March 11th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka It has happened again. The Dodgers traded away a guy who appears to be destined for greatness, just like they did Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Pedro Martinez, Mike Piazza, future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre and 18-year MLB veteran and six-time All-Star Paul Konerko. This time it was 25-year-old top outfield prospect Scott Schebler, who the Dodgers selected in the 26th round of the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft out of Des Moines Area Community College in Boone, Iowa.
The Dodgers sent Schebler, top second base prospect Jose Peraza and minor league infielder Brandon Dixon to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for soon-to-be 23-year old right-hander Frankie Montas, soon-to-be 25-year-old (on Tuesday) outfielder Trayce Thompson and 25-year-old second baseman Micah Johnson. And though all three of these guys were ranked high on the various prospect lists heading into spring training, Montas will probably spend much of the 2016 season on the disabled list after undergoing rib resection surgery on February 12, and Thompson and Johnson will at least begin the season at Triple-A Oklahoma.
How can a 26th-round draft pick be that good, you ask? The same reason that 62nd-rounder Mike Piazza, amateur free agents Roberto Clemente, Pedro Martinez and Adrian Beltre, and Dodgers first-rounder Paul Konerko were that good – they just were and then they all became great after being traded by the Dodgers.
Before I go any further I must make a confession. I followed Schebler closely as he made his way up through the Dodgers minor league system and got a very close look at him while he was with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2013. Even back then his talent level was well above average and he would have easily been regarded as the franchise’s top outfield prospect but for one reason – he played along side some guy named Joc Pederson, who was also drafted by the Dodgers in 2010 but in the 11th round.
In his very first spring training game with the Reds, Schebler made a leaping catch to rob Cleveland Indians left fielder Robbie Grossman of a grand slam home run. Schebler also hit what would prove to be the game-winning home run for his new team. (Photo credit – Kareem Elgazzar)
Throughout his entire minor league career, the extremely likable and soft-spoke Cedar Rapids, Iowa native played in the shadow of Pederson, who was arguably the better defender of the two because of his lightening-fast speed. But while Pederson led the highly-competitive Pacific Coast League with 33 home runs, batted .303 and stole 30 bases in 2014, Schebler hit .280 with 28 home runs that same season at Double-A Chattanooga. Pederson eventually received a September call-up in 2014 and after getting off to a blazing start in his rookie 2015 season, he struggled horribly in the second half of the season finishing the year with a .210 batting average. He did, however, finish the season with 26 home runs – second most on the team behind Adrian Gonzalez’s 28.
One year later, in 2015, Schebler received his September 1 call-up. All he did was hit .250 with three home runs in his 40 plate appearances – none bigger than his first career major league home run on September 4, 2015 when he launched a James Shields 3-2 change-up 447 feet into the second deck of Petco Park’s right-center field.
Although the left-handed hitting / right-handed throwing Schebler entered major league spring training camp (his second overall and first with the Reds) without a foreseeable spot on Cincinnati’s Opening Day roster, he has played in all but two of the Reds’ nine spring training games thus far and has flat out raked. He is 7 for 19 at the plate (.368) with two home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs with an on-base percentage of .400 and slugging percentage of .789 for an alien-like OPS of 1.189. He has also made several outstanding defensive plays in the outfield. Should he continue to play anywhere near the way he has over the first week and a half, the Reds absolutely must find a spot for him on their Opening Day roster.
But alas, just as former Dodgers general manager Buzzi Bavasi did with Roberto Clemente in 1954 (when he tried to sneak him past the Rule 5 draft without protecting him), and former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire did with Pedro Martinez in 1994 and Mike Piazza in 1998 (although Claire gets a pass on Piazza because the trade was made without his knowledge or input), and former interim general Tommy Lasorda did with Paul Konerko in 1998, and former Dodgers general Paul DePodesta did with Adrian Beltre in 2004; current Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi and current Dodgers president of baseball operation Andrew Friedman did with Scott Schebler on December 16, 2015.
Will the Schebler trade come back to haunt the Dodgers over the next 10 or 15 or 20 years just as the others did?
Stay tuned…
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Didn’t Beltre leave via free agency, not trade?
Indeed he did but it was because DePodesta (and McCourt) refused to negotiate with him – even after saying that re-signing him was their top priority.
Scott looks to have a MLB career in his future. I am really pleased he is doing well. He has worked for it.
By July of 2012 DeJon Watson, then the Dodgers Dodgers Director of Player Development, saw something in Schebler that others may not have.
“Another kid would be [Scott] Schebler, who’s in the Midwest League,” said Watson when asked about Dodger prospects flying under the radar. “The numbers aren’t sexy, but [the Midwest League is] a tough league to play in your first full season, the ball doesn’t carry.”
