traded, Gonxo will serve as the primary pinch hitter in 2018 once Andre is gone.

Quake Griffin · Post #549 » by **Quake Griffin** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:26 pm

Forsythe doesn't have poor splits against righties over the last 3 years. I wouldn't bat him 8th there.

and I'd also consider dropping Turner further in the order against LHP...possibly behind Grandal.
Grandal is definitely going to sport the higher OBP against lefties.
I think Grandal gets a bum rap against lefties/ as a RH hitter because he doesn't face them as much. I believe his natural power side as a kid was the right hand side (can anyone confirm or deny this? I will look it up to make sure if I have to) and the power got zapped when he tore his ACL. 4 HRs in 76 ABs against lefties last year is not bad at all if you extrapolate 4/76 to 500 or 600 ABs. I think his RH power might just be back.
_________

We are in need of a setup man bad. I dont mind bringing Blanton back but in a reduced role. We truly relied on him a lot...he threw 80 innings last year. Compare to Kenley who only threw 68...then count the times Joe probably had to get up and warm up but didn't get in the game.

I want him. I want Holland. ****, I wanted Neftali.
We've been linked to Jerry Blevins but he can't handle the setup man role.

Quake Griffin · Post #550 » by **Quake Griffin** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:45 pm

Ranma wrote:
Quake Griffin wrote:Ranma, I told you I liked our farm just fine even with Seager and Urias leaving. Personally, if Bellinger keeps emerging, I expect Buehler to emerge and create a pretty good top 3 in 2017 with Bellinger-Yadier-Buehler.

Jury is still out on Buehler but I am a fan and I think he soars up the charts this year once he starts consistently facing competition.

I'm not opposed to ANYTHING you're saying. We probably do need other elite pieces in the farm but this CERTAINLY is not the worst spot to be in a year and a half from another opportunity at the international market.

The rise of both Cody Bellinger and Walker Buehler has certainly kept the Dodgers' farm system aloft in the team rankings. While neither are as esteemed as Corey Seager or Julio Urias, Cody is maybe a notch below where Corey was projected when he was coming up in the minors. Walker and Yadier Alvarez each have higher upside than Jose De Leon; Buehler may even be more polished than Jose. The concern with Walker Buehler is how healthy he will be long-term in recovering from TJ surgery. He's already got a nice repertoire of pitches, good mechanics albeit in need of incorporating his lower body more, and now a spike in velocity.

I've given Billy Gasparino credit for his approach to building up the depth of our developmental pipeline, but I'm still critical of his conservative approach with respect to use of our high draft picks. Ben Badler mentioned that he would have preferred Delvin Perez over Gavin Lux in his latest Dodgers prospects chat. Likewise, I've pointed out previously that the selection of Will Smith with one of our 2016 first-rounders kept us from taking Alec Hansen, Buddy Reed, or Nolan Jones. Furthermore, I've also cited that not taking J.J. Schwarz in a prior draft put us in such a position when catching depth should have been a priority before our latest draft.

This has been a concern of mine since he took Hunter Renfroe over J.P. Crawford in the 2013 MLB Draft. While Renfroe is a fine prospect in his own right (currently rated higher than Alex Verdugo), Crawford is on the verge of becoming arguably the best prospect in baseball with Yoan Moncada the only prospect currently ranked ahead of him in MLB Pipeline's Top 100.

I am conflicted about Perez given his PED violation and Lux was always seen as a long-term project, but our selection doesn't alleviate my concerns over Gasparino's overly conservative approach. At the same time, he also made the right call in selecting Trea Turner in the 2014 draft.

I was never really concerned about the overall depth of our farm system post-McCourt since it looked like we had the right philosophy and were committed to investing the necessary resources when the Guggenheim Partners took over ownership. My concern is admittedly one of being spoiled because I didn't like the idea of Verdugo and Willie Calhoun as being considered the Dodgers' top propects. Again, it's really a First-World problem because we've done such a great job of developing the likes of Seager, Urias, Pederson, De Leon, and now Bellinger in timely fashion, if not even sooner.

With Bellinger anticipated to make the big club sometime past mid-season or next year, having high-upside prospects like Alvarez and Buehler maintaining the top spots in our developmental rankings has us in good position and one where I'm definitely more comfortable with than before.

Well, what's the difference between just missing on a guy and being conservative?
Knowing what we know now, Crawford probably would have been a top 5 pick if not higher.

