The State of the Dodgers Farm System

Prospect Rankings are fun, and we cover the top prospects lists, as the video above shows, but they’re not something we really use to evaluate each individual or group of players to evaluate MLB value. For instance, Jonny DeLuca, James Outman, Gus Varland, Nick Robertson, Jose Hernandez, Ryan Noda, Jordan Leasure, Ricky Vanasco are all guys we heavily valued at Dodgers Daily. 

Rankings give guys publicity, and, possibly, increase value, so that’s a great thing, and something we highly endorse. But, there are so many more factors that are huge aspects of the Minor Leagues that an arbitrary ranking can’t cover. 

For instance, most of the prospects that are talented enough to be put on a Top Prospects lists have likely never struggled much, at all. So, as they keep climbing the ranks in the Minors, and as the talent level increases, how will they handle the more regular failure they likely will experience. 

Baseball is the ultimate grind, so how players handle the every day”ness” of it, and the type of teammate a prospect will be over 6 months, especially during the rough patches, is an equal parts factor as their physical talent.

At least, in the Dodgers organization it is, I promise you that.

Having said that, if you want a Top Prospects list to follow for the Dodgers, follow the one Bruce Kuntz puts out each year. Bruce knows talent, but, equally as important, he also sees these guys grind, so he also knows which guys have the daily process that will set them up for continued success.

So, let’s get to the system and talent that is up and down each roster. 

Currently, in their system, the Dodgers have Ryan Ward, who has pretty much been on par with Andy Pages offensively all the way through their climb through the system. Ward doesn’t have the same throwing arm or potential to play CF as Pages, but he definitely does have the same type of hit tool.

Drew Avans tied the all time OKC record for triples and continues to be one of the better AAA players year in and year out, and Hunter Feduccia continues to be rock solid and very good at the catchers spot for AAA OKC. Miguel Vargas is doing what he’s always done to Minor League pitching, and is just waiting for his next opportunity.

The relief crop has as much top end potential as it’s had in a long time. Ricky Vanasco, Kevin Gowdy, Alec Gamboa, Braydon Fisher and Rooney are all guys that have been in the system for a minute, are in AAA, and, with opportunity, would be good MLB relievers.

The Dodgers also added Michael Petersen, who is approaching 100 MPH, Drew Pomeranz & Jesse Hahn to the fold, the latter 2 of which have MLB experience.

Then the power arms!

Nick Frasso, River Ryan, Jake Pilarski, Juan Morillo, Reinaldo Yean, Edgardo Henriquez, and Madison Jeffrey, all are guys that can touch or exceed 100. Ryan, not quite 100 yet, but close. 

Justin Wrobleski, Ronan Kopp and Maddux Bruns are all left handed, and all approach 100 MPH. And don’t forget, Jackson Ferris was added in the Michael Busch trade and he instantly entered the Top 20 list of prospects for the Dodgers.

Then, you still have guys that might not be prospects, but might as well be with the limited MLB exposure they’ve gotten, like Landon Knack, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller. 

The Dodgers do have Prospect list sizzle too, headlined by Dalton Rushing, who is one of, if not the best catching prospect in the MiLB, And, this time last year, Diego Cartaya was one of the biggest prospects in the game, and he still has PLENTY of time to get things turned around. Last year was a struggle for him offensively, and the beginning of this year has been as well.

Behind Rushing you have Thayron Liranzo, who popped a 1.8 Thursday night and had a totally elite season last year and has big talent. Yeiner Fernandez has been in the Top Prospects list and he can catch as well. 

Then you have Jared Karros, who has tremendous pitchability, Ben Casparius, who is touching 98 & has maybe the best bag of secondaries of all the pitching prospects, and Jack Dreyer is incredible, simply put.

Alex Freeland has as much upside, IMO, as almost any infield prospect in baseball. He has serious power potential and is using the Minor Leagues to learn how to put the bat on the ball more often. Noah Miller won the Gold Glove for SS last year, Trey Sweeney is going to be a good MLB offensive player, and the Dodgers also added Andre Lipcius in the off season, and he’s shown to have a good hit tool so far. 

Jose Ramos is in the same “tools” mold as Andy Pages, just not the same walk rate and bat to ball, but same power, same arm, and with “likely” more range. Austin Gauthier was maybe THE best offensive player in ALL the Minor leagues last year and Taylor Young was the All Time hits leader in the HISTORY of La Tech and has maybe the highest baseball IQ of any player in the game. And he stole 56 bases last year. 

Eriq Swan and Patrick Copen are both going to exceed 100 MPH at some point, and are figuring things out very fast at Rancho after being drafted last year.

Kyle Nevin and Jake Gelof both have Major league bloodlines, and both stay inside the ball as well as any hitter in the Minor Leagues. Both, injury not withstanding, WILL play in the Major Leagues, in my opinion.

Chris Newell and Damon Keith are both very strong, very toolsy and very fast outfield prospects that could both easily be the next James Outman, and Dylan Campbell swings a magic wand. 

Michael Hobbs and Antonio Knowles both have ridiculously elite breaking balls, and Ryan Sublette and Noah Ruen both are unique in having 3/4ish arm slots. Sauryn Lao was just recently converted to pitcher and his slider and arm side movement on his fastball are both really good. He also has a great physical presence, his ball carries and he is a plus athlete. Similarly, Lucas Wepf has a unique motion and a big time competitive element and is very good. 

Brandon Lewis led the entire Dodgers organization in Home Runs per at bat in 2021, and Bubba Alleyne was the B1G Player of the Year in 2002, so you know he’s filled full of talent. Austin Beck and Brendon Davis were recently acquired and both are fitting in like gloves. 

Beck is over coming injury, but has a very quiet, but, yet, extremely powerful and efficient swing, and with the Dodgers instruction, could explode. Davis is a long rangy and versatile player that gives off some Willie McGee vibes in body type and hitting style.

Don’t forget about Ben Harris too, who had the highest K per inning rate in the Minor Leagues in 2022, and Brandon Neeck, Christian Suarez, Franklin De La Paz and Kelvin Bautista all have a really nice sweeping sliders as well.

Peter Heubeck and Jerming Rosario both have MLB caliber stuff, and are in the process of learning how to execute their sequences, which is their ONLY hurdle. 

Orlando Ortiz Mayr, Christian Romero and Jacob Meador are in the Landon Knack mold in terms of execution and eating innings for his club, and Kendall Williams has the split change, and is very talented as well. 

Wilman Diaz, Jordan Thompson, Logan Wagner and Sean McLain are all very talented infielders for the Quakes and Gabe Emmett has had periods of brilliance on the bump for Rancho Cucamonga as well.

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