Schebler had it right too. He wanted to be a Dodger and play in Dodger Stadium but he was not letting himself get discouraged with the overcrowded Dodgers outfield in front of him.
“You keep working hard,” said Schebler. “There are 29 other teams. I’d love to play for the Dodgers. That’s my dream. They gave me the opportunity. But if I let that stress affect me, the other 29 teams are not going to see what I have.”
Looks like someone else noticed.
That’s what those long, expensive contracts do. Their strangulation prevent players like Scott Schebler from donning a Dodger uniform.
Strangulation? The Dodgers continue to spend money like they print their own. If there was someone better than Crawford, Ethier and Gonzalez to play the positions those guys would be gone in a heartbeat.
You mean like the $80M of salaries playing for other teams last year.
Tend to disagree Badger. F&Z have been hogtied by contracts regardless of how much money the GG have. They are no more happy wasting money than anyone else not to speak of the embarrassment of having the having the highest payroll in baseball but no WS ring to go with it.
Financial emancipation begins in 2018. I think the time for bloated contracts to aging players is gone with the Dodgers. Without those big contracts the Dodgers might have signed a David Price.
You might be correct on the bloated contracts being history but Kershaw’s op-out takes place in 2018 so either he gets a ‘bloated’ contract (as in big $ long term) from the Dodgers or he will from someone else.
Agree but so much more comes off the books.
Clayton will be 30.
Without the bloated contracts we might have signed another bloated contract?
Perhaps, perhaps not, we won’t know until the year of financial emancipation.
When I speak of bloated I am referring not so much to the number of dollars or even the length but to ill advised contracts to guys not heading into their prime but to guys heading into their sunset years who simply cannot live up to their contracts with diminishing production. Plus – they become untradeable so the team then pays to have them play somewhere else, or not at all, if they want them moved.
A natural bias built in but Clayton age age 30 would still be a good bet, in my opinion, for a five year deal. I want him to be a lifer with the Dodgers and I don’t think he will play when he is not still a top of the rotation guy.
I think it’s better to see what happens first to Schebler before we look at him in the same light.
I had said when the trade took place that the White Sox got what they wanted….Frazier. The Reds got what they wanted Peraza & Schebler. Did the Dodgers really get what they wanted? Montas, Thompson & Johnson. Please. I would rather have had a proven major league (40 HR) third baseman under a very reasonable contract for a couple of years than what they got.
The LAD (under F & Z) is nothing more than Tampa West. You have the big boys table where Sabean, Mozeliak, Epstein, Cashman, Dombrowski and LaRussa sit and everyone else is at the little boys table.
Excuse me for not saying Hi to everyone and thanks for having me! 🙂
Hi chili.
I think Montas was the key to the deal for the Dodgers but that is now on hold.
Ok. But even if he wasn’t injured I would rather have had Frazier than a guy who has control issues. Let’s see….what do the Dodgers need…hmmm, RH power bat?
I’ve heard about those deals many times, but never the circumstances involved. For example: who was protected instead of Clemente? I was 4 and living about 2000 miles from the nearest MLB team.
I do know something about Martinez (they needed a 2b more than a pitcher) and Piazza, but really nothing about why they let Konerko and Beltre go.
With Piazza I think they did the right thing. Piazza was going to free agency and had demands way out of line. It was all about ego with him. He wanted to be the highest paid catcher, even above those with far more time than he. So by trading they got something for him. Now the irony. I don’t remember the numbers, but I do remember that when he signed with the Mets the deal was very similar to what the Dodgers had offered him in the first place. Piazza was all about himself, which prompted my prediction that he would go to the HOF, but without a World Championship ring.
Everything during the Murdoch/McCourt era can be written off. That was all financially motivated and had nothing to do with building a winning team.
You do realize he did play in the World Series. That would not have happened if he had stayed in LA.
When a franchise player want to be paid what he’s worth, he’s being unreasonable? I agree Piazza and his agent should not have given the Dodgers a deadline, but they should have already locked him up with a long-term extension two years earlier. Gary Sheffield immediately held FOX up for more money and they took on the bloated contract of Bonilla. Still one of the worst trades in Dodger history.
Well, it seems he was the only person who thought he was worth that much, seeing’s how he ended up settling for something very close to what the Dodgers offered in the first place.
Clemente was lost to the Pirates in the Rule 5 Draft in 1954 when the Dodgers tried to hide him away with the AAA Montreal Royals.
The Dodgers wouldn’t pay Piazza big bucks but turned around in 1998 and did this: “Pushing player salaries to yet another level, the Dodgers on Saturday made Kevin Brown baseball’s first $100-million player, signing the free agent pitcher to a record seven-year, $105-million contract that stirred concern and anger throughout the industry.” Brown was 34 at the time and won 58 games in five years with the Dodgers before being traded to the Yankees. Can’t say I would have traded away Piazza and signed Brown.
