November 21st, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Collectively national baseball writers are very good at what they do. After all, they undoubtedly wouldn’t be there if they were not. Granted, we all have our personal favorites – those whose work we seem to enjoy more than others – but for the most part and with the help of their individual sources, they all tend to be right in their assessments of the baseball world more often than not.
Over the past several years I have been blessed to be able to cover the Dodgers on an ‘up close and personal’ basis, thanks entirely to the great folks in the Dodgers PR department. In doing so I have come to know most of the Dodgers’ local beat writers and several national writers as well. Among those that I have, I have found that the national writers from Yahoo Sports are among the best, especially veteran Yahoo Sports writer (and former Dodgers beat writer) Tim Brown.
That being said, on Saturday evening there were a series of posts on Twitter from Yahoo Sports writer Jeff Passan which I not only disagree with but, in my opinion, found them to be a bit ridiculous.
Of course the White Sox like Bellinger, Verdugo, De Leon, Calhoun and Puig … who doesn’t? These are the Dodgers’ number one through number four top-ranked prospects for crying out loud; this in addition to Yasiel Puig, who showed tremendous growth both on and off the field after his brief time in the penalty box at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The point here is not to pound on Jeff Passan but rather to corroborate his comment that the Dodgers’ prospect depth is indeed the envy of many teams … how could it not be? And while it is a given that the Dodgers would have to give up several of their better prospects for any shot at landing guys like Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, David Robertson and Todd Frazier, there is no way that they should give away the farm – including all four of their top-four prospects – to do so, especially Cody Bellinger.
It has been well documented that Bellinger is the heir apparent to take over at first base when Dodgers current five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez‘s seven-year/$154 million contract expires after the 2018 season. What better way to break young Bellinger into the major leagues than under the tutelage and watchful eye of one of the best first basemen in the game?
As most Dodger fans know by now, Bellinger has absolutely rocketed his way through the Dodgers minor league system since being selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona. The 22-year-old Scottsdale native and son of former major leaguer Clay Bellinger participated in the just-concluded and highly competitive Arizona Fall League where he posted a batting average of .314 (ninth-best), an on-base percentage of .424 (fourth-best), a slugging percentage of .557 (third-best) for a remarkable OPS of .981 (third-best). He also slugged three home runs (tied for third), drove in 17 runs (third) and led the AFL with his eight doubles.
Bellinger was among the finalists for the 2016 Arizona Fall League MVP award. He is also the Dodgers’ number one-ranked prospect. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
There is zero doubt that it will take a boatload of Dodgers farm hands to acquire some of the best available players being offered up this off-season, but is it really worth giving up the entire farm to get them?
Sorry Jeff, but we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Posted in 
NO
No let’s stick to the current plan whether the Facebook Fans and LA Times like it or not. Anyways hey Ron what do you think about DJ Peters and Dustin May do you feel like there Prospect status will grow by this time next year.
If you do a search of D.J. Peters in our search box, you will immediately notice that both Harold and I are very high on him. In fact, I anticipate that he will begin the 2017 season at Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, thereby completely bypassing Low-A Great Lakes (or if not, he will be promoted at some point in the season).
If you followed the Ogden Raptors at all this past season, you undoubtedly noticed that they had an absolutely outstanding outfield in Peters, Cody Thomas and Mitch Hansen. Although it is highly unlikely that the Dodgers will keep all three of these guys until they are big league ready, they are going to be an absolute blast to watch as they move up through the system.
I have to be very honest, I have not followed Dustin May closely and he has had very little exposure thus far in his very young career, having been drafted out of high school. That being said, 2017 will be a huge year for him and I would anticipate that he will at least begin the season at Ogden (which is a short season) but will end up at Great Lakes. David Hood at True Blue LA had a good assessment of him shortly after he was drafted.
BTW: D.J. and I share the same birthday (although I’m a little older than him), so he’s already one of my favorites. lol!
DJ has already grown and will continue to do so. He gave the Loons a nice lift when he joined them late in the season for their championship playoff run. He had previously been drafted by the Cubs and Rangers.
Dustin May(19), A.J. Alexy (18) and Kevin Malisheski (19)from the AZL Dodgers will show up on the radar and prospect lists in the next couple of years.
All three, like so many of the Dodgers young pitchers, threw strikes in 2016. May pitched the most innings with 30.1 and had 34 strikeouts and four walks.
An interesting youngster is right-hander Angel German(20). A blistering fastball but has yet to take command of it. Had a stint with the Loons but control issues sent him back to the AZL Dodgers.
Other pitchers to follow include Mitchell White, Dean Kremer, Shea Spitzbarth and Andrew Istler. We will have to wait on Jordan Sheffield a bit but not on Walker Buehler.
I wonder if the plan with May is to keep in Arizona till the winter season has passed in the Midwest League just like they did with Abdullah
That is a very distinct possibility, although I think that he will spend a little time in Ogden before moving up to the Loons.
I wholeheartedly agree with you.
No to Frazier. He doesn’t hit for average, especially with RISP. Most of those HRs were solo shots.
Don’t trade Bellinger, who could play 1B or RF soon. He’s the closest to “can’t miss” in system. Everybody else you mention, I’d trade in a minute for the three pitchers he mentions. Calhoun has a lot of power for a 2B, IF he can stick at second. All those guys have potential, but two All-Star pitchers are worth a LOT of potential.
Hello Snider Fan!!!!!!!!!! I fully agree with you and Cervenka and he says it all here:
There is zero doubt that it will take a boatload of Dodgers farm hands to acquire some of the best available players being offered up this off-season, but is it really worth giving up the entire farm to get them?
