PROSPECTS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

HR #30 for Shelty. And RBI #90. Move him up.

 

I think he got all of it... https://x.com/i/status/2080642026052223104

In addition to leading all the minor leagues in HRs, his 90 RBIs is also tops. Hope is tied for second with 84.

 

ESPN so fwiw …


Teams likely to deal away prospects

Los Angeles Dodgers

System snapshot: The system is strong, still. The Dodgers added just one prospect to their top 20 in the most recent draft due to both their limited pool and picks, but also their strong farm system. It's very deep in outfielders specifically, with them making up five of the top six spots on the updated top 10.

Their untouchables: OF Josue De Paula is probably the only one that's truly off limits, but I think there are a couple more very unlikely to move, or only in a huge deal, such as OF Mike Sirota, OF Eduardo Quintero, SS Emil Morales and possibly Zyhir Hope.

Prospects they could deal: I have Hope and Charles Davalan as the fourth and fifth among that outfield glut, and James Tibbs III is the next one behind them, also with some real trade value. There's not as much depth on the pitching side, but RHP River Ryan and LHP Jackson Ferris are both in Triple-A.

 

Okay, it looks like MLB Pipeline did a re-ranking. Some of the changes are not surprising. Some expected changes didn't happen which is really surprising. It seems most of the movement was in the top ten. I'm wondering if this is still a work in progress as they're making their way down the list, because there's some dead wood on the bottom that should be gone, and there are some names that have not been added that should be no brainers (Shelton, Lowrance, possibly Wagner and Nico Perez). Anyhow, here goes:

1. De Paula - no change (NC)
2. Sirota - moves up 2 spots, deservedly so
3. Quintero - no change
4. Morales - up 1 spot
5. Hope - drops 3. I think this is mainly due to the others outperforming. HR and RBI numbers are strong, but .289/.895, while good, are lagging the others a bit.
6. Zazueta - up 2. Having another strong season after a sluggish start.
7. Ryan - down 1. Injury isn't helping.
8. Davalan - down 1. .274/.881 is not bad for first full season, but Zazu's continued ascension drops him a spot.
9. Tibbs - up 1, probably on the strength of his early season tear. Not much lately otherwise could have leapfrogged Davalan.
10. Root - up 2. Last year's first rounder is backing up his draft status on the mound.
11. Ferris - down 2. A season I'm sure he'd like to forget, and frankly, I'm surprised the drop wasn't larger.
12. Serwinowski - down 1. Up and down season so far.
13. George - NC. I bet he would have moved up if not for the freak injury.
14. Ko - NC. Solid season so far.
15. Lindsey - NC. Surprised he didn't move up. Numbers have been great, but also has spent time on the IL.
16. Harlan - NC. Again surprised no move up.
17. Brady Smith - up 12 (biggest mover). And was just promoted to A+. I expected more moves like this by others.
18. Ehrhard - down 1. Should be higher in my opinion.
19. Nieves - down 1. Injured and mostly ineffectiveness have made him a non-story this year. He should be lower.
20. Ward - down 1.
21. Vargas - down 1.
22. Leiter - down 1.
23. Patick - down 1.
24. Martin - down 1.
25. Hainline - down 1.
26. Elkins - down 1.
27. Tunink - down 1.
28. Miller - down 1.
29. Copen down 1.
30. Heubeck - down 1.

Yeah, the more I look at it, there have to be more changes coming in the 11-30 range. Other than Smith, the rest are pretty much where they were. Copen and Heubeck need to be off the list, in addition to maybe Tunink and a couple of the other pitchers. There are plenty of others having more of an impact - and frankly have higher potential at this point.

 

I'd hate to see Sirota go, but if anyone fits the "strike while the iron is hot" mantra, it's him. Something tells me that he's on their "almost untouchable" list though. The fact that they drafted him and when he didn't sign, they still chased him the next year via trade... there must be something there that they really like and I can't see that he's done anything to change their mind. Also, De Paula and Sirota are the two with more walks than strikeouts, so you've gotta love that plate discipline. Hope is more likely to go I think/hope. Wonder if the Dodger brass doesn't like that he got re-ranked two to five in the org - does that affect his trade value? Hopefully other GMs can understand that he's not the reason he dropped, just others moving up faster.

Ideally, in a couple years, I'd love if they found away to ship out Tucker and his albatross of a contract, and left to right you have De Paula, Pages, and Sirota. Maybe Ehrhard or Davalan is the fourth OF. Actually, I like Pages in center, but he's proving to be streaky and I think the jury is still out on him long-term. If he falters over the next two years, you trade him and plug in Quintero. Otherwise, maybe Quintero keeps getting better and can return a front-line starter for the rotation.

