Midseason Dodger Prospect Report
Baseball America just released their Midseason Prospect Report and most notably, Cody Bellinger is no longer a prospect. Go figure I guess hitting 25 HR for the Dodgers does bad things to your prospect status. This time, the Dodgers have only four prospects in the Top 100. Willie Calhoun jumped from #92 to #73 That s what happens when you hit those long-balls. Yadier Alvarez dropped from #26 to
Baseball America just released their Midseason Prospect Report and most notably, Cody Bellinger is no longer a prospect. Go figure – I guess hitting 25 HR for the Dodgers does bad things to your prospect status. This time, the Dodgers have only four prospects in the Top 100.
- Willie Calhoun jumped from #92 to #73 – That’s what happens when you hit those long-balls.
- Yadier Alvarez dropped from #26 to #59 – That’s what being fat between the ears will get you.
- Alex Verdugo jumped up to #35 from #58 – That’s what happens when you hit .350.
- Walker Freaking Buehler went from Not Rated to #17! – Wow! That’s what happens when you are really, really good!
Buehler jumped ahead of Michael Kopech, the White Sox phenomenon who can throw like 150. Anytime the Dodgers talk trade, the other teams are asking for Buehler and Verdugo. I would not entertain trading either one and teams are losing interest in Alvarez who looks to me to be a closer. Baseball America wrote this about Buehler and Kopech:
A scout who has seen both Kopech and Buehler said he loved both of their arms, but it was Buehler’s stuff that left him shaking his head.
“It’s in the top group of arms I’ve seen,” the scout said. “He’s got No. 1-type starter stuff. He’s got four pitches that all have a chance to be average or better. Everything was electric. Everything was a swing and miss pitch.”
“His arm is fast,easy and loose,” the scout said. “He’s a future No.1. … I’d take either one of them right now,” the scout said, “but Buehler is more refined. Even though they are at the same level, Buehler is more advanced.”
BA went on to say that Buehler sat at 97-98 MPH, didn’t dip below 96 and touched 99 and that his fastball has “solid late movement.” They also said that “Buehler attacks and gets ahead of hitters.”
Walker Buehler is likely be in the Dodgers’ rotation next year. Kershaw, Wood, Buehler, Hill and Mac?
Rants and Raves
- The Cubs paid dearly to get Jose Quintana giving up Eloy Jimenez (Ranked #5) and Dylan Cease (#82) among others.
- On the previous thread, I saw AC’s link to Fanragsports. I like the idea of Zach Britton. Baltimore needs starters. Ryu and Maeda? What would it take?
- On Alex Verdugo: I heard he was not happy with batting 8th last night in the All-Star Game. “Well, you didn’t get a hit, so they were right! Grow up!” That may be his only issue.
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Discussion (68)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Alvarez was probably ranked too high to begin with. Still, with his physical gifts, when/if he starts getting batters out his rank will shoot up like an erupting volcano. Guess he’s not a prospect but wonder what Urias would be ranked right now. Injury is a rank killer. Wonder if Alvarez is having some arm problems? Control and movement seem off from last year. Everyone knew Buehler would be good if he responded well to elbow surgery. No crystal ball needed there. Let’sget the 2nd half going. Can’t wait to see what happens.
Is it bad luck to think about the post season? Here goes. We need a shut down middle relief pitcher who can go 2 days out of three. The Astros have Devenski and that is a huge advantage for them especially with a so-so bullpen. Any Andrew Millers out there? Otherwise we go with our quantity , which won’t hold for the playoffs. Is Morrow the guy who can do this for us? Maybe so. The second half should be used to show what he has. Maybe he is the next Devenski/Miller. With the giants gone the season doesn’t seem as interesting. No stress here. Bay Area paper talks about how shitty the giants are. Love it. And they are. But don’t be surprised to see them be our pain in ass before this is over.
I do not think that Adeiny Hechavarria qualifies as a big trade, so IMO the deadline trade season has officially begun with Jose Quintana. The Cubs gave up a lot, but they have a legit #2 thru 2018, two very reasonable club options thru 2020 of $10.5M each, and insurance for losing Jake Arrieta/John Lackey. Jimenez is one of the very top OF prospects in all of MLB, but he is at least two years out. Dylan Cease is one of the top RHP prospects, but is also two years out. The Cubs do not win the WS without Chapman in 2016. They are showing that they are not afraid of trying to go for it again. The ML team is very young, and they still have Jeimar Candelario (3B/1B), Mark Zagunis (OF), Victor Caratini (C/1B), and Chesny Young (inf) major league ready at AAA. Not to mention Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber. They have plenty to still go after relief pitching and catching.
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I do not expect the Dodgers to make such a bold move. There are still a lot of baseball “experts” who think the Dodgers need a RHSP like Sonny Gray/Gerritt Cole. Rangers are now saying that Yu Darvish/Cole Hamels will be in play if their (Rangers) play does not pick up. I just think the Dodgers trust what they have in starting pitching. Time will tell if that was foolish or not.
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There has been a lot of discussion for a RH bat here. As much as I like and would welcome JD Martinez, I would be surprised if the Dodgers make a trade unless they can get Justin Wilson in the same deal. I think they will stay with Taylor and Puig as their RH OF. If the Dodgers could somehow include Logan Forsythe in a trade with NYY and acquire Clint Frazier, and move Taylor to 2B, that is something that could help both teams. But that is highly unlikely, so waste brain cells. They may look for an upgrade for Trayce Thompson, but not a regular.
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But where they absolutely need help is LHRP. None of Avilan/Dayton/Liberatore are dependable. Liberatore may not make it back at all this year. What makes the situation more dire, is that there are no LHRP anywhere close in the farm system. The closest potentials are Caleb Ferguson and Devin Smeltzer both at Rancho), but both are considered starters for now. I would expect that is where they will undoubtedly remain, since LHSP is also needed. Relief could be in their future as they get closer to MLB.
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If the Dodgers go big, this is where I would expect them to go. Justin Wilson/Sean Doolittle/Zach Britton seem to be the three that they are watching most closely. But there are some that think that they will lower their sights for a Tony Watson. Because of the way it turned out, they claim that FAZ is looking for a left hand version of Josh Fields, and Tony Watson fits that criterion. As I have previously stated, I am all in on Zach Britton. It will be costly, but Britton to Jansen seems awfully good. They will probably also look for another quality middle reliever. Ryan Madson also seems to be on their radar. I know they were looking at Kyle Barraclough as well.
Neshek is a guy that I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dodgers check in on too. Remember, the Dodgers actually offered him more money than Houston when he signed there, but Neshek went for the lower tax rate. FAZ has made a few deals with Philly since arriving in LA. Baez has had a nice year, but I don’t see him as an 8th inning guy. He’s had too many playoff failures for my comfort. The Dodgers need to be in on a bullpen arm or two. I know Morrow is liked by many, but he belongs in Hatcher’s role not close ball games at this point.
Mark
I guess that Cub’s trade, made you ambitious, and AC’s idea, and his thread, made you become creative, in the moment!
I like the AC’s idea of getting Britton, he was not only the best reliever in the American League last year, he is effective against both lefties, and righties, and like you said Mark, the Orioles are desperate for starting pitching.