You’ve got to give former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti and current Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi credit. All three of them stood their ground when it came to the endless phone calls from other general managers and owners demanding that top prospects Corey Seager and Julio Urias must be included in any trade deals with them.

One can only imagine how tempting it must have been to include these two potential superstars in a package to get Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto or David Price – among others. Instead, the Dodgers execs simply held up their respective hand and said “No dice” – a decision that could very well make the Dodgers a World Series contender for the next decade.

But there are two additional top prospects that the Dodgers would be well advised to add to their so-called Untouchable list – hard-throwing right-hander Jose De Leon and left-handed first baseman Cody Bellinger.

We all get that it takes top-tier prospects to land top-tier trade pieces, but if Friedman truly wants to build a “robust” farm system as he has said on several occasions, he and Zaidi would be foolish, absolutely foolish to let De Leon and Bellinger get away – especially for a two-month rental player or pitcher; and yes, this included Johnny Cueto and David Price.

Fortunately, the two Dodgers executives had the foresight to keep De Leon and Bellinger off the table at the July 31 trade deadline – much to the pleasure of Dodger fans who have been following these two top prospects for the past two years.

As the July 31 trade deadline neared, Jose De Leon was the name most often heard among trade rumors involving the Dodgers. (Photo credit – Rich Crimi)

De Leon, who turned 23 this past Friday, was selected by the Dodgers in the 24th round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft out of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He had a sensational season in 2014 splitting time between the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Rookie League and the Great Lakes Loons of the Low Single-A Midwest League, posting a combined 7-0 record and 2.22 ERA. In fact, on August 19, 2014, De Leon set a new franchise record with the Loons when he struck out 14 batters (including nine in a row at one point), breaking the record set in 2007 by a young left-hander named Clayton Kershaw. The Isabela, Puerto Rico native followed this up with an outstanding off-season in the Puerto Rican Winter League – this time in front of his family and friends – where he continued his meteoric rise posting a 2-1 record and 1.13 ERA with 15 strikeouts and zero walks in 16 innings pitched.

Although De Leon began the 2015 season with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the hitter-friendly California League, he didn’t stay there long. On May 17, De Leon and his 4-1 record and Cal League-leading 1.67 ERA and 58 strikeouts was promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, where he joined his good friend Julio Urias. Between them, De Leon and Urias are a combined 4-8 with a 3.61 ERA. They have issued only 39 walks with (are you ready for this) 134 strikeouts in 109.2 innings pitched – De Leon with 77 in 58.1 innings pitched and Urias with 57 in 51.1 innings pitched.

But what really separates De Leon from Urias is that in his 18 starts this season – seven with the Quakes and 11 with the Drillers – De Leon has struck out 10 or more batters six times, as compared to the two times that Urias has done so in his 13 starts this season. Now this isn’t to say that De Leon is better than Urias, it simply says that a right-handed/left-handed duo of Jose De Leon and Julio Urias is something that Friedman and Zaidi really needs to keep together instead of trading either or both of them.

And then there’s Cody Bellinger who, on Friday night, hit his 22nd and 23rd home runs of the season to propel the Quakes to an exciting 9-6 win over the Stockton Ports (A’s). Bellinger’s 23 home runs are second-most in the Cal League, two behind Bakersfield Blaze left fielder Tyler O’Neill and tied with Lancaster JetHawks first baseman A.J. Reid and Ports third baseman Matt Chapman. He also leads the league in runs scored (77). And here’s the kicker – the Chandler Arizona native and son of former major leaguer Clay Bellinger turned 20 years old on July 13.

Bellinger was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 draft as a pure first baseman – a rare commodity these days. And though he struggled a bit in his first professional season in the Arizona Rookie League hitting only .210, you need to keep in mind that he was 17 years old at the time. He did better in 2014 splitting time between the AZL Dodgers and Pioneer Rookie League Ogden Raptors posting a .312 batting average. He began and has spent the entire 2015 season with the Quakes where he currently has a .252 batting average to go along with his 23 home runs and 76 RBIs. That being said and the area where Bellinger needs to improve on are his Joc Pederson-esque 134 strikeouts – most in the California League.

Bellinger’s age makes him the perfect heir apparent to become the Dodgers everyday first baseman.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

For you prognosticators out there, here’s some simple math for you. When current Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez’s seven year/$154 million contract expires after the 2018 season, Bellinger will be 23 years old with six full minor league seasons under his belt. This means that the timing couldn’t be better for Bellinger to take over for the (then) 36-year-old Gonzalez as the Dodgers everyday first baseman – assuming, of course, that Friedman and Zaidi don’t trade him.