June 9th, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Late Saturday evening, ThinkBlue LA learned from a trusted source that 23-year-old Cuban right-hander Yadier Alvarez, who the Dodgers paid a hefty $16 million for (plus a matching $16 million penalty for exceeding international signing limits) back on July 2, 2015, threw off of flat ground for the first time since being placed on the Injured List shortly after making his second start with the team’s Double-A affiliate Tulsa Drillers on April 11, 2019.
As fans may recall, the Dodgers were extremely high on the 6′-3″ / 175-pound (very) hard throwing Matanzas, Cuba native, who has been bounced around throughout the Dodgers minor league system during his four years of professional ball.
During the 2017 season, Alvarez appeared in 14 games (11 starts) with the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, where he posted a 2-4 record and 5.31 ERA before being promoted to Double-A Tulsa late in the season. He appeared in seven games (all starts) with the Drillers, going 2-2 with an impressive 3.55 ERA.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Alvarez began the 2018 season back with the Drillers, but after appearing in only five games, he was sent back to the Arizona Rookie League Dodgers for two games. He then returned to Tulsa to finish out the season, appearing in 12 games (three starts).
Wishing to protect Alvarez from the Rule-5 draft, the Dodgers purchased his contract on November 20, 2018, added him to their 40-man roster, and immediately optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. This, of course, guaranteed him a locker in major league spring training camp this past March, although he never appeared in a game.
This from longtime Dodgers beat writer Ken Gurnick on March 2, 2019:
The Dodgers don’t seem sure what to make of Alvarez, other than he still has the live arm for which they paid a life-changing bonus of $16 million, with a matching penalty for surpassing international signing limits. He has a reputation for not being the most coachable player in the system, but he was added to the 40-man roster in the off-season when he could have been left unprotected and he’s been acting pretty compliant this spring considering he’s nowhere near pitching in a game.
“We’re not going to rush him,” said manager Dave Roberts. “He’s doing well.”
“We’re working toward something in the future,” said Alvarez.
Alvarez was assigned to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers out of spring training but was immediately reassigned back to Double-A Tulsa, where he appeared in two games (both starts), going 0-2 with a horrendous 14.73 ERA in 3.2 innings pitched. There was clearly something wrong with him and on April 14, 2019 he was placed on the 7-day injured list for what was being called “elbow stiffness,” and hasn’t thrown since.
But as noted, late Saturday evening, ThinkBlue LA learned that Alvarez began throwing again, having made 25 throws (not pitches) from flat ground while the team was at home playing the Arkansas Travelers.
By no means is this to even remotely suggest that Alvarez is anywhere near being game-ready. In fact, even if everything goes well and he does not suffer any setbacks, he is probably still a good four to six weeks away from it. But you’ve got to start somewhere, and making 25 pain-free throws is an excellent starting point.
Play Ball!
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In spring training I watched Alvarez playing catch down the right field line of Field 1, with Charlie Hough providing the most fundamental of coaching. Talk about a slow learner. No way is this young man a top-30 prospect for Dodgers — what a shame to waste so much God given talent, but his motivation may be nil since he still has his $16MM bonus, plus annual minor league salary.
I never interviewed him or have even spoken with him, so I can’t speak to his level of education or intelligence. All I can do is share what I have witnessed in person (just as you have).
I must agree, however, that literally throwing away $32 million for a completely untested and unproven player (on any level) is among the dumbest things I have ever seen the Dodgers do. It ranks right up there with trading Beltre.
That being said, I’m hoping he gets healthy and can come even remotely close to his perceived potential.
I wan’t trying to slam the young man’s intelligence, but see how that could come across in my reply. I was referring to spending more than 3 years with Dodgers pitching coaches, yet Charlie Hough was giving the most basic of pitching instruction.
Never took it that way, Bum. Gurnick’s comment about “not being the most coachable player in the system” suggests that there may be some type of learning disability or perhaps a language issue. This is why I mentioned that I had never interviewed him or spoken with him before; I simply do not know.
We good.
Beltre wasn’t traded away by the Dodgers. He left as a free agent after the 2004 season. McCourt couldn’t afford to resign him.
What this troubled young Cuban doesn’t realize is that a fool and his money are soon parted (lol). He had his chance to make a good impression with the Dodger brass and failed BIG-TIME with his full-blown diva act last season for AA Tulsa. For his own sake, he better show that not only his arm still has Jacob deGrom-level ability in it but also some signs of mental maturity as well. Otherwise, he’s straight PTBNL material in the next trade deadline deal to come. At this rate, Josiah Gray and even my favorite sleeper prospect at the moment (Andre Jackson) are gonna pass him by like it’s no big deal whatsoever…
I missed Jackson’s debut with the Quakes this past week but hope to catch him this coming week at LoanMart Field.
I HAVE been blessed to have seen Josiah Gray several times already and (in my opinion) he is the real deal. I thought he was very very good, but when Austin Barnes spoke VERY highly of him, I was stoked!
Barnes: “I thought he threw the ball really well, I thought his fastball is pretty special and I thought he was throwing his off-speed pitches really well too, so I think he’s got a good future.”