The more I see Lux, the more I just view him as the guy they liked in this draft. Good pedigree whose REAL knock if you boil everything down to simple terms was that he had a boys body. I am weary of being calling FOs onto the carpet for selections they made based on where publications have guys ranked. If I saw more evidence that we were in love with Perez and then went Lux, I'd give it a whole lot more weight. For now, Lux seems like he has a good baseball background and the type of mindset to prove every doubter wrong. He's alright with me.

Only guy I legitimately felt we reached on was Will Smith.
Late "helium"??? Is that how the joke goes. Who knows? But it does seem based on all the publications that we might have been able to get him later while taking a swing on a Nolan Jones.

Ranma · Post #551 » by **Ranma** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 5:44 am

Quake Griffin wrote:Well, what's the difference between just missing on a guy and being conservative?
Knowing what we know now, Crawford probably would have been a top 5 pick if not higher.

The more I see Lux, the more I just view him as the guy they liked in this draft. Good pedigree whose REAL knock if you boil everything down to simple terms was that he had a boys body. I am weary of being calling FOs onto the carpet for selections they made based on where publications have guys ranked. If I saw more evidence that we were in love with Perez and then went Lux, I'd give it a whole lot more weight. For now, Lux seems like he has a good baseball background and the type of mindset to prove every doubter wrong. He's alright with me.

Only guy I legitimately felt we reached on was Will Smith.
Late "helium"??? Is that how the joke goes. Who knows? But it does seem based on all the publications that we might have been able to get him later while taking a swing on a Nolan Jones.

You make a fair point, Quake. Looking back at some of the 2013 mock drafts, Renfroe and Crawford were ranked close together. Scouts liked both prospects. Renfroe was lauded for his power with comparisons to Tim Salmon. Crawford was seen as a surehanded defensive SS whose bat was still developing, but was hitting well leading up to this draft.

I've mentioned before that I followed the draft that year highly favoring Mark Appel and Kris Bryant, but obviously, we had no shot at either of them. Admittedly, Crawford was not one of my targets for our 18th overall pick that year but he stood out to me more than Renfroe that year.

So my problem has been that I've disagreed with Gasparino's selections whether in real time or hindsight. The Funkhouser pick was one. Even the Lux pick is questionable to me despite actually liking him as a prospect. I've mentioned in the posts leading up to the draft that Lux was a decent prospect, but that I'd be disappointed if we had taken him with any of our first-rounders nevermind with our top overall selection, so it's not like my feelings developed after the fact.

Yeah, we had to revise our draft plans when our primary targets were falling off the draft board. Perez's PED violation presented quite a quandry. I'm normally a guy who views these transgressions very harshly, but I was willing to see if this was maybe a matter of the kid not knowing any better given his background. I agree that it's a matter of whether our scouts liked Perez's makeup as well as skills before his violation.

Friedman and company have shown forgiveness to Grandal, but seem reluctant to take chances on young foreign prospects as a reaction to the Arruebarrena, Guerrero, Olivera, Sierra, and even Puig signings. I'm conflicted in that I agree with them on one hand, but disagree in the approach and with their selective choices on when to exercise this caution.

I was against the signing of Sierra initially, but came to accept it given that we were not charged the luxury tax. Remember the team also wanted to spend big money on Yoan Lopez, another Cuban prospect I had question marks about. Then they passed on Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. who is someone I've been high on throughout. The international signings have nothing to do with Gasparino, but points to shifting priorities within the organization.

I've given Logan White the benefit of the doubt with his selections even when I disagreed with them because I agree with his philosophy, generally speaking. With Billy Gasparino, I find myself skeptical with quite a few of his high selections, so I can't help but be critical of them. Given his record with respect to my opinion at the respective time of his picks and what I find to be an overly cautious approach with our higher picks, he does not have the benefit of the doubt from me at all right now.

Ranma · Post #552 » by **Ranma** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 6:30 am

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Ranma · Post #553 » by **Ranma** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:00 am

Law currently ranks Bellinger just behind J.P. Crawford while Andrew Benintendi is his top overall prospect, which is likely to be the industry consensus. Cody has certainly zoomed up the leaderboard this past season. Interestingly enough, Yoan Moncada is 17th overall, which is unchanged from Law's view of him last year.

