When the Dodgers traded for All-Star shortstop Manny Machado on July 18 as a three-month rental (and trust me, he was nothing more than that and will not be returning in 2019 … or ever), it cost the Dodgers five prospects. It did not, however, include any of their high-end (so to speak) prospects – guys named Dustin May or Gavin Lux – who were, in every sense of the word, untouchable. And while we will never know if any of those five prospects would have had an impact on the Dodgers moving forward, the simple truth is that “Prospects are cool, but parades are cooler,” as MLB Network Radio’s Casey Stern often says.

But there was another top Dodgers prospect who was also considered untouchable – then 19-year-old (now 20) catching prospect Keibert Ruiz – who, absolutely positively will have an impact on the Dodgers moving forward, perhaps as soon as the 2019 season.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘How on earth can a 20-year-old kid who was signed as an international free agent from Valencia, Venezuela on July,20, 2014 as a 15-year-old be that good?’

A very valid question.

The answer is: Yes, he is that good. So good, in fact, that he blasted his way through the Dominican Summer League, the Arizona and Pioneer Rookie Leagues, the Midwest Low Single-A League, the Advanced Single-A California League, and spent the entire 2018 season with the Tulsa Drillers of the Double-A Texas League. He is also currently playing in the prestigious Arizona Fall League (AFL), which is considered by many to be a launch pad to the major leagues … and he did all of this in four years.

Yes, he is that good.

During Saturday night’s annual AFL Fall Stars Game at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, Ruiz was the starting catcher for the West team. In his five innings behind the plate he did not have a passed ball, nor did he allow a wild pitch get passed him (take note, Yasmani Grandal fans). Offensively, he was 1-for-1, with a walk in the second inning and a RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the West a then 3-1 lead.

Dodgers top catching prospect Keibert Ruiz is congratulated by first base coach Doug Banks after his RBI single in the fourth inning of Saturday night’s AFL Fall Stars Game. The West team would go on to win the exciting contest by a score of 7-6. (Video capture courtesy of MiLB.com)

In the seventh inning of the AFL’s showcase event, play-by-play man and MLB Network Radio host Mike Ferrin had 15-year MLB veteran scout Kimball Crossley in the booth with him as a guest for an inning. During that time, Ruiz’s name came up prominently in their discussions.

“A lot of times guys can’t live up to the hype,” Crossley said. “And so I saw the game like this and I’ve heard great things about [Arizona Diamondback’s right-handed pitching prospect Jon] Duplantier and Ruiz, and they live up to it. It’s really cool.

“And like Ruiz lived up to it from what I saw. Like you can see what people are talking about him as a receiver and thrower back there,” Crossley added.

Ferrin then asked the veteran scout specifically what he saw in Ruiz that makes him believe that he has a real chance to make it to the major leagues?

“He was just so smooth back there,” Crossley answered. “When I went to scout school and I learned how to be a scout, I remember our mentor would say like ‘The good ones do it easy,’ you know what I mean? And so how easily he caught the ball, and effortlessly.

“His body, he looks kind of round and chunky, but he’s graceful, he’s smooth,” said Crossley. “So right away I could see he can play defense and I thought ‘Alright, it’s a two-way game and you don’t want to be a defensive back-up only,’ and he hit and he had a really nice at-bat where he had to turn on a fastball in. And he did that, and so you go ‘He’s something.’ And if he can hit a little bit, he’s a regular, and if he can hit a lot, he’s a star. … Ruiz is going to be good.”

A pretty good endorsement from a guy who has seen his fair share of young catching prospects over the past 15 years.

But what does the guy who matters most think – Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman?

“I don’t know. I mean right now I think that it’s a little early to ask [that Ruiz and fellow catching prospect Will Smith will be competing for the Dodgers starting catching job this spring] and I think that it would be putting them in a tough position,” said Friedman, when asked during last Thursday’s end-of-season press conference at Dodger Stadium. “I think spring training is probably a little aggressive, but I wouldn’t be surprised that, at some point during the year, if one or both of them were in a position to knock the door down. But out of spring training, it’s a big ask and we shouldn’t plan our off-season with that in mind.”

Then again, this was before Saturday night’s Fall Stars Game, which I assume that Friedman and/or Dodgers general manager Farhan watched.

There is one problem, however, and it’s a big one.

On Friday, the Dodgers gave now free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal a one-year / $17.9 million qualifying offer to remain with the team for the 2019 season, and Grandal has 10 days to decide whether or not to accept the QO, as they are often called.

There is no doubt, none whatsoever, that Friedman and Zaidi gave the soon-to-be (on November 8) 30-year-old La Habana, Cuba native a QO fully believing that he would decline it and instead seek a much more lucrative multi-year free agent contract with another team. Doing so would give the Dodgers a competitive balance draft pick between the second and third rounds in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft this coming June.

The problem is, and as every Dodger fan on the planet knows all too well, Grandal absolutely sucked down the stretch and throughout the just-concluded postseason; so much so that he will have a very difficult time finding a team willing to pay him more than the $17.9 million that he is guaranteed if he accepts the Dodgers qualifying offer. As such and by all indications, F&Z’s best laid plans appear to have gone awry.

That being said and based on Friedman’s comment this past Thursday, one more year of Grandal (uggh) could work out well timewise for Keibert Ruiz, who appears to be one more year away from The Show.

Stay tuned…