 

@MLBPipeline
MLB's No. 25 prospect Emil Morales (@Dodgers) during July after his latest roundtripper for the High-A @greatlakesloons:
.345 AVG / .464 OBP / .636 SLG


really like this kid (no pedo)
primarily a SS but at 6’3” 191lbs (and only 19) likely still growing

 

@Bnicklaus7
Top #Dodgers OF prospect Eduardo Quintero in 62 games since 4/25:

• .342/.480/.563
• 1.043 OPS
• .475 wOBA
• 172 wRC+
• 18.9 BB%
• 20.3 K%
• 35 SB

At only 20 years old, Quintero has been on a ridiculous run with zero obvious discernible flaws in his game

 

Almost every night I review the Dodgers minor league box scores, and there's this order I have based on anticipation.

The team I most look forward to is AA Tulsa. It rosters the bulk of the organization's "almost ready" top prospect talent, headed by the big three OFs-- #1 De Paula, #2 Sirota, and #5 Hope. In addition the top pitching prospect Zazueta goes once a week, and then a bunch of more mid-level guys like George, Serwinowski, Hainline, Martin add to the hoopla. In almost any given game, somebody that matters is doing something noteworthy. And at 61-34, the team is killing it.

Next is high-A Great Lakes. For the first time all season, their big three are all hot at the same time - Davalan, Quintero, and Morales. Davalan had a cool June but he's now heated back up and joined the other two in playing well. Brady Smith made the move from low-A, and Nico Perez seems to compliment the other big hitters well. The only negative is that #16 Harlan is in an uber-slump, but their other third baseman Wagner has picked up the slack.

Third most anticipated is single-A Ontario. These guys are farther away from potentially having any impact at the major league level, but it's a fun group to monitor. Out-of-this-stratosphere power hitter Shelton seems to go deep every other game, and Elkins is also having an MVP-caliber season. Former first rounder Lindsey has been on and off the IL, but when he's playing, he's producing. And now Aidan West, up from the rookie league is another one to watch. Ko and Vargas also add to the interest.

The box score that almost feels like a chore to look up is AAA OKC. They're 53-46, but just lost 5 of 6 to Sacramento (Gnats AAA affiliate) - ugh. There's a bunch of break-glass-in-case-of-emergency former major leaguers, then Tibbs who is seemingly losing relevancy every game, SS Miller whose unlikely hot bat from early on is all but gone, and Ferris Jackson who is probably the farm's biggest disappointment this year. Ryan Ward was a feel-good story that has probably played itself out, and River Ryan being on the shelf most of the season doesn't help. In reality, Ehrhard is the only one whose line I look up optimistically, and otherwise I'm just checking to see which rehabbing Dodgers played that day.

 

Article on Zazueta...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ba...tching-prospect-thanks-to-yankees/ar-AA28S0OM

 

He's in most games for OKC. Just not much to report as he's kind of underwhelming. 0-for-4 with 3 K's on Sunday. Batting .285 with a .705 OPS overall in a hitter-friendly league.

 

• Dodgers’ 2025 first rounder LHP Zach Root promoted today from High-A to Double-A. Had a 2.40 ERA (2.98 FIP) and 79/29 K/BB over 60 IP at High-A.

 

• OF Jaron Elkins has also been promoted to the High-A Loons.

 

This really stacks Dodger pitching prospects on this roster:

Zazueta
Root
Serwinowski
Martin
Heubeck
Copen


Those are all top-30 prospects plus Foeller, who was recently promoted as well.

 

With Elkins recently added to the Dodgers top-30 prospect ranking, this move will make for an exciting outfield to watch... he joins Quintero and Davalan. Will be interesting to see who gets CF between Quintero and Elkins (who played center exclusively for Ontario)... although I'd be shocked if it's not Quintero's. Glad to see Elkins get this promotion, and hopefully his now ex-teammate Shelton joins him soon. An 8th round pick in '23, he' still only 21. His numbers have exploded this year:

.339 avg
.421 OBP
1.005 OPS
19 doubles
6 triples
13 HRs
34 steals out of 40 attempts (stole 63 last year so likes to run)

The Midwest League is pitcher friendly, and we saw both Quintero and Morales take some time to adjust, so the same could happen here. But it's good to see guys getting promoted.

Edit: Today's lineup has Davalan in Center and Quintero in Right, with Elkins on the bench, so I stand corrected on Quintero.

 

The deadline for draftees to sign was yesterday. Dodgers successfully inked 15 of their 16 picks. The only one that passed was an 18th rounder out of Aruba.

https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2026/all/team/dodgers

 

0 for 4, 3 K's last game
0 for 5, 3 K's tonight