This is MLB draft week as Phil commented, and is usually a fun time for me. I am a little more disillusioned this year. I will still have a post coming on the LAD possibilities, but I am not sure I am going to be as emotionally invested in the drafted players as I have been in the past.
I have just about given up hope for any drafted Dodger sticking with the MLB team, even if they actually can make it. Bringing up Julian Fernández sealed it for me. I believe the Dodgers get more of a rush trying to find the next Evan Phillips, Ryan Brasier, or Anthony Banda than drafting, signing, and developing one of their own. Why send Jack Little down and keep Will Klein? Little had a rough outing in June in his debut, but when recalled on July 5, he had a fantastic inning against Houston. Retired the side in order, 9 pitches, 8 for strikes. I think I understand why. Little was drafted in the 5th round by LAD while Klein was traded for after being DFA’d by Seattle.
Yes, I acknowledge Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius as drafted Dodgers. Well, actually Dreyer was an UDFA signed by the Dodgers. But would either of them been on the 26 man had Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech been healthy or even Edgardo Henriquez? I doubt it. But I do acknowledge the anomaly.
The Dodgers could have selected Edgardo Henriquez or Nick Frasso, both are already on the 40 man. I am guessing that Noah Davis will be getting DFA’d or maybe CJ Alexander. I predict both will be gone by Wednesday when Tyler Glasnow is reinstated from the 60 day IL and onto the roster.
Then we have the very strange Esteury Ruiz recall. He is fast, okay extremely fast. But he is not a good defensive OF, and he is not a good hitter. In yesterday’s strikeout, his swing was way too long and way too slow. It is not going to get more compact or faster. I would pump him with fastballs up in the zone all day. He will never catch up to it. Why slow it down and take a chance of leaving something out over the plate without movement from anything off speed. He can punish those pitches at times.
The team could have recalled Outman. He is a superlative defensive OF. Thus, he would have been a much better option for defensive OF reserve over Ruiz. While not as fast as Ruiz, he is not slow. He is a good baserunner. He is 14 of 17 in SB attempts. I have to believe that the Dodgers want him to continue mashing at OKC so that his trade return does not diminish anymore. Who out there believes that any other organization would have selected Ruiz over Outman.
Or if they were intending on opening a spot on the 40 man anyway, why not Ryan Ward or Alex Freeland who would have been the most logical choice with Max Muncy going on IL.
Ryan Ward and James Outman are two of the top hitters in the PCL. #1 and #2 in HR. #1 and #2 in RBI. #3 and #7 in SLG. #5 and #6 in OPS. #3 and #9 in doubles. What’s not to like? For as much as they SLG and OPS, they are both top 25 in BA.
Instead they recall Esteury Ruiz on July 3. It is interesting to note that another former MLB player signing a MiLB contract and having a good year at OKC, Michael Chavis, went on Temporary Inactive List on July 4. Chavis can and has played MLB 3B. He has played mostly 1B, but has played 2B and 3B. He even started 1 game in LF. He is not going to get any GG votes, but he can play the position ala Max Muncy.
I know many of you out there are not on the Alex Freeland bandwagon. Would the Dodgers suddenly drop out of the playoff run if they brought up Freeland over Esteury Ruiz? Does anyone believe that Ruiz is a difference maker? Maybe AF/BG have to prove to themselves they did not make a mistake when trading Carlos Duran for Ruiz early in the season.
The Dodgers traded homegrown Michael Busch for OF Zyhir Hope and LHSP Jackson Ferris. Busch should have been the All Star reserve over Alonso. I keep hearing that the Dodgers have to find a spot for Rushing. Why not the same attitude for Busch.
I wonder if Hope actually believes he will play for LAD. But at least he has the fact that he was traded and not drafted by the Dodgers going for him. I do think Ferris will get the call, because it is also clear that the Dodgers will sign multiple pitchers with arm injuries creating openings for a pitcher like Ferris. It is also entirely plausible that both will get traded for a rental at the deadline.
So while I am gearing up for the draft, I am also cynical about who they will draft. If I was a Dodger 1st round pick (40 or 41), as a high schooler, I am going to honor my commitment. Especially to a school such as LSU, or any other SEC program. If I were a college player at a school with a NIL program, I may decide to stay with the University and hope that the Dodgers do not draft me again. Let’s face it, sure the Dodgers are a top organization and will always be a playoff contender, but the draftee cares way more about getting to MLB, and that is too often not happening with the Dodgers.
