July 3rd, 2019 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka With each passing day, the trade that sent outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, utility infielder / catcher Kyle Farmer, and left-hander Alex Wood to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for veteran left-hander Homer Bailey (whom the Dodgers immediately released and was subsequently signed by the Kansas City Royals), minor league shortstop Jeter Downs, and right-hander Josiah Gray becomes more and more a distant memory.
…for now.
But with each additional game that Downs plays in and with each additional start that Gray makes for the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, there is every indication that the Dodgers clearly won the trade.
Oh sure, you can certainly argue that the ever-eccentric and always-entertaining Puig, with his current .239 batting average and 17 home runs, puts fannies in the seats at Great American Ballpark in the Queen City (not to mention the benches-clearing near-brawl he almost started this past Saturday after being plunked by Cubs right-hander Pedro Strop); and you can sort of argue that the 34-year-old / 14-year MLB veteran Matt Kemp, with his Mendoza-line .200 batting average, is still a fan favorite. But Wood hasn’t so much as made a single pitch with the Reds, and Farmer continues to be snubbed by the powers that be, despite his current .242 batting average and six home runs in the 60 games he has played for Cincinnati.
On the other hand, 20-year-old Jeter Downs, who was selected by the Reds in the first round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft (out of Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens, FL) has a current slash-line of .256 / .327 / .481 / .808 with 14 home runs, 17 doubles, three triples and 18 stolen bases for the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate. He also has a respectable .930 fielding percentage (15 errors in 215 total chances) as the Quakes shortstop.
And then there’s 21-year-old Josiah Gray.
In his 10 games with the Quakes (all starts) since his May 9 promotion from the Dodgers Low Single-A Great Lakes Loons, the 6′-1″ / 190-pound New Rochelle, NY native, who was selected by the Reds in the second round of the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft (out of LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY), is 5-0 with an outstanding 2.53 ERA in the hitter-friendly California League. Along the way, Gray has given up only three home runs, walked 11, and struck out 67 in his 53.1 innings pitched for the Quakes thus far.
After his June 4 rehab appearance with the Quakes, Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, who caught Gray that night, had very high praise for the young right-hander.
“Josiah threw the ball really well, I thought he was really impressive,” said Barnes of Gray. “Some of those fastballs, it’s got that life and that up-shoot, kind of arm-side. At the beginning he was throwing that really well and he was striking his off-speed pitches. I think that kid’s got a bright future.”
By every indication, at least at this stage of the game, it looks as though Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray have a much better shot at “a bright future” than do Puig, Kemp, and Wood. That said, I wouldn’t give up on Kyle Farmer just yet … if the Reds have enough sense to play him (almost) every day.
Play Ball!
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Posted in 
@Dodgers @RCQuakes @jeter2downs @JGrayy_ I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but we fleeced them.
IMO, the Dodgers won this trade the moment MLB approved the deal. Getting rid of Puig, Kemp, and in some regards Wood, was addition by subtraction for the Dodgers, with Gray and Downs being the “icing on the cake.” One writer recently described Puig as a petulant child willing to throw hands at any moment, which I think it a perfect description, and has been for years. Kemp may have tried to change his spots, but in the end was the same, selfish, troublesome player that the Dodgers dumped on the Padres several years ago. And, Wood decided that he was the best pitching coach on the team, so changed his mechanics in 2018 after having a marvelous season in 2017. I was overjoyed with the trade at the time; with the performances of Gray and Downs it is even sweeter.
Keep on saying it, that trade pretty much made up for the Dodgers whiffing on 2018 1st rounder JT Ginn (Gray was taken in the 2nd round by the Reds in that same draft) and 2017 1st rounder Jeren Kendall (Downs was taken just 9 spots behind him). Gray after what he did last night against top-ranked MLB pitching prospect MacKenzie Gore has already become the Dodgers’ 2nd-best SP prospect behind Dustin May in my eyes and won’t be hanging around High-A Rancho for long, either. And Downs if he continues to improve his average against righties is gonna be fast-tracked as well. Should he also hook up with the same guy that turned A’s SS Marcus Semien around defensively (heard it was Ron Washington), very good chance he stays at that spot for good the moment he’s MLB-ready.
Unloading Puig, Kemp, and Wood was a huge bonus too. They were starting to block some of the more promising homegrown kids down on the farm and had to go anyway. Good riddance.
Excellent assessment, especially the May / Gray thing.
Downs still needs quite a bit of work on his defense, but he will get that during spring training (in big league camp) and at Tulsa / OKC next season.
We all know that not all of these guys will be in the organization come next season, but in my opinion, Gray and Downs are in the ‘untouchable’ class with May, Lux and Will Smith.
It’s gonna be FUN!!!
Friedman’s creativity struck again! Keeping the minor league pipeline stocked by flipping veterans on expiring contracts; usually a move for rebuilding teams, but this was pulled off with aplomb. None of the vets would have been helpful for acquisitions this season but I’ll bet Gray or Downs could help get some relief help for the big club. I’d be excited if they stay Dodgers too of course. There’s no such thing as too much pitching and Downs has quite a package of tools for a middle infielder. Speed isn’t in abundance in the organization but it doesn’t do much good if the Swift footed guys don’t get on base.