Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers got the main prize on the trade block during the 2026 deadline season, acquiring Tarik Skubal from the Tigers on Saturday. They made a few additional moves on Monday leading up to the trade deadline, although nothing close to the magnitude of the Skubal trade.
There had been rumblings about the Dodgers investigating prospect-for-prospect swaps, but they ended up with a fairly small overall volume of moves. That meant that most of the change in the farm system was subtractions, though the Dodgers did add one prospect to their mix, acquiring Double-A right-handed reliever Jacob Kmatz from the Rays alongside big-league catcher Hunter Feduccia.
Let’s take a look at each trade the Dodgers made ahead of the deadline that involved minor leaguers.
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Tarik Skubal Trade
The Dodgers sent three prospects back to the Tigers in a three-for-one swap. Triple-A right-hander River Ryan, Double-A outfielder Zyhir Hope and High-A right-hander Brady Smith comprised the probable largest return for a rental in MLB history.
On my upcoming midseason Dodgers prospects list, Hope was set to place the highest of the three at No. 5, tagged with a 55 future value grade. Ryan was right behind him at No. 7, also with a 55 FV, and Smith would have placed No. 14 with a 45 FV.
Anyone comparing this package to a bag of potatoes is lying. The Dodgers parted with a lot of talent, even if it wasn’t up to the projections some had made leading up to the deadline. But, there wasn’t anyone in this package that the Dodgers can’t replace.
OF Zyhir Hope, Age-21 Season (Would’ve Ranked No. 5)
| Height/Weight: | Bat/Throw: | Draft: | ETA |
| 5’10″ / 193 lbs | L/L | 11th Round (326), 2023 (CHC) | 2027 |
| Hit | Raw Power | Game Pwr | Plate Disc. | Run | Field | FV | Risk |
| 30/40 | 70/70 | 40/65 | 40/50 | 60/60 | 40/50 | 55 | High |
It’s not Hope’s fault that he would have fallen a few spots from the preseason Dodgers list, where he ranked No. 2. He’s done very well as a 21-year-old in Double-A, posting a 130 wRC+ and .487 wOBACON with 23 homers through 94 games. Hope was just not the only player at the top of LA’s system who has thrived this year.
Already flexing double-plus power and plus speed, Hope has a bonafide star ceiling if he can hit enough. He’s been an analytical favorite for a couple years now thanks to his consistent tallying of big exit velocities at a young age. His control of the strike zone is only iffy, but he’s walked a lot in the minor leagues since pitchers are afraid to throw him strikes.
This season, Hope’s 30% chase rate and 84% in-zone contact rate are both around average, but he’s done a good job swinging aggressively at hittable strikes as his contact skills have improved from last year. Also: He mashes lefties, so not a lot of platoon risk to worry about. Right-handed changeups give him more trouble than left-handed breaking balls.
The Dodgers slid Hope over to the corner outfield full-time in 2026, although he might have still gotten some reps in center field in a different organization. With the Tigers having recently promoted Max Clark to the majors, Hope’s long-term future in Detroit would be best in right field, where his plus speed and plus arm strength could make him an average overall defender. If he slows down much with age, that projection could drop a bit.
It’s been well publicized how talented the Dodgers’ collection of outfield prospects are. They’ve positioned themselves to be able to lose a player of Hope’s talent and barely feel the sting. Even as he would’ve ranked fifth in the system, he would’ve been the fourth outfielder on my midseason list.
RHP River Ryan, Age-27 Season (Would’ve Ranked No. 7)
| Height/Weight: | Bat/Throw: | Draft: | ETA |
| 6’2″ / 195 lbs | R/R | 11th Round (340), 2021 (SD) | 2026 |
| Fastball | Slider | Curve | Sinker | Change | Cutter | Command | FV | Risk |
| 65/65 | 60/60 | 55/60 | 55/55 | 50/50 | 55/55 | 45/50 | 55 | Medium |
Ryan would only have placed outside the top five due to an inconsistent track record of durability. He still qualifies as a prospect due to only having 20 1/3 career MLB innings less than a month out from his 28th birthday. But make no mistake, this is a big-league ready and caliber arm that just needs to get healthy and stay on the field.
