Dodgers’ composite Top 10 prospects for the 2019 season

Jeter Downs (Photo: Dustin Nosler)

Look, we all know my prospect rankings are the best. Just kidding, I’m pretty bad. Because of that, I’ve compiled all the Dodger prospect rankings from the notable outlets to give you the composite Dodgers’ Top 10 prospects for 2019.

Before we get there, here’s how my Top 10 shook out.

  1. Alex Verdugo
  2. Keibert Ruiz
  3. Dustin May
  4. Gavin Lux
  5. Tony Gonsolin
  6. Will Smith
  7. Dennis Santana
  8. Mitchell White
  9. Jeter Downs
  10. Omar Estevez

You can read the full Top 100 list here.

Without further ado, here we go.

Composite Dodgers Top 10 Prospects

Player 2080 BA BP ESPN FG MiLB MLB TBLA Avg
Verdugo 1 2 1 2 5 1 1 1 1.7
Ruiz 2 1 3 1 1 3 2 4 2.1
Lux 3 3 5 3 3 2 4 5 3.5
May 4 4 2 4 2 4 3 7 3.7
Smith 5 5 4 5 4 7 6 2 4.7
Gonsolin 7 8 7 6 6 6 5 8 6.6
D. Santana 6 7 6 13 12 5 7 3 7.4
Downs 7 12 12 7 7 NR 8 10 9
White 8 9 9 9 16 8 9 9 9.6
Peters 9 10 8 14 10 13 11 6 10.1

NR = Not Ranked
Editor’s Note
: 2080 = 2080 Baseball, BA = Baseball America, BP = Baseball Prospectus, ESPN = Keith Law, FG = FanGraphs, MiLB = Minor League Ball, MLB = MLB.com, TBLA = True Blue LA

No surprise to see Verdugo on top here, despite that prospect-fatiguey No. 5 ranking by FanGraphs. It carries a bit more weight after his hot start to the 2019 season. Ruiz made a push for the top spot, but he came up just short. Lux and May were separated by one ranking/point. Smith was clearly No. 5 when it all shook out. Gonsolin is about where he should be. Like I’ve said before, if he were a couple years younger, he might be atop this list. Santana suffered from a couple lower-than-expected rankings, but benefited from a higher-than-expected one. Downs’ ranking via Minor League Ball isn’t counted since that list was from December — about a month before he was a Dodger farmhand. White had one of the more consistent rankings, while DJ Peters was a little up and down.

For good measure, here’s how the next 22 prospects panned out in this composite ranking.

Player 2080 BA BP ESPN FG MiLB MLB TBLA Avg
Gray 16* 18 10 8 8 NR 18 15 11.6
Rios 10 11 13 11 19 10 13 11 12.2
Cartaya 16* 10 17* 10 11 20 10 13 13.4
Wong 9 15 14 15 13 17 14 16 14.1
Grove 16* 17 17* 12 18 21* 15 14 16.2
Kendall 16* 16 11 20 15 21* 16 20 16.9
C. Santana 16* 13 17* 23* 17 21* 27 12 18.2
Estevez 16* 25 17* 23* 9 9 20 30 18.6
Alvarez 12 14 16 22 21 21* 17 27 18.7
Carrillo 15 19 17* 16 22 18 19 25 18.9
Amaya 16* 29 17* 17 14 16 12 34 19.4
Vargas 16* 20 17* 23* 24 11 28 NR 19.9
Ortiz 16* 22 17* 18 27 21* 25 19 20.6
Beaty 15 24 17* 23* 20 21* 30 18 21
Sborz 15 23 17* 23* 28 21* 32* 17 22
Rincon 16* 28 17* 23* 25 21* 31 33 24.2
Sheffield 11 32* 15 23* 23 21* 32* 37 24.2
Thomas 16* 30 17* 23* 31 21* 32* 24 24.2
Uceta 16* 27 17* 21 36* 12 21 49 24.9
Fisher 16* 32* 17* 19 36* 19 23 42 25.5
Willeman 16* 21 17* 23* 30 21* 29 46 25.4
Rooney 16* 26 17* 23* 33 21* 24 59 27.4

*-Denotes player wasn’t given an official ranking
NR = Not Ranked
Editor’s Note
: 2080 = 2080 Baseball, BA = Baseball America, BP = Baseball Prospectus, ESPN = Keith Law, FG = FanGraphs, MiLB = Minor League Ball, MLB = MLB.com, TBLA = True Blue LA

This all seems pretty straightforward. Josiah Gray will likely be shooting up the rankings come mid-season and next season. Edwin Rios is probably maxed out here. Diego Cartaya is just scratching the surface of his stay in the prospect rankings. Connor Wong had a solid showing, as did Michael Grove (without even throwing a pitch). Jeren Kendall is still immensely talented but also flawed. Cristian Santana is showing well early this season. Estevez will probably make believers out of some of the outlets that ranked him lower. Your guess is as good as mine re: Yadier Alvarez. Gerardo Carrillo has premium stuff, but the results aren’t there yet.

Some eyebrow-raising rankings (for me) include:

  • Wong No. 9, Sheffield No. 11, Alvarez No. 12 by 2080 Baseball
  • Zach Willeman No. 21 by Baseball America
  • Kendall No. 11 by Baseball Prospectus
  • Verdugo No. 5 by FanGraphs
  • Cartaya No. 10 by ESPN and MLB Pipeline
  • Amaya No. 12 by MLB Pipeline
  • Miguel Vargas No. 11, Edwin Uceta No. 12 by Minor League Ball
  • Santana No. 3, May No. 7 by True Blue LA

——

As you can see, the farm system is still damn good. It’s lacking true high-end talent (could that be addressed in the upcoming draft?), but there are a lot of future MLBers listed above.

About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.