Too many Ryan Ward, Alex Freeland, Kody Hoese, and Hunter Feduccia types out there for the Dodgers. Throw in James Outman, and I have to believe that there are a lot of LAD MiLB player agents on the phone the next few weeks demanding a trade. Ward and Hoese will be MiLB free agents this year so they will not be Dodger affiliate players next year. Outman is out of options after 2025, so he would be a prime non-tender candidate for next year. Feduccia will have one more option year remaining, so he could stay in the organization as insurance for one more year. I expect the Dodgers will add Freeland to the 40 man this winter, and he can be insurance for the Dodgers for three years.
Okay my rant is over for the time being. Now I can focus on the draft and hopefully leave the sarcastic cynical me aside.
Apparently, Outman is in Milwaukee. I assume for Ruiz. Makes way too much sense, so I am curious as to why it did not happen when Ruiz was recalled. I mentioned to my wife that with Outman not in the OKC lineup yesterday that he was on his way to Milwaukee. She said I should not tease like that.
Don’t be so certain that adding Outman would mean Ruiz disappears, Jeff. Kike, Teo and Edman are all nursing injuries of one sort or another. If any of the 3 goes on the IL, Ruiz might just stay around a while longer.
Yeah, I anticipate Outman and Freeland being given a look, if this trio of injuries proves onerous.
I am somewhat confused why Henriquez wasn’t just called up.
all that said, and I know we’ll never get this, but it would be nice seeing an interview with Michael Busch. Specifically, did he feel well treated, or stifled by the Dodgers.
although the answer is nearly 100% a combination of the two
100%!
And a great rant it is Jeff. You make so many good points. If I was an agent for a player who may be on the Dodger’s radar, I would make it clear that my client isn’t interested if he has a college commitment as an option and have some NIL $ coming..
If I’m stuck in AA or AAA and watch the organization acquire players from other organizations at my position and dump them on my head, I’d want out too.
Great list of guys going to leave and have a career opportunity like Michael Busch, Luke Raley, Zack McKinstry and others got elsewhere.
It reminds me of how guys were stuck in an organization with no future before free agency was established in 1976.
Dodgers, and Dodgers development, have produced (on a per team basis) the most MLB players. Most of them are not on the Dodgers roster.
I’m not sure that’s a negative in the eyes of players though.
Well done Jeff.
Looking at the batting leaders in the NL, Will Smith is the leader in batting average, on base percentage and OPS! He really is having a great year. Although yes, his performance tends to decline later in the season in recent years. But he is truly a deserving all star catcher and also should receive MVP consideration.
Also among the NL hitting leaders is Michael Busch. He has had a recent hot streak that has propelled him to 3rd in the league in OPS at 950. He is also top 5 in the NL in batting average and on base percentage. He is quietly having a very good year and as Jeff pointed out, he is a deserving all star reserve.
Michael Busch has played great after getting an opportunity. I think it would be in his best interest to refrain from any comments about his time with the Dodgers and just enjoy his current situation with the Cubs. No reason to address the past.
What if’s
Outman is official and starting in CF tonight.
Wrobo optioned to OKC.
CJ Alexander dfa.
Fernandez recalled.
Kike to IL
STB, I can’t keep track of who’s where right now. They need to borrow the “transporter” from The USS Enterprise.
I guess they decided that Casparius will be the Ohtani piggyback and not Wrobleski.
Oh good. We get more Esteury Ruiz.
The CJ Alexander signing was very strange.
Kike has supposedly had a problem with his elbow for the past month.
The logical question is whether he messed it up batting or pitching?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the injury led to TJ surgery and the cause was overuse on the mound by Doc? (sorry, my mind wandered to the dark side there)
Read where he is suffering left elbow irritation, not right elbow.
Outman may be getting his last shot to stick with the Dodgers. Hopefully he shows us something (anything)
Bobby, I was afraid he’d get no shot at all with the Dodgers, ever again.
Where’s Ryan Ward’s look? He must be stuck in the back corner of the Dodger’s Outhouse.
Any team, if they thought the over-aged Ward deserved a look, could acquire him and provide it.
What makes you think that other teams have not called on Ward? Maybe the Dodgers want more from the teams making the offer. You are making staements that you have no knowledge of. I am guessing that if the Dodgers wanted the proverbial PTBNL and cash they could have moved him. Watching players without the numbers that Ward has put up the last two years get called up, and for you to insinuate that nobody wants Ward is a little silly, no? So you think that no team wants a player that led MiLB in HRs last year and leads all of MiLB in HRs and RBIs this year? And at the AAA level?
BTW, 27 is not over-aged to be a MLB player. Nobody has ever said that Ward is going to be an All Star, but he is good enough to get a chance. He is better than Ruiz and Ruiz is one year younger. IMO, Ward has been screwed over by the Dodgers.
