As OhioDodger indicated, Baseball America just published their top 100 prospects. Seattle led MLB with 7 prospects, no top 10, and only 1 top 50 prospect. The Dodgers and Tampa Bay each had 6 top 100 prospects. Like Seattle, Tampa Bay had no top 10, and 1 top 50 prospect.
Of the Dodgers’ six top 10, they had the #1 overall (Roki Sasaki – RHP) prospect. The Dodgers have four other top 51 prospects:
- Dalton Rushing – C/OF – #30
- Alex Freeland – SS – #46
- Josue De Paula – OF – #47
- Zyhir Hope – OF – #51
- Jackson Ferris – LHP – #82
The next group of teams with 5 top 100 prospects:
- Detroit
- Chicago White Sox
- Cleveland
- Chicago Cubs
The team with the most elite prospects is Boston with 3 of the top 15:
- Roman Anthony – OF – #2
- Kristian Campbell – 2B #4
- Marcelo Mayer – SS – #15
Detroit has had three highly regarded prospects in the top 25:
- Jackson Jobe – RHP – #3
- Max Clark – OF – #22
- Kevin McGonigle – #23
Detroit also had #69 top 100 prospect in former Dodger, Thayron Liranzo – C/1B/DH.
Detroit also had the #60 top 100 prospect. A local SS from Harvard Westlake who many were hoping would slide to LAD. But he shot up to the #11 overall pick in last year’s draft: Bryce Rainer. Rainer had a ton of helium over the last couple of months before the draft. He will be one that I follow in his career.
Every team had at least 1 top 100 prospect. In the NL West, Colorado has 3 top 100 prospects, San Diego and Arizona have 2, and San Francisco has 1 (Bryce Eldridge – 1B – #12.
Colorado is the only other NL West team with a top 10 prospect, Chase Dollander – RHP #8.
By Position:
- RHP – 23
- SS – 23
- OF – 20
- C – 11
- LHP – 6
- 2B – 6
- 1B – 6
- 3B – 5
Many of the SS prospects will eventually slide over to 2B and 3B. Some even to CF.
Geographically:
- USA – 76 prospects
- Dominican Republic – 12
- Venezuela – 4
- Japan – 1
- Panama – 1
- Colombia – 1
- Cuba – 1
- Canada – 1
- Italy – 1
- Australia – 1
- Bahamas – 1
MLB Pipeline has just completed their top 10 prospects by position. The Dodgers were represented by 5 players.
- Catcher – Dalton Rushing – #2
- OF – Josue De Paula – #9
- RHP – Roki Sasaki – #1
- LHP – Jackson Ferris – #5
- LHP – Justin Wrobleski – #7
On Friday, 4:00 PM PT, MLB Pipeline will be the next top 100 prospect list published.
I need to follow these kids more closely. Yahoo news reporting this morning that Yankee legend, Mariano Rivera and his wife have been named in a suit claiming sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl who was a member of their church in New Rochelle New York. They are not the defendants but were named for their role in covering up the crime.
Tanner Scott officially signed.
Just a thought after another whirlwind week in Dodgerland.
In hindsight, given that AF appears to be carrying out his oft mentioned desire “to be pigs”, is it a bit of a surprise that he didn’t go the extra (albeit ridiculous) mile and lock up the generational talent that is Juan Soto? Not even in his prime, he would certainly have helped, along with the signings of Sasaki and Kim, the Dodgers to get younger.
Money and Luxury Taxes really don’t seem to be an issue so was wondering why he didn’t pull the trigger. On the other side of the coin, it’s seems incredible to me that Soto wouldn’t forgoe the extra dollars in exchange for potentially playing for a ring for the duration of his contract. He would never spend $600m (what AF allegedly offered) let alone the $700+M that he got from
the Mets, so why not get onboard if the offer was there?
Ive said all along that I feel a big trade or number of trades are coming – quite simply because we have too many players blocked, and no real pathway for them, particularly now on the SP
front.
A package or packages of this quality would bring back some very good MLB quality players.
I like the 3B at Colorado – McMahon, as well as Duran of Boston who Jeff mentioned.
McMahon is now 30. He is a little better defender than Max, but his OPS is a lot lower. He lacks Max’s on base ability and does not have Max’s power production. His numbers are skewed because he plays a majority of his games at Coors. Same argument many made about Arenado, who has never matched his Rockies’ production since moving to the Cardinals. 77 of McMahon’s career total of 124 homers, have come at Coors. He hit .266 at Coors, at Dodger Stadium, .211. He hits .220 on the road. His OPS on the road is under .700. His OPS at Coors, .813. Other problem getting Ryan would be the fact that the Rockies ownership does not like dealing within the division. As for Duran, get in line, most MLB franchises would love that guy. Soto is being way overpaid by the Mets. He is not that good of a defender. Yes, he is prolific and young, but LA does not and did not need him. In NY, he will be the man, lets see how he reacts to that kind of pressure in Queens. He has never had to be the MAN on any team he has played with. He had Harper in DC, Machado and Tatis in SD and Judge with the Yankees. With Alonso most likely not coming back, it is all on his shoulders now.
You make a strong argument as to why we definitely don’t need McMahon.
With regard to his being “The Man” in Queens, I think Soto will be able to share that title with Lindor, whose personality lends itself to being the team leader much more than does Soto’s. Soto may be the one making the huge bucks but I think it’s still going to be Francisco’s team.
