Although there are hundreds of top prospects lists posted annually by the many baseball publications and websites out there, it is impossible to argue that the gold standard is the annual Top-100 Prospects list posted by Baseball America. Without question, what sets Baseball America apart from the rest is the hard work and dedication of national writer Ben Badler, who spends thousands of hours compiling data to validate his annual Top-100 Prospects list, along with his Midseason Top-50 Prospects update.

But Badler doesn’t stop here. In addition to his Top-100 and Top-50 Update lists, he also breaks down the Top-10 Prospects from each of the 30 MLB teams, thereby giving fans immediate one-click access to the top prospects of every MLB team.

On Monday, Badler released Baseball America’s Top-10 Dodgers Prospects which, as expected, received wide acclaim from many Dodgers sportswriters, bloggers and fans. And while there may be one or two names on Badler’s list may have been a surprise to some, it’s probably safe to say that he nailed it.

Courtesy of BaseballAmerica.com

What is absolutely mind-boggling about this list is that five of the 10 began the 2015 season at or below the Advanced Single-A level (Jose De Leon, Cody Bellinger, Jharel Cotton, Alex Verdugo and Grant Holmes), yet there is a very good chance six of the ten will be in major league camp this spring – at least to begin with – (Corey Seager, Julio Urias, De Leon, Jose Peraza, Austin Barnes and Cotton). Additionally, aside from 25-year-old Austin Barnes, all of them are 23 years old or younger, with Urias, Holmes and Verdugo being 19 years old.

Cody Bellinger and Alex Verdugo were instrumental in leading the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes to the California League Championship this past season – their first since becoming the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate in 2011. Bellinger was also named the Championship Series MVP. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Of course, any time a team has this many (very) young prospects among their top-10 and are in need of current MLB top-tier pitchers or position players (as are the Dodgers), there is a very good chance one or more of these young prospects will be traded before Opening Day 2016; in fact, former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti had a propensity for doing just that. But Colletti’s successor Farhan Zaidi and Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman have made it perfectly clear that they will not trade away their blue chip prospects – more specifically Corey Seager and Julio Urias.

However, should Zaidi and Friedman fail to land one (or more) of the top-tier free agent starting pitchers currently on the market (including Dodgers 2015 Cy Young runner up Zack Greinke), they may have no choice but to trade away one (or more) of these kids to fill their immediate needs before Opening Day – an absolutely terrifying thought for anyone who has followed these kids through the Dodgers’ minor league system.

That being said, you can bet the farm (pun intended) that Corey Seager and Julio Urias aren’t going anywhere, and the Dodgers would be absolutely foolish to trade Jose De Leon, Grant Holmes, Cody Bellinger or Alex Verdugo. And although we have yet to see 19-year-old Cuban defector Yadier Alvarez pitch professionally in the United States, it seems highly unlikely that the Dodgers would trade him after having just spent $16 million to get him; but then again, we thought the same thing about Cuban infielder Hector Olivera, who the Dodgers spent $62.5 million to get, only to trade him to the Atlanta Braves before he played even one game in a Dodgers uniform.

Of the five starting pitchers on Baseball America’s Top-10 Dodgers Prospects list, 23 years old right-hander Jose De Leon may be the closest to being MLB-ready. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But putting all of this aside – for now, at least – congratulations to all of these young Dodgers prospects for making Baseball America’s 2016 Top-10 prospects list, and congratulations to Ben Badler for once again nailing it.