Sorry Jeff, but we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Anyone who knows me recognizes that I have a very strong affinity to the Dodger prospects. I watch 100 – 150 Dodger minor league games on MiLB or live (mostly MiLB). I used to read Baseball American cover to cover every week and knew not only every serious prospect in baseball, but every Dodger prospect. It is always a sad day when one of my favorites is traded or outrighted.
That being said, I recognize a strong farm can be used as a feeder to the ML team or be used in trades to get the player the farm does not have MLB ready. Of the position players most MLB ready (Bellinger/Toles/Verdugo/Calhoun/Johnson), all are LH hitters. I include Micah Johnson because he is on the LAD Top 30, and he is MLB ready. That coupled with the heavy LH hitting starters (Seager/Pederson, AGon) is really too left handed. There are no MLB ready RH hitters other than Austin Barnes. In addition, of the LAD Top 30, 11 are pitchers, and all are RHP. IMO, too much concentration in LH hitters and RHP at the top. Of the Top 30 prospects, I would consider Cody Bellinger as an untouchable position player, with Yadier Alveraz and Walker Buehler as untouchable pitchers. I believe Abdullah is close. Of the current (projected) 25 man roster, Kershaw, Seager, and Urias are untouchable.
While I would love to have Chris Sale, the Dodgers need a legit #2. While it would be great and preferable, they do not need another Ace, certainly not one that would cost Julio Urias. If there is a trade to be made with the ChiSox for a SP, I would concentrate on Jose Quintana. Not being a GM I have no idea what it would take, but one has to assume that JDL would be included (not Urias). It would probably require another MLB ready pitcher (one of Wood/Stripling/Stewart), and other high level prospects (the number being how high). Maybe Toles who can play CF immediately for Chicago, or Verdugo who is a year away. You are not going to get a 27 year old pitcher with 4 consecutive 200 IP seasons, low 3 ERA, K/BB ratio 3.62, and 4 years club control (max cost of $36.850M) without giving up something.
AlwaysCompete, we all know it would take a boatload of our top 5 prospects for Sale and it ain’t worth it mainly for one reason….they would ask for Bellinger and IMHO he is un touchable and I don’t give a …. if we are offered the moon so to speak. He is the absolute replacement for Agon and sometime this year if all goes well he should be brought to be a student of Adrian and learn what it takes to be a successful 1st baseman in MLB. Calhoun is another LH batter and we need an influx of RH bats that can hit lefties. Calhoun could be moved in the right deal.
I guess where you and I differ in opinions AC is that I actually see Julio Urias as a legitimate number two and even De Leon as a number three. Jose is a huge innings-eater and a big strikeout guy as well. Are they or will they be better than Chris Sale or Jose Quintana?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
…but what if they are?
Ron, I am not sure that we disagree on Julio Urias or Jose De Leon and their overall potential. Where we probably disagree is the timing. I want to be clear, I hang up on any conversation that is requesting Julio Urias (even Chris Sale). He is absolutely untouchable. He will be a legit #2 (maybe even an Ace), but not in 2017. The same with De Leon. I agree his ceiling is probably #3 (maybe #2), but again not in 2017. De Leon has a high ceiling because of his swing and miss potential; big K potential. I know you have seen JDL far more than I have, but the one time I saw him live was in 2015 for Rancho, and he was unhittable that day. I believe in him.
IMO, a #2 has to be capable of 200+ IP, and a #3 180+ IP. With 33 starts, that is 6 IP per start and 5.5 IP per start respectively. Admittedly, I am not sure that is feasible with current Dodger starting pitching strategy, but they should have that capability. Urias topped out at 122 in 2016, while De Leon topped out at 114 in 2015. I think a realistic goal would be 160 IP for both in 2017, which makes them #4 and #5 for 2017, with a much higher ceiling for 2018 and beyond.
I guess I am looking for that 2017 rotation 1-3 that can measure up against Lester, Hendricks, and Arrieta for Cubs; Scherzer, Strasburg, Gonzalez/Roark for Nats; and MadBum, Cueto, and Moore for SF. I would take Urias and De Leon against most #4 and #5 in 2017, but not #2 and #3.
Late to read the article, but after re-reading Passan’s posts several times I don’t believe he was advocating that Dodgers actually make that trade (second post) only that Chisox had players that could help the team this season and that it likes the Dodgers top prospects as well as Puig. That being said, I don’t see Robertson adding any value to the Dodgers BP at the cost of his contract for next 2 seasons based upon his stats in 2015 and 2016 — just say no. Frazier with huge power, but at the cost of many swings and misses plus one of the worst pop up stats in MLB last season and his 3b defense for the Chisox was horrible. Only reason to take Frazier is if Dodgers believe he can easily convert to LF (I have read that he is a very good athlete and he does have some speed) but only if he can be acquired for a small, reasonable package of players. No doubt that Sale and Quintana are top quality starting pitchers. If Sale can be acquired for a package like De Leon, Verdugo, and De Jong then the Dodgers should make the deal.
Hello SoCalBum! It remains in Dodger’s best interest to bring JT back, even if it’s a bit of an overpay. No other FA at that position comparable and a trade would cost too much in prospects I believe. $$ certainly would be better spent than on those pitchers we signed in the last 2 years with whom they attempt to put band aids on broken legs so to speak.
It’s always good to know who the Dodger top prospects are and summaries about them, Thanks Ron for another fine article.
Hello there, and it will be always better to see them perform well for US rather than doing so elsewhere.