I think a lot is going to depend on Soto’s attitude. He had a little of Tatis and Machado rub off on him in SD. But 15 years? The back end of that is going to be an albatross for the Mets. I still do not think he is worth Ohtani money. His jersey sales haven’t jumped through the roof like Shohei’s did. In the long run, Ohtani’s tenure with the Dodgers will pay for itself in increased interest from Japan, and just his popularity all over. Soto is not that kind of moneymaker. He makes the Mets lineup deeper. But not a juggernaut.
The O’s Jordan Westburg, just 25, might be a candidate to succeed Max.
The O’s have a surplus of young infield talent but need pitching. A simple swap seems possible.
I suspect that AF was never as “in” on Soto as it may have appeared.
As things worked out, Soto went where he was expected to go–the Mets.
I’d love to see a big trade. Still bullish on Robert Jr., and Jarron Duran would be great–but I don’t see the Red Sox dealing him.
The Dodgers have definitely been pigging out this winter. Perhaps the appetite is sated for now…
Next winter, Kyle Tucker will be a free agent. If he has a big season with the Cubs, he could be the big prize.
Maybe,like many of us have said, AF thinks his personality is not a good fit and his ability certainly not worth what NYM paid him. But just my opinion.
Tanner Scott issued uni # 66.
A 6 short of the anti-Christ.
I kinda wish he could go for it!
Well, FWIW, I like neither the Scott nor the Yates signing.
but it’s worth bupkus
Yates has not been officially signed yet. They will have to make room on the 40-man for him. Sasaki is not on the MLB roster, he is on OKC’s roster.
You haven’t given any reasons for your dislike, so it’s hard to give a rebuttal here.
Bluto never needs a reason; he just likes to be different.
😀
I thought I did below, no?
too much variance in relievers and the Dodgers have shown a great ability to build a pen without spending money.
apologies if not known
Prospect rankings are kind of like wealth distribution. You have the top 10%, the top 1% & then the top 1% of the 1%.
Having a top 50 prospect is pretty special. Rushing is #30 for example. It’s a guy who expect to do well in major leagues, maybe make an All-Star game someday, but be a core contributor which is what all of us want anyway.
Having a top 10 prospect means you have a player who might be the best player on your team soon. A lot of these young superstars were top 10 prospects. They have incredible tools and they maximize them in the majors.
Having a #1 prospect means you have someone who could be the best player in baseball some day. Sasaki could be winning a Cy Young within a few years. There’s almost no ceiling on these guys.
We had the #2 prospect a few years ago and that didn’t work out too well. And Bluto, I think you’ll like the Scott signing a lot more when he comes in to pitch to Harper and/or Soto next October.
If he doesn’t lose his stuff, or suffer an injury.
Both of which happen with frequency to relievers.
The bullpen is the biggest gamble. That’s why the more the merrier. And you could say a great bullpen can win you a WS, like they did last year, and it could be better this year. I love the Scott signing, and so does Ohtani!
Irrelevant, but I do hope it’s even better than last year’s pen.
What>? After the first couple of months, that pen carried a ton of the load. They won two bullpen games in the playoffs, one of them in the World Series. Yeah, they had their bad moments, all pens do, but in the long run, without some of those guys performances, they lose.
That’s my point.
Wasnt Gavin Lux on every MLB top prospects list? How did that work out?
Prospects are suspects until they are not. Lux never reached the potential LA expected of him. In his defense, the ACL tear in 23 cost him a full season. One reason he did not really start to hit until the second half. In Cincy, there will be a lot less pressure. But he drew a critical walk in game 1 that led to Freddies bomb.
And a sac fly to tie the game in game 5 of the WS.
Yes, he did, if memory serves, he had a homer against the Padres in the LDS. But he only hit .100 in the series. Of course, Muncy was 0-16 in the series with 10 K’s. By far his worst performance in the playoffs.
Passan on the Dodgers recent signings and the debate on how it affects MLB as a whole:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/43520552/mlb-2025-los-angeles-dodgers-spending-payroll-baseball-future-roki-sasaki-shohei-ohtani
Some interesting tidbits:
“the Cubs were attempting to sign Scott, among the most coveted relievers this winter. The next day, with a final offer of four years and $66 million — $6 million shy of where the Dodgers landed — they lost. ”
“For all of the Dodgers’ advantages, it’s worth acknowledging the most overblown element of their approach. The deep misunderstanding of deferred money has painted it as a tool to avoid paying salaries for long periods of time and lessen a team’s luxury tax payroll. Neither of these is true.”
“Any team could have pursued Hernández, whose deal this winter was at market value. Every team passed on signing Snell to a long-term deal in the 2023-24 offseason. Edman was widely available at the trade deadline.”
The vast majority of comments I’ve seen from baseball people and sportswriters on the Dodgers’ strategy are spoken with a tone of admiration. The negative comments I’ve seen have basically come from fans of opposing teams.
Me thinks they should use that negative energy to complain to their owners, telling them they should pocket less money and spend more on their roster.
Mariano Rivera and his wife named in a lawsuit against the church they founded for not reporting a case of sexual abuse of a child. They are not the defendants but were named for trying to cover it up.
Should be an interesting spring training for sure. Some of these kids will get playing time.