DODGERS 2017 MINOR LEAGUE/PROSPECTS Thread

The refining is that he has started hitting the ball in the air. He went almost a whole month without an extra base hit, then broke out of that and has been murdering the ball since. It's funny, his brother and I had a convo and he mentioned that in Alex's own words, he was about to break out. I don't even think it was two days later before this streak started. I don't see how he could not be viewed as a top 20-25 prospect at this point. His numbers at AAA, as a CF'er with a ++ arm and the fact he's doing it at such a young age is pretty incredible. The two knocks on him prior to the season was a lack of power and that his high contact rate would dip into walks.... well he is walking more, but yeah the power still lags, but I do not give many if any shits about that with the way this team is constructed. I'd argue that he deserves a shot now, but like @lastatman just said, the need has to be there and it isn't at this present time. If Puig ends up going down for a prolonged amount of time and AGon is still a ways away, then Verdugo should probably get the call, but for now he has to continue to rake in AAA.

 

It has worked out famously with Bellinger and Seager but remember we've been wowed by AAA numbers a lot. IMHO it's September for Alex.

 

Yadier Alvarez and Alex Verdugo will be playing in the futures game representing the World team. Game is July 9, 2017 on the MLB network.

https://www.truebluela.com/all-star...lvarez-mlb-futures-game-all-star-game-dodgers

 

Lonzo on the 7th
Verdugo on the 9th
Coo.

 

I know it has been assumed since December that Calhoun's days are numbered with the Dodgers, but man I have to believe that the team may have to think this one out a little longer now before doing such a deal. The struggles of Forsythe, Utley's age/recent struggles and Taylor kind of crashing down to earth, bring back up the realization that this club may not have a long term option at 2B. He is absolutely crushing the ball and yes the struggles appear to still be there in the field, but his bat is getting amazing reviews and the concept of having his thunder paired with Seager and Bellinger could be a very enticing situation for the FO. Not to mention the potential of the addition of his best friend Alex Verdugo to the lineup in the future could just be a fun thing to watch. Granted not all prospect pan out, but with the reviews on these kids right now and watching Seager and Bellinger tear things up, has me loving the idea of building around this cheap quartet.

 

I want Calhoun to be a part of our future, but if the glove continues to be described as putrid, what can you do?

 

Has there been any speculation about his recent playing time in LF? Is he still playing LF? Was it a move looking at our big club's immediate needs? For trade value? Because he wasn't handling 2B?

 

It depends on the long term plans for the OF as he is playing LF much more often now. If the team thinks he can handle LF, they could move him there, but then that causes long term issues with Pederson as that is his likely home in the not too distant future.

 

He is playing there more and more, but I have heard nothing about it. The speculation is trade value, but with the way he swings it, it could also be for their own use.

 

I feel like most of Pederson's value comes from him playing CF. A move to LF makes him meh.

 

I'm also a big fan of Calhoun but it's not like Kike (25) or Chris (26) are old and they have shown the ability to hit major league pitching while Willie obviously has not. He's still a spec that is admittedly killing it in AAA but we've seen that before. Chase is still being productive enough that I could see us re-sign him, he's older yes but Brandon Phillips is 36 and having a great year. I just think the potential to include him in a deal for a pitcher or a guy who hits lefties (lower on my list of priorities) is too great. I'd be interested in how Omar Estevez progresses because they say he isn't really athletic at 2nd but he can hit much like Willie I believe. Hasn't shown it yet but I'm hopeful. Looking at the FA class for 2018 there's an intriguing guy like Neil Walker who MAY be available. Don't get me wrong I'd love to see as many kids come up and dominate our line-up!!

 

The biggest indicator of where Joc's value will be is if he can get his swing locked in and sticks to it. If that happens, he could be very valuable in LF. Since coming back from the concussion, he has been on an absolute tear and if he is anything like he was during the second half of last year, you would absolutely take that production in LF. Not to mention, his D numbers in CF are pretty rough right now.

 

They ACTUALLY had a breakdown of Joc's newest incarnation of his swing this morning on the mlb network and they showed that he is alot more quiet at the plate. What was even a bigger surprise the 1st segment was mostly about us!!!

 

Joc finally figuring things out would be giant for this team(not to mention maybe Puig as well). He is still not a guy that I would necessarily want batting 5th or higher, but Adam Dunn-like production would be fine with me at the bottom of this lineup.