Also noteworthy is that Jose De Leon drops from 60th overall in 2016 to 73rd for this year's list. Willie Calhoun is not on the list at all and neither is Hunter Renfroe, by the way. He also goes on to mention Nolan Jones among those who missed his top 100 noting how overmatched he looked in the Arizona Rookie League striking out 36% of the time and displaying no power, which is a concern of scouts (and mine) given that he was supposed to be a polished hitter. Further, it looks like he'll outgrow his middle-infield position and may have to move to 1B.

Ranma · Post #554 » by **Ranma** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:54 am

MLB Pipeline just released its own list of top 100 prospects for 2017. Benintendi is the top overall prospect, as expected, but Moncada is still 2nd overall with Bellinger 13th. Calhoun makes the cut here (so does Renfroe at 42nd overall) but is ranked above Buehler. Also, De Leon is higher here at 33rd overall and Grant Holmes gets a nod at 85th overall. Overall, I tend to side with Law's rankings this year when I favored MLB Pipeline's last year.

Neddy · Post #555 » by **Neddy** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:16 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:Forsythe doesn't have poor splits against righties over the last 3 years. I wouldn't bat him 8th there.

and I'd also consider dropping Turner further in the order against LHP...possibly behind Grandal.
Grandal is definitely going to sport the higher OBP against lefties.
I think Grandal gets a bum rap against lefties/ as a RH hitter because he doesn't face them as much. I believe his natural power side as a kid was the right hand side (can anyone confirm or deny this? I will look it up to make sure if I have to) and the power got zapped when he tore his ACL. 4 HRs in 76 ABs against lefties last year is not bad at all if you extrapolate 4/76 to 500 or 600 ABs. I think his RH power might just be back.
_________

We are in need of a setup man bad. I dont mind bringing Blanton back but in a reduced role. We truly relied on him a lot...he threw 80 innings last year. Compare to Kenley who only threw 68...then count the times Joe probably had to get up and warm up but didn't get in the game.

I want him. I want Holland. ****, I wanted Neftali.
We've been linked to Jerry Blevins but he can't handle the setup man role.

it's not so about Forsythe being unable to handle the RHP, it is more of my personal preference to have Toles to lead off against RHP. Toles has speed, his got some gap power with a ton of lead off doubles and occasional triples potential. you know I have spoken plenty in the past of my disdain of having Joc hitting in front of the pitcher's spot, and do not want to waste Grandal's power when he is hot, and don't want two automatic outs when he is cold in the 8 hole.

about pushing Turner down agrainst LHP, yeah I would like that. but I don't know if DR is willing to do such tho. there is also a value in keeping someone like him still in the early portion of the lineup in order to maxmize pitching changes late in games, but then again, that's why we have a ton of power hitting bench players like SVS, Ruf, now even Ike Davis... and in this particular case of making the lineup against LHP, Ethier and Joc would be on the bench, but okay, how about purely academic lineup against LHP here?

1. R 2B Forsythe
2. L SS Seager
3. R RF Puig
4. L 1B Gonzo
5. R LF SVS ------- to put some power hitter behind Gonzo for one, but I prefer Grandal in the 6th hole.
6. S C Grandal --- I would just hate to see them pitching around Gonzo to get to Grandal when he is cold with JT behind...
7. R 3B Turner
8. R CF ****/Thopmson

I still think SVS is a force, even if his ceiling is low at this point. he is to me, another Mark Trumbo type player who did not have his fair share, and in AL he would have been a fine 4th OF and primary DH somewhere. yes he has holes in his swing, like Uchiyama san would say to Jack Elliott, but I have no doubt that given a full season, he is a 30 HRs a season guy. too bad this isn't the 80s and his advanced stat isn't as impressive as what his full season-traditional stats would have been. not saying he is the better option over other OFers we have, but in terms of a lineup with purely hitting only in mind, this makes sense to me.

Ranma · Post #556 » by **Ranma** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:25 am

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Ranma · Post #557 » by **Ranma** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:39 am

Eric Stephen, TrueBlueLA.com (1/18/17)

“There’s still some projection left in his lean, athletic frame,” Jeffrey Paternostro wrote of Alvarez and his 100-mph arm. “Unlikely he adds much more velocity but some added weight/strength might help tone down some of the effort in his delivery and make everything more repeatable generally.”
...

Baseball Prospectus is high on Walker Buehler after the Dodgers’ 2015 first-round selection came back from Tommy John surgery. Buehler is ranked as the sixth-best Dodgers prospect, after not making top 10 prior to the 2016 season, with BP praising his curve and changeup, both of which project as above average.
...

