We saw Dodger prospect rankings from Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus on Monday, and now here’s a list from Marc Hulet at Fangraphs today. Zach Lee, (above, via MLB.com) tops both lists. Comparing the top 15s:
| Site | BP | Fangraphs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee | Lee |
| 2 | Eovaldi | Eovaldi |
| 3 | Webster | Reed |
| 4 | Reed | Webster |
| 5 | Gould | Gould |
| 6 | Withrow | Withrow |
| 7 | Silverio | Silverio |
| 8 | Pederson | Pederson |
| 9 | Castellanos | Federowicz |
| 10 | Sanchez | Lindblom |
| 11 | Tolleson | Santana |
| 12 | Baldwin | Tolleson |
| 13 | Federowicz | Baldwin |
| 14 | Martin | De Jesus |
| 15 | Lindblom | Miller |
Anonymous
I know our farm system is weak, but where on the list is the cutoff for prospects projected as at least “big league regular”?
Jon Weisman
Well, for starting pitchers, I’d say Lee is almost a lock, while everyone from Eovaldi to Withrow is “we’ll see how they do longterm.”
For position players, we’ll be lucky if any of those guys are regulars. Pederson, maybe, though he’s a ways away. Castellanos, it would help if he could convert back to second base (subject of a future blog post).
Anonymous
Make him a catcher.
james jack
thot Eovaldi did quite well last season as a starter & believe we’ll see him again in this role before the end of the season
Jon Weisman
I agree. But he still has some stuff to prove as to whether he’ll be a permanent part of the rotation past this season. I’m certainly hopeful.
Carey Robertson
What Santana is that at #11 on FG’s?
Jon Weisman
You should click the link in the first paragraph, but it’s Alex.
Carey Robertson
My fault. I didn’t know the gave a summary of the player. I thought it was just a straight list. Love the new site!
Dave Pomerantz
Interesting to see DeJesus on FG’s list, where they say “he should be a solid big league starter at second base.” That seems a little out of touch with everything else I’ve heard.
Carey Robertson
If I’m not mistaken DeJesus had attitude/entitlement issues a few years back. That may be a stat that isn’t reflected on prospect lists, but is in the dugout.
Derek TC
Perhaps because 2b is mostly a weak position? I don’t know.
Jon Weisman
Seemed weird to me as well.
underdog
Definitely out of date, or at least against the grain of how the Dodgers appear to view him. Heard he’s had attitude problems, etc, or hasn’t wanted to learn, something like that… given the dearth of solid infielders in the org lately that’s a real shame, for him and the Dodgers.
Jon Weisman
Attitude aside, I’m just not sure the talent/skills have been there since the broken leg.
underdog
Yeah that’s what I wondered, too. Though it seemed like he was perfectly healthy last season, and was relatively productive in AAA. The whole thing seems odd and frustrating given he was once a highly rated prospect.
Anonymous
I would guess that earlier evaluations of him probably based much on raw talent and potential. He broke his leg pretty badly. While it has healed, it has likely to have diminished some of the flashiness and edge that we were struck with earlier. I remember that ST before he got injuried and he looked pretty darn good, not Dee good, but good.
Anonymous
If that were a current assessment of DeJesus, I would think he would rank much higher in a weak system. A solid big league starter sounds like a great prospect to me.
underdog
From last thread, WBB: Chris Pettit you shouldn’t know anything about, so the joke works. Melissa Leo you should know something about so we’ll wait here while you go watch something she’s been in. ;) Like Homicide [scene with Ned Beatty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM8_E6gRP2Y%5D
Anonymous
As I replied in the previous thread, I did see Melquiades Estrada, but she just didn’t register the way Tommy Lee Jones and Levon Helm did.
Anonymous
Loved that movie (and I remember her).
underdog
Yeah in that film, she was good though not quite the standout that she can be (in Frozen River and The Fighter, both Oscar nominated, though I thought she was a tad too hammy in the latter; or 21 Grams, or Homicide or Treme…)
JeffreyThomasIII
Yes! Watch Tremé! Everybody should be watching that show.