FOX had an attack of Marlin envy. The Marlins had just “bought” a championship and FOX was convinced they could do the same thing buy acquiring a big chunk of Miami’s roster.
I’ve been a Dodger fan long enough not to be surprised when one of our guys plays better somewhere else. But it’s a little early to anoint Scott as the next Piazza or Konerko. I believe if he could handle centerfield he’d still be in Dodger Blue, but the Dodgers have too many left fielders. Thompson was acquired to be Joc’s backup and hopefully that works out although some of us would have preferred to sign Dexter Fowler, who is a proven centerfielder and leadoff hitter. Yes, he would’ve cost a draft pick but would that pick have been more valuable than Scott Schebler? Above my pay grade.
Not anointing anybody with anything – hence the title as a question. But as you will come to find out (if you haven’t already), I’m not a sit back and “Let’s just wait and see what happens” kind of guy. When I see young talent and potential, I embrace it and in some cases (such as this) project it. But like anything else, it is merely an opinion – just as yours is.
According to “The Last Good Season” by Michael Shapiro, the player who was “protected” in place of Roberto Clemente was George “Shotgun” Shuba. According to the book, Bavasi asked Jackie Robinson about adding Clemente to the roster and Robinson asked who would he replace — Bavasi said Shuba, who was a very popular player. Robinson said that sending down a popular, white player so that Clemente could be added would set-back baseball integration several years. The book also claims that Bavasi had a handshake deal with Rickey that the Pirates would draft a different player from the Dodgers thus preventing any other team from drafting Clemente as teams at the time could only lose 1 player in the draft. BUT, before the draft Rickey was told by friends that Walter O’Malley had recently degraded Rickey’s accomplishments and called him a variety of names. Rickey was so angered that he ignored his handshake deal with Bavasi and drafted Clemente.
Good stuff, SCB!
I knew of the Bavasi-Rickey broken deal but had no idea Shotgun Shuba was part of the equation. Great clip SCB. Thanks.
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/10/george_shotgun_shubas_famous_h.html
The Shapiro book is terrific. discusses O’Malley’s efforts to get a new ball park before moving team to LA, also differences (including some jealousies) between players. I recommend to any Dodgers fan.
I too liked Schebler and since I am less than 2 hours from Cincinnati, I will see him frequently. I see Schebler as a 4th outfielder, but he will hit more HR in Great American than he would have in LA. On the other hand, Frazier would not find LA so HR friendly. He was aided a lot by Great American Ballpark.
Trayce Thompson is very intriguing to me. He is MLB ready in my opinion. Micah Johnson is a stone-cold hitter and Montas has a world of potential… probably as a closer. I hated trading Schebler and Peraza but the story will unfold over the next couple of years.
The Dodgers could have had Frazier, but opted for the other three players. Thompson is a power bat and started in the majors a year younger than Frazier did. I have watched Frazier a lot and I personally think he is overrated. Two out of the past three years, he has hit .234 and .255!
Finally, it’s an absolute fact that the bad contracts still hamstring the Dodgers and I have always said that DePo could have signed Beltre if he had any social skills. Imagine what might have been if Adrian had stayed: They might have won a lot more and certainly would have had another Hall-of-Famer!
Trace needs more work on defense. This ST has brought out some definite weaknesses.
Not sure what you see in Thompson that leads you to believe that he is ML ready. I live in Charlotte and attended several Knights games last season as well as watching the team on TV and Thompson was nothing more than an average AAA outfielder. When you think about his 100+ at bats with the Chisox last season keep in mind Jerry Sands performance for the Dodgers in September 2011 (.342/.415/.493/.908) and refer back to Thompson’s minor league career where he played A ball 3 seasons and AA 2 seasons. AND remember this, the Charlotte Knights home field is most definitely a hitters park. Perhaps Ward and others can change Thompson’s mechanics and approach from wanting to pull everything. Defensively, Thompson’s athleticism should make him a better defensive OF’er than what I have observed — average is a pretty good description. Micah Johnson on the other hand is a very good ball player who was bothered last season with a sore knee. Dodgers fans are going to love the way he plays the game; move him to the OF today and he is a much better prospect than Thompson IMO.
Johnson a “stone cold hitter”? I hope you’re right, but if he was, at age 25, wouldn’t he be stone cold hitting Major League pitching before now? And if he suddenly did start hitting, where is he going to play on this team? Both he and Thompson look like ’17, or maybe even ’18, Major League level producers to me. They will play this year only if there is injury, which in our case could be any day.