Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
In an episode of coincidence, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus today released their respective Top 100 and Top 101 prospects for the 2019 season.
The Dodgers are adequately represented on both lists. Let’s get to them right now.
- Keibert Ruiz (20)
- Alex Verdugo (35)
- Gavin Lux (40)
- Dustin May (82)
- Will Smith (95)
The order shouldn’t surprise you, as BA released its Top 10 Dodgers prospects a little more than a couple weeks ago.
This might be the highest ranking for both Ruiz and Lux. I’m not sure you’ll see either of them ranked higher in the Top 100s still to come (FanGraphs, Keith Law, MLB Pipeline). Verdugo seems to have settled in that 25-35 range, which is slightly up from last year. May and Smith seem a bit low, as the organization is really high on those two (perhaps more than any non-Verdugo prospect in the system). That just means there’s room for improvement come the midseason updates.
Former Dodger prospects also made this Top 100: Yordan Alvarez (34), Yusniel Diaz (37) and Oneil Cruz (79). Alvarez was traded about six weeks after he signed for Josh Fields back in 2016. Diaz was sent to Baltimore in as part of the Manny Machado trade. Cruz was sent to Pittsburgh on July 31, 2017, for Tony Watson. While it’d be nice to have all three still in the system, I’m not gonna fret over losing any of them.
- Alex Verdugo (19)
- Dustin May (27)
- Keibert Ruiz (31)
- Will Smith (59)
No Lux to be found, which is a bit curious. He doesn’t even make BP’s “Next Ten” or “Next Year’s List” supplements. BP doesn’t believe in Lux’s breakout as much as others (myself included), so if he produces well in the first half, maybe BP will change its tune.
As with BA and Ruiz/Lux, this will probably be the highest you see Verdugo and May ranked this winter. BP has always been high on May, so it isn’t terribly surprising to see him this high. Ruiz and Smith seem to be appropriately ranked. They might even be a touch high on Smith (and I suspect FanGraphs will be even higher).
The former Dodger prospect trio of Diaz (44), Alvarez (49) and Cruz (95) all ranked in this Top 100 as well.
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Jeter Downs, recently acquired from the Reds, didn’t make either Top 100. That’s fine. He could find himself on these lists by midseason or next year with a strong showing in Rancho Cucamonga. Scouts are high on him, but the production hasn’t quite been there yet. I’m expecting a strong 2019 season from the young middle infielder.
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There are three more notable Top 100s still to come. It’ll be interesting to see where Dodger prospects fall on those lists. Who knows, maybe some of them will be former prospects by then.
The next installment of my Top 100 series should drop within the next 10 days. Be on the lookout for that.