Ryan is currently on the Triple-A injured list with a hamstring issue. He went down with a torn UCL four starts into his big league career in 2024. He’s dealt with shoulder issues before that. His current career high in innings in a single-season was 104 1/3 in 2023; no other season has even reached 50. Laying out these caveats is important before getting to what he brings while on the field, because he is an absolute monster when healthy.
The former UNC Pembroke two-way player oozes athleticism on the mound and boasts a full arsenal of six average-or-better pitches. Ryan’s two best pitches: His four-seam fastball sits 98 mph with solid action and 6.6 feet of extension, and his slider is a true bullet at 91 mph with zero induced vertical break and four inches of sweep. The rest of the arsenal, in order of usage, is sinker, curveball, cutter and changeup.
With roughly average fastball command and fringe-average command of his secondaries, Ryan has every trait of an immediate mid-rotation starter if he can handle the workload. That’s looking like a big if; if his injury track record is to be taken as fact, it could either keep him off the field often enough to limit his output as a starter or maybe even force a relief move just to protect his workload. That last part is hard to imagine given that Ryan’s arm talent, in the present day, if he was available to pitch. The good part for the Tigers is that his age is almost irrelevant to his evaluation; it just means that his five seasons of team control will fall in his physical prime, and Ryan has a ton less overall mileage on his arm than other soon-to-be 28-year-old hurlers.
Ryan was likely to factor into the Dodgers’ playoff run in some way if he remained in the organization. He was healthy and “built-up” from a pitch count perspective earlier this year, but LA chose to keep him in Triple-A anyway, worried about throwing him back into big league intensity too fast and causing an injury. We’ll see how long Detroit can keep themselves in the playoff race without Skubal, but if they can and Ryan heals up, he should be in the majors as quick as they can build him up.
RHP Brady Smith, Age-21 Season (Would’ve Ranked No. 14)
| Height/Weight: | Bat/Throw: | Draft: | ETA |
| 6’2″ / 170 lbs | R/R | 3rd Round (95), 2023 (LAD) | 2028 |
| Fastball | Curveball | Slider | Changeup | Cutter | Command | FV | Risk |
| 50/55 | 45/55 | 30/45 | 50/60 | 40/45 | 25/40 | 45 | High |
The Dodgers drafted Smith back in 2023, when he was a talented but undersized prep arm who had shown an affinity for high spin-rates. He required elbow surgery shortly after signing and spent his first nearly two years in the organization rehabbing before making his long-awaited pro debut with 21 innings last season.
Smith hit the ground running in 2026 and was excellent for Single-A Ontario. Across 19 starts, Smith compiled 65 innings with a 38% strikeout rate. He was not in the zone very much, but his fantastic raw stuff got him by, generating a 34% chase rate and 39% whiff rate. The Dodgers promoted the 21-year-old to High-A only two weeks ago.
Still holding a lot of the spin numbers that made his profile attractive out of high school, Smith’s changeup has emerged as his best pitch. He throws out of a higher arm-slot now than he did as an amateur, helping his fastball gain some extra carry while living in the mid-90s. Smith will need to develop his strike throwing to remain a starter, but his stuff could also make an impact in relief if that doesn’t happen.
The Tigers will not have too much time to develop Smith before his Rule 5 protection timeline hits next December, so next year will likely be a big one for Smith to either continue to start to move into relief. He’s a good third piece in this trade that is easy to imagine making an MLB impact in some capacity. His climb on my Dodgers midseason list would have been dramatic, as he ranked No. 26 entering the year.
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Ben Rortvedt Trade
This one was more of a footnote, but the Dodgers acquired old-friend Ben Rortvedt from the Mets on Monday morning for Triple-A right-handed reliever Chayce McDermott. It was a one-for-one swap, and McDermott had just been designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Friday, so he was already on his way out of the organization.