Anonymous
I watched the clip, and she still doesn’t ring a bell.
underdog
Btw, I like Eovaldi too, but #2 seems a bit high for him at least when you compare upsides. Although they haven’t done anything in the bigs yet, unlike Nate, Webster and Gould would seem to have a higher ceiling, from what I’ve seen and heard about their stuff. At any rate, the org is clearly solid and deep with pitching, and still weak positionally. Hope that changes soon. (Some guys, like Silveiro, Van Slyke and Songco, for instance, could end up being surprises and maybe that will make it look better.)
Dave Pomerantz
Seems like it might be a matter of personal preference. Eovaldi is more of a sure thing, which has to be worth something in the rankings too.
Anonymous
I didn’t realize that Eovaldi hadn’t pitched above A-Ball until last year. To jump all the way to the Show, not bad and certainly a good sign if he can just get a little more seasoning in the minors, maybe he and Webster turn into a good 2-3 type guys and then get Lee as your 2 with Kershaw as 1, and then all Billingsley has to do is pitch like a 5. That has the potential to be a great rotation in a year or two!
underdog
And don’t forget Rubby! The future looks bright, pitching-wise at least. (Depending on how things crumble, cookie-wise.)
And I’ll go out on a limb and say Billingsley will definitely pitch better than a 5. :)
Anonymous
Wow how did I do that. One of those guys is gotta end up getting traded to get some bats
Anonymous
Lindblom didn’t make the BP list.
Jon Weisman
Fixed. I was surprised that Lindblom was still classified as a prospect, given his service time.
David Young
The various prospect rankings get a little squirrelly on this. Most claim they don’t use service time, so Lindblom is still a prospect then, but OTOH, the only reason Javy Guerra isn’t a rookie still is because of service time. Hard to argue that Guerra should still be considered a prospect though.
Anonymous
I was surprised when I read that in BP also. My other surprise was how low they see his ceiling. Granted, he may never close, but he can be a solid 7th/8th inning guy in the way the Angels used to use Scott Shields.
Anonymous
Love the new site. Glad it is still here to enjoy. How can you put someone who has already proven he can contribute at a high level in the majors, Lindblom, at #15? Even if he is just a reliever, he has great potential, and has grown a lot over the past few years. Would Jansen and Guerra be down on the list as well if they were still rookie eligible? Our season, at least at the beginning, is riding on the shoulders of those three, so it seems odd for Lindblom to not be near the top.
Jon Weisman
I think it has a lot to do with their long-term potential. Lindblom, people sort of know what he can be. But if you can become an everyday starter, that would place you higher. Not saying I agree with both sets of rankings entirely, of course, but they’re basically about max potential.
Jon Weisman
TMZ reports that L.A. City Attorney is not pursuing case against James Loney “due to insufficient evidence” http://bit.ly/AkuBan
Robert Daeley
Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/dodger-james-loney-wont-face-charges-in-maserati-crash.html
Anonymous
I’ve made it over!
underdog
From Down Under, to boot!
Jon Weisman
2012 Dodger Blogger softball tournament schedule, thanks to @thelfp_blog http://bit.ly/zlQfNL
Jon Weisman
We have room for one more female player, and there may be spots open for other teams in the tournament.
Dave Pomerantz
There’s still a spot or two on the Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness team, which is going to be a far better team anyways. :)
Anonymous
Good luck to you guys. I assume the results, if not the box scores, will be posted here?
Jon Weisman
You can just watch the games live on ESPNπ
Anonymous
I had the pleasure of watching Griff Erickson play at Rancho Cucamonga before he was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga and believe that he has the talent to be an MLB catcher. He has good offensive power but still needs work on his defensive skills. He was invited to Big League camp for Spring Training and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.
Dustin Nosler
Agreed. He’s easily the team’s best catching prospect.
scottF
so many pitchers, where are the power hitters
Jon Weisman
NPUT
scottF
can we trade some of these pitchers for power hitters?
Jon Truman
Had a heck of a time signing in, but I like the new site Jon