Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
I wrapped up my Top 100 series last week. In the meantime, folks from around the Internet have been busy ranking Dodger prospects. Let’s take a look to see how other outlets ranked the 2017 crop of Dodgers’ prospects.
The word “consensus” below isn’t technically correct, but for the sake of argument, let’s just roll with it.
Consensus Dodgers Top 10 prospects
| Player | BA | BP | ESPN | FG | MiLB | MLB | TBLA | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellinger | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Alvarez | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Verdugo | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Buehler | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5.4 |
| Calhoun | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Toles | 5 | 6 | NR | 8 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 6.7 |
| Stewart | 7 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 7.4 |
| Diaz | 6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 7.6 |
| Lux | 8 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 8.4 |
| Barnes | 9 | NR | 6 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 |
| Sheffield | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 10 |
Editor’s Note: BA = Baseball America, BP = Baseball Prospectus, ESPN = Keith Law, FG = FanGraphs, MiLB = Minor League Ball, MLB = MLB.com, TBLA = True Blue LA
For context, here is how my Top 10 played out:
- Cody Bellinger
- Yadier Alvarez
- Alex Verdugo
- Brock Stewart
- Walker Buehler
- Willie Calhoun
- Yusniel Diaz
- Jordan Sheffield
- Gavin Lux
- Grant Dayton
For further context, I would have ranked Andrew Toles at No. 7. And it came out this week that he actually is still prospect-/rookie-eligible. I should have ranked him, but I did not. Don’t @ me.
Pretty clear 1-3 with Bellinger, Alvarez and Verdugo. I was a little surprised to see Keith Law (ESPN) rank Alvarez the lowest of anyone at No. 4. But Bellinger is the cream of this crop, while Verdugo is highly regarded as well.
After that, it’s smorgasbord of rankings, beginning with 2015 1st-rounder Buehler. Despite logging just five innings in his pro debut, he is highly thought of by almost everyone, save a somewhat curious No. 10 ranking from Baseball America. Calhoun would have ranked higher if he could play even a lick of defense at second base. Instead, he’s ranked as highly as he is because of his bat. We all now about Toles and what he did last seasons. He’s well-regarded, most by John Sickels of Minor League Ball.
Up next is Brock Brock, whom I’m higher on than anyone in the prospecting community. Either I’m going to look like a genius or a fool. I’d bet on the latter. Diaz is toolsy, raw and athletic and could take a big jump in 2017. He was, curiously, ranked just 18th by David Hood at True Blue LA.
The “consensus” Top 10 rounds out with a “boring” 2016 1st-rounder in Lux and, technically, not a prospect in Austin Barnes, plus another 2016 1st-rounder in Sheffield. Lux is a high-floor, lower-ceiling prospect, while Barnes would start for a lot MLB teams. But of the trio, I’m most excited for Sheffield’s future. He has a high ceiling with an even higher risk.
Some eyebrow-raising rankings include:
- Imani Abdullah: No. 9 by TBLA
- Omar Estevez: No. 8 by ESPN
- Dustin May: No. 11 by Baseball Prospectus, No. 12 by Baseball America
- Keibert Ruiz: No. 10 by MiLB, No. 13 by FanGraphs
- Mitchell White: No. 9 by ESPN, No. 10 by TBLA
As for Top 100 rankings, I’ll do another post on that when Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs releases his Top 100, 150, 200 or whatever it’s going to be.
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Some of these lists came out while Jose De Leon was a Dodger prospect. I would have ranked him at No. 3. Here’s how he ranked on the lists that came out before Jan. 24:
- BA: 3
- BP: 3
- FG: 4
- TBLA: 2
Add ’em up and you get the No. 3 prospect in the org. Instead, he’s the Rays’ No. 3 prospect.
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While the organization doesn’t have the impact potential it did last year, there is still some quality depth and some prospects who could take a leap depending on 2017 performance and evaluations.
