July 23rd, 2019 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka As most baseball fans know, there are several exceptionally good baseball websites that offer rankings of each team’s many young prospects. And while it is most certainly a matter of choice as to which of these sites you choose to believe (or use), the simple truth is that they are all opinion-based.
Granted, these opinions are (usually) intelligent and (usually) based on remarkably accurate statistical data, but it is not uncommon to see significant discrepancies between even the most respected sites.
All of this being said, it is difficult to argue that Baseball America‘s prospect-ranking site is not the best of the best and, opinions notwithstanding, is the go-to site for most team executives, player agents and the players themselves; especially right now, with Major League Baseball’s July 31 trade deadline a week away.
Over the past year and on several occasions, ThinkBlueLA has written – in one form or another – that the Dodgers ‘won the trade’ that sent outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, left-hander Alex Wood and catcher / utility infielder Kyle Farmer to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Reds top-ranked (a clue) middle infield prospect Jeter Downs, top-ranked (ditto) right-handed pitching prospect Josiah Gray and veteran left-hander Homer Bailey, whom the Dodgers immediately released. And though these previous articles on ThinkBlueLA are themselves opinion-based, by every indication and according to Baseball America‘s most recent prospect rankings, the Dodgers did indeed win the trade.
According to BA’s latest Dodgers Top-30 prospect rankings, Gray is now the organization’s seventh overall ranked prospect and Downs their 10th. As of this writing, Puig is currently slashing a respectable .261 / .309 / .497 / .806 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI in the 93 games in which he has played for Cincinnati; Kemp a less-than-stellar .200 / .210 / .283 / .493 with one home run and five RBI in the 20 games he has played; and Farmer .237 / .279 / .430. / 709 with six home runs and 22 RBI in the 67 games in which he has played. Due to lingering back issues, Wood has yet to make even one pitch for the Reds this season.
(Photo credit – Darron Cummings
As for Gray, the 21-year-old New Rochelle, NY native and Reds 2018 second-round draft pick out of LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY is currently a team-best 7-0 with an outstanding team-best 2.14 ERA among all starters for the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. He has also struck out 80 (second-best) while walking only 13 (the fewest) among all Quakes starters.
Downs is currently slashing .254 / .339 / .474 / .813 with a team second-best 15 home runs and a team-best 60 RBI for Rancho Cucamonga. On the other side of the ball, the 20-year-old San Andres, Colombia native and Reds first-round draft pick in 2017 out of Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens, FL has a respectable .936 fielding percentage in the 75 games he has played as the Quakes primary shortstop (16 errors in 250 total chances) and a perfect 1.000 FPCT in his five games at second base (no errors in 15 total chances).
Any way you slice it, it is now confirmed – the Dodgers won the trade.
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Posted in 
Meh, Dodgers had the trade won the moment they jettisoned Kemp, Puig, and Wood to make way for Verdugo, Pollock, and Urias. Getting Gray and Downs in exchange was merely an added bonus to an already successful business transaction. Praying they keep Gray at the very least, but if the Pirates finally start backing down with their outrageous demands for Vazquez and mention either Gray or Downs’ name as a piece they’re interested in as opposed to Lux, May, and Smith then I might be willing to hear them out for once if I were Friedman.
Spot on! I was very impressed with Downs play during the week I was at spring training, and believe he will make an outstanding second baseman — but gladly see him and Gray in a Pirates uniform in return for Vazquez. The Pirates are set in the infield, so I think pitching, catching, and outfield is what they want for Vazquez.
Ruiz, Pederson, and Gonsolin? DONE!
Choice of Smith or Ruiz, Stripling, and Garlick. Not enough? Add Zuniga or they can take a wild card and fixing Alvarez.
Smth’s off limits in any trade talks along with Lux and May. Front office pretty much made that clear, plus offering Ruiz as opposed to Smith guarantees a solid return given that Ruiz is ranked higher on the prospect chart. I do like that idea of using Alvarez as a “wildcard” throw-in since he already wore out his welcome with Dodger management (as well as his $16 mil bonus baby money, I suspect).
This Ruiz/Smith thing isn’t going away. At some point, the organization is going to have to choose their first preference and face losing the other to a Rule 5 Draft if they don’t make progress. But we don’t need a Ruiz/Smith situation with the big club. Every at-bat given to one is an important at-bat lost in the development of the other. Unsurprisingly, Smith is ahead of Ruiz. An endorsement from Kershaw can’t hurt, either. If we want to keep Ruiz at AAA so we can move him for something next year, that’s fine. And if keeps hitting well at AAA, then great. But if he hits like he did in Tulsa all year, his value goes kaput.
Meanwhile, we need a productive catcher on our roster playing 5 of every 6 games. There’s no question that between the four (Austin, Martin, Ruiz, Smith) that Smith is the best person to hold down that job right now. The other ramifications fall from that point, I think.
With Smith’s versatility to play other positions there will be room for both on the Dodgers roster (assuming both make the transition to the majors). No danger of losing to Rule 5 as both are on the Dodgers 40 man roster. Catchers are so prone to injuries and wear down over the course of long seasons and post seasons, having two good catchers is more of a necessity than a luxury. Until such time as another catcher is ready (Wong, or Feduccia?), or the longer term prospect, 17 year old Cartaya, the team should keep both Smith and Ruiz.