It’s a market Jeff. If people valued Ward enough to acquire him, they could have him and play him.
Unless you think he’s untouchable, in that case I’d have serious questions about your evaluation acumen.
That’s not even IMO, that’s fact. Here’s two more:
I know that nobody has traded for him.
I know that players are traded for.
The average age of a AAA baseball player is, I believe, 26. Last time I checked, 27 was over that number.
I never said that Ward was an untouchable and neither has anyone else. To be honest I do not give a shit what you think of my baseball acumen. Your opinion of me is utterly meaningless. The question is WHY wasn’t Ward traded. Since you cannot answer that with any knowledge, you have no fact as to WHY he hasn’t been traded. And if you cannot determine the difference between “he has not been traded” or “why he has not been traded” then I question your cognitive skills. And I am just as sure that you don’t give a rip what I think of your cognitive skills, because I do not.
LOL.
I think Jeff you are taking this a little worked up over this.
I know, without a doubt, that:
The reason he hasn’t been traded because nobody has offered enough.
I also know, without a doubt, that:
Every team has a chance to offer enough.
No team has.
You know jack about WHY trades are made. No knowledge. I have specific knowledge on more than a handful of trades and why some were made and why others were not made. Worked up? Yeah, a little. One thing that bothers me is people like you that insinuate that no team wants Ryan Ward. All you can say is that he hasn’t been traded.
When he tells the Dodgers to pound sand at the end of the season, I will go out on a limb and say he will have choices for which team to sign with.
I am done with you.
All I have ever said is that he hasn’t been traded!
NOTHING ELSE.
At the end of the season is different! You don’t need to give up anything for him.
Somebody calling Bluto silly! Now that’s a refreshing change of pace.
Hopefully he gets the Conforto treatment and finishes the year with the Dodgers.
There’s a third baseman that plays at Fresno State great fielder and power hitter yes would love to see the Dodgers draft him he is suppose to be a high deaft pick to. His name Mason Gray.
I think it’d be awesome if we took Murph Gray!
Yes Murph Gray thats the kid the dodgers should draft for 3B or 1B.
I agree with everything Jeff has said in this article,
But the pitching staff is the primary problem. The pitching is so bad, so dreadful, that losing any of the primary position players will cause a big losing streak, and here we are down 5-0 immediately vs. the brewers, after being swept by Houston. The Dodgers rank 23rd in ERA. Only Colorado and I think Washington have a more inneffective pitching staff.
It’s frustrating that the Dodgers continue to make the same mistakes over and over, without learning from them.
Well they learned how to win a World Series last year
It has the look of a losing streak–or lots of losing–thru the all-star break.
Scott’s back!
And back on brand.
Just a few days after Jeff anticipated his return.
I’m back and…
I got nothin’
Don’t sell yourself short, you bring quite a lot.
And the Dodgers brain trust thinks Will Klein is a better option than Jack Little?
For Will Klein it is deja vu all over again tonight.
Gets two outs and then can’t finish the inning.
It defies logic.
Jeff, I know you have been very enthusiastic and informative when it comes to covering the Dodgers MiLB as well as other prospects.
The conclusions you have expressed in this post concur with I have posted several times in the past. The Dodger’s top prospects are mostly overrated. The ones that do make the MLB, do so with another team. Will Smith and now Andy Pages are the only position players to stick with the team in the past several years.
That’s right….TWO.
With pitchers they have had better results except for the fact they can’t stay healthy. Like Jeff mentioned, no agent should allow a drafted pitcher they represent to sign with the Dodgers. Go to college.
Note: Yelich just hit a HR off a 29 year old FA Dodger pitcher who AF signed out of the Mexican league in the off-season. Awesome!
I can’t keep track of who’s in and who’s out for the Dodgers. The way things are going the entire OKC starters may force AF’s hand and be playing for the Dodgers. The horror!
Carry on.
And where are all the piano teachers?
Tomorrow we face the Brewers’ phenom Jacob Misiorowski.
Logic says we’ll lose again.
Being the contrarian that I am, I predict we’ll score at least 7 runs and beat him.
Another stinker. Oh well. Every team is going to have a bad streak in a 162 game schedule. Better now than in August, September, and October. Plenty of time to get things right.
Pretty much.
Solid rant, Jeff!
Let me chime in too: Dodgers are coming a bit undone the last 4 games.
Pitching is horrible at the moment. Our superstar sluggers are not slugging .
Questionalbe managerial and front office decisions as you and others have pointed out.
Maybe the age factor finally is creeping up on some of our key guys. Betts.FF.Teo.
Ohtani not his usual self too, coincidentally when he started pitching ? Question is legit.
Not overly worried just yet but concerned.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!