LA acquired the 27-year-old from Baltimore in a minor trade back in April, and he would have fallen in the relief depth portion of the “names to know” on my midseason Dodgers prospects list. He’s a stuff-heavy and relief-only prospect whose 30-grade command has prevented an extended big-league breakthrough. McDermott is mostly fastball-cutter-slider, and across 27 games for Oklahoma City, he posted a 4.10 ERA, 36% strikeout rate and 17% walk rate.
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Kris Bubic Trade
In another one-for-one move, the Dodgers acquired currently injured left-hander Kris Bubic from the Royals in exchange for Triple-A right-handed reliever Carlos Duran. This is the second straight year the Dodgers have dealt Duran away.
After signing as an amateur in 2018 and coming up through LA’s system, Duran was dealt to the A’s last year for Esteury Ruiz. He made one appearance in the majors for the the A’s and elected free agency in the offseason. Duran came back to the Dodgers on a minor league deal, and although he has spent the full season in Triple-A, LA added him to the 40-man roster on July 6.
The freshly-turned 25-year-old has one great pitch, throwing his wipeout slider more than 40% of the time. He possesses a physical 6-foot-7 frame but has never developed a fastball that can truly play off his slider. The Dominican Republic native throws both a four-seam and a sinker that have both struggled to profile as MLB-caliber heaters.
Still, Duran was good in Oklahoma City this year, turning in a 3.38 ERA and 31% strikeout rate. He was set to rank No. 39 on my midseason Dodgers prospects list update with a 35+ FV given his status as a ready-to-go depth reliever. Duran’s slider is a legitimately great pitch if the Royals can find a way to improve his fastball. On the Dodgers side, Duran is not a steep price to pay for the hope that Bubic can get healthy and pitch anywhere near his 2025 All-Star level in the postseason.
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Hunter Feduccia Trade
In the Dodgers’ final deal of this year’s deadline season, former Dodger farmhand Hunter Feduccia returned to LA from the Rays alongside right-handed relief prospect Jacob Kmatz. The Dodgers sent back Triple-A outfielder (and former Pittsburgh Pirate, so not a prospect) Jack Suwinski, as well as $250,000 in international bonus pool money.
Suwinski was brought in during Spring Training as organizational depth and performed well for Oklahoma City. There was never a chance for him to be called up though, nor was there likely to be one for the rest of the year. His exit is most notable for freeing up a Triple-A outfield spot for one of the top prospects in Tulsa (likely Josue De Paula or Mike Sirota) to move up a level.
In receiving Kmatz, the Dodgers added an intriguing trending-up guy who might immediately be the best relief-only prospect in the system (assuming LA doesn’t suddenly stretch him out). Kmatz was ranked as the No. 14 prospect in Rays system at 45 FV according to FanGraphs. They give him a plus fastball, plus slider and double-plus curveball.
The other exciting aspect of Kmatz is his quality command, even alongside explosive stuff. In 53 innings this year, the 23-year-old has a 36% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate while posting a 2.89 ERA.
Jacob Kmatz (TBR) has dominated hitters this season across both Hi-A and Double-A
— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) August 1, 2026
In 51 innings, he's racked up 74 Ks while posting a 3.00 ERA, 3.52 FIP, and a 3.08 xFIP. His 32.5% K-BB% is the 3rd best mark in the minors (Min. 50 IP). Only a 4.5% BB%pic.twitter.com/rZBRJ7rOlN
Kmatz was Tampa Bay’s fifth-round pick in 2024 out of Oregon State. I’ll have my full scouting report and grades on him soon, as he’ll be included in my midseason Dodgers prospects list somewhere in the No. 10-20 range. He looks to be a very solid acquisition in the margins of a deal that was mostly about getting a familiar backup catcher.
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Overall, there was less farm system turnover for the Dodgers than I expected at this year’s deadline. The Skubal trade was their only move that included parting with any prospects I have tagged at 40 FV or higher. All the chatter about the Dodgers wanting to significantly reshuffle their outfield prospect surplus and the potential for top prospect swaps to that effect did not end up materializing.
The farm system is in largely the same place as before with the only slightly depleted strength from a week ago, which is remarkable to write given the acquisition of a back-to-back reigning Cy Young winner.
My midseason Dodgers prospect rankings will be out soon, so look forward to that.
