Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Somewhat surprisingly, the Top 100 lists are out from the reputable sites on the Internet. For reference, this post last year came on March 15, but you’re getting it five weeks early. Good on you, baseball websites!
And as soon as FanGraphs releases its Dodgers’ list, I’ll do a compilation of those rankings as well (hopefully True Blue LA will be done by then).
I’m slacking a bit in my Top 100 rankings (40-31 should come sometime this week), but let’s look at how some in the farm system stack up against the rest in baseball.
The sites used for this exercise are Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN (Keith Law), FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline. Here’s how Dodger prospects fared on those respective lists.
Note: The ESPN list is split into two parts, so the “ES” and “PN” are separate links.
Dodgers On Top 100* Lists
| Player | BA | BP | ESPN | FG | MLB | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buehler | 13 | 21 | 12 | 27 | 13 | 17.2 |
| Verdugo | 37 | 25 | 36 | 48 | 33 | 35.8 |
| Ruiz | 40 | 54 | 97 | 101 | 52 | 68.8 |
| Alvarez | 101 | 41 | 52 | 54 | 101 | 69.8 |
| White | 69 | 86 | 101 | 101 | 101 | 91.6 |
| Smith | 101 | 102 | 101 | 64 | 101 | 93.8 |
| May | 101 | 69 | 101 | 101 | 101 | 94.6 |
| Diaz | 101 | 73 | 101 | 101 | 101 | 95.4 |
Editor’s Note: BA = Baseball America, BP = Baseball Prospectus, ESPN = Keith Law, FG = FanGraphs, MLB = MLB.com. Also, “101” and “102” rankings denote player did not make the list.
This list isn’t as deep and impactful as it was in recent years, but there are still plenty of quality prospects in the Dodgers’ org.
Walker Buehler is a global Top 20 prospect and almost a Top 10 guy on some lists. With about 40 innings left before he’s no longer a prospect, there’s a good chance he’ll still be eligible for the midseason lists as he’s slated to begin the season with Oklahoma City.
Alex Verdugo‘s ranking pretty consistent across the board. The outliers (25 and 48) fall more into line with the other rankings, hence the mid-30s overall slotting. Without a clear path to playing time in LA, he’ll also likely be eligible for midseason lists.
Keibert Ruiz has made the biggest jump of any prospect. After a strong 2017 season, the switch-hitting catcher vaulted up the rankings, topping out on BA’s list. Also, he’s 19 and could be a consensus Top 50 prospect by midseason.
Yadier Alvarez, conversely, has fallen a bit. He had an average rank of 29 last year. Now, he doesn’t even appear on two of the lists (which is laughable). The concerns are legit, but he’s a no-doubt Top 100 guy based on his arm talent alone.
Mitchell White might ultimately be the best pitching prospect in the system, but his issue has been staying on the field. If he has a strong, durable 2018 season, he might easily be a Top 50 prospect.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Will Smith placed on just one list, but it was in the mid-60s. He had a strong Arizona Fall League and is a better overall defender than Ruiz is at this stage. He’s tapped into his power a bit and could show up on more of these lists at midseason or, more likely, in 2019.
Dustin May is in a similar situation. The hype behind him from Baseball Prospectus is legit, and if he takes a step forward in 2018, he could shoot up these global rankings.
Yusniel Diaz is a guy I’m very high on this season. After he made an adjustment to his stance and swing, he really took off. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t have a really good 2018 and establishes himself as one of the best hitters in the system.
——
There’s some impact potential here, some young guys who could make a leap in the coming year or two and there are even some prospects who don’t appear here but could knock on the door of the Top 100 with a strong showing in 2018.
The Dodgers’ system is still strong (Top 10), and the talent at the MLB-level is among the best. These are great times to be Dodger fans.