“Sheffield has a power pitcher’s arsenal,” Paternostro wrote. “The fastball regularly bumped 96-97 in short bursts as a pro even after a long NCAA season at Vandy.”
...

Yadier Alvarez Ranks First Among Baseball Prospectus 2017 Top Dodgers Prospects

John Sickels, MinorLeagueBall.com (1/6/17)

10) Brock Stewart, RHP, Grade B-: Age 25; sixth round pick in 2014 from Illinois State University; posted 1.79 ERA with 129/19 K/BB in 121 innings at three levels, then 5.79 ERA with 25/12 K/BB in 28 MLB innings; fastball 91-95 with good location; mixes in plus change-up and an inconsistent slider; showed superb command in the minors in ’16, walk rate rose in majors but that’s natural and he’s shown past ability to make adjustments; number four starter type with a chance to be a three if slider improves. ETA 2017.

11) Keibert Ruiz, C, Grade B-: Age 18, signed out of Venezuela in 2014 for just $140,000; outstanding debut hitting .374/.412/.527 with 15 walks, 27 strikeouts in 222 at-bats between Arizona Rookie League and Pioneer League; threw out just 20% of runners and arm is just so-so but defense is otherwise extremely good, very reliable and mobile, strong leadership ability; switch-hitter with doubles power and good contact ability; watch this one closely. ETA 2020.

12) Gavin Lux, SS, Grade B-: Age 19, first round pick in 2016 from high school in Wisconsin, hit .296/.375/.399 with 28 walks, 51 strikeouts in 223 at-bats in rookie ball; lacks power but shows some feel for hitting, could hit for average with doubles pop down the line but don’t expect many homers and OBP unclear right now; impressive glove with range, hands, and arm strength all projecting well at shortstop; I have no objective evidence yet but hitting may turn out better than expected. ETA 2020.
...

OTHER GRADE C+: Grant Dayton, LHP; Omar Estevez, INF; Starling Heredia, OF; Ibandel Isabel, 1B; Dustin May, RHP; Brandon Montgomery, 2B; Trevor Oaks, RHP; Jacob Rhame, RHP; Dennis Santana, RHP; Will Smith, C; Andrew Sopko, RHP

GRADE C: A.J. Alexy, RHP; Adam Bray, RHP; Ronny Brito, INF; Leo Crawford, LHP;
Brendon Davis, INF; Kyle Farmer, C-3B; Caleb Ferguson, LHP: Victor Gonzalez, LHP; Micah Johnson, INF-OF; Tim Locastro, INF; Erick Mejia, INF; Johan Mieses, OF; Carlos Rincon, OF Cristian Santana, 3B; Jacob Scavuzzo, OF; Yaisel Sierra, RHP; Cody Thomas, OF

Los Angeles Dodgers Top 20 prospects for 2017

Summary of Sickels's Top 20

Jose De Leon | A/A- | 2017 ETA
Cody Bellinger | A- | Late 2017 ETA
Yadier Alvarez | B+/A- | Late 2018 ETA
Alex Verdugo | B+/B- | 2018 ETA
Andrew Toles | B | 2017 ETA
Willie Calhoun | B | 2018 ETA
Yusniel Diaz | B | 2019 ETA
Jordan Sheffield | B | 2019 ETA
Walker Buehler | B/B- | 2018 ETA
Brock Stewart | B | 2017 ETA
Keibert Ruiz | B- | 2020 ETA
Gavin Lux | B- | 2020 ETA
Austin Barnes | B- | 2017 ETA
Chase De Jong | B-/C+ | 2018 ETA
Josh Sborz | B-/C+ | 2018 ETA
Mitchell White | B-/C+ | 2019 ETA
Imani Abdullah | C+ | 2020 ETA
Mitchell Hansen | C+ | 2020 ETA
D.J. Peters | C+ | Late 2019 ETA
Edwin Rios | C+ | 2018 ETA

Ranma · Post #558 » by **Ranma** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:32 am

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Ranma · Post #559 » by **Ranma** » Tue Feb 7, 2017 5:29 am

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Ranma · Post #560 » by **Ranma** » Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:39 pm

Quake has already posted the link to FanGraphs article on Brock Stewart in the De-Leon-for-Forsythe-trade thread, but I figured it'd be a nice complement to his placement with David Hood's write-up about him as the 6th-best prospect in the Dodgers' farm system.

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