I thought it might be fun to look back to 2017 and what Keith Law had to say about some Former Dodger Players. I like Keith Law a lot. He has a lot of insight into prospects… but he is not perfect. If he was, someone would be paying him $50 million dollars a year.
Jose De Leon
Born in Puerto Rico but drafted in the 24th round out of Southern University, De Leon raced through the minors in just over three years to reach the majors, where he had a bit of a rough welcome from big-league hitters, who squared up his fastball. He was acquired by the Rays in a trade with the Dodgers on Monday night.
De Leon pitches 89-94 mph with his four-seamer but relies on deception to keep hitters off the pitch. He boosts his fastball with an above-average changeup that he needs to use more frequently the next time he’s in the majors and an in-between slurve that probably needs to be resolved in favor of a true slider. De Leon generated just nine swing-and-misses on the changeup, his best pitch, out of 302 total pitches in the majors, which tells you something about his raw stuff.
In the minors, he dominated at every level, including Triple-A, where he struck out 32 percent of opposing batters, guys who couldn’t handle the deception in his delivery and the way he changes speeds. I think he’s a solid fourth starter, maybe right now, but he won’t match his minor league numbers unless one or more of his weapons becomes a true out pitch.
UPDATE: Joes De Leon is now with the Cincinnati Reds and is a reliever. He seems to be healthy and could be a piece in the Reds bullpen.
Yadier Alvarez
For raw stuff, Alvarez might be the best pitching prospect in the minors. He’ll work in the upper 90s and can show you a plus slider now and again, but the lack of consistency and command hold him out of the upper tier of this list. Alvarez signed as an amateur free agent out of Cuba for $16 million in 2016, which meant the Dodgers paid double that including the penalty for exceeding their bonus cap, so he’d better have a good arm … and he does. But he showed up last summer struggling to find the plate, so he didn’t debut in pro ball until this year’s Arizona League.
The Dodgers slowed his tempo, so Alvarez’s delivery is more deliberate now, to the point that it’s surprising how hard he’s throwing, and he’s staying on top of the ball and getting more online to the plate. The slider is good, but the big power curveball might end up better if he focuses on that pitch. He might pitch with four distinct offerings, two or even three grading plus, but it’s thrown with grade 40 command, which would make him a big-league starter but maybe just an average one. If the command improves — and there’s no delivery-related reason it can’t — then he has a chance to profile anywhere up to the top of a rotation.
UPDATE: Alvarez was DFA’ed and not taken by anyone. The Dodgers have him slotted as a reliever. I have no opinion on how that might work out.
Walker Buehler
Buehler was headed for a top 15 pick in the 2015 MLB draft before his junior season, but missed time with a sore elbow, pitched poorly down the stretch, and slipped to the Dodgers at 24th overall, only to have the team confirm during his post-draft physical that he’d need Tommy John surgery. When he returned to the mound in 2016, he was a completely different animal, touching 100 mph with his fastball and sitting in the mid-90s, even though he said he wasn’t doing anything different to try to throw harder.
The big variable around Buehler’s projection is what his stuff will look like during a regular season of work where he’s pitching deeper into games. Buehler threw 92-95 mph as a starter before the injury, typically working once a week, then 88-92 mph a few weeks before he was drafted; his summer 2016 spike was an entirely new level of velocity and arm speed, and we don’t know if he’ll maintain it. He had an above-average slider and changeup before the injury, but scouts have always been concerned about his slight build holding up in a 200-inning role. If he stays healthy and holds this newfound velocity, he’s a top 25 prospect and could race through the low minors to the big leagues as soon as his workload permits.
UPDATE: Walker Buehler is a Cy Young Award Winner in waiting.
Alex Verdugo
Verdugo has raced up the Dodgers’ chain with Cody Bellinger, and while Bellinger has emerged as a likely cornerstone player, Verdugo isn’t that far behind him. Verdugo was the Dodgers’ second-round pick in 2014, a year after they took Bellinger, and the Dodgers were aggressive with both of them, assigning them to Double-A in 2016 in their age-20 seasons. (Bellinger is 10 months older, but his birthday is in July, so their seasonal ages, determined by age on July 1st, are the same.)
Verdugo was the youngest regular in the Texas League this year, and was above the league average in all three rate stats, yet had the third-lowest strikeout rate of anyone who played half a season or more there. (Second was fellow Dodgers prospect Willie Calhoun, who can hit but lacks a position.) Verdugo has played more center in pro ball, but there’s at least a 60/40 chance he’ll move to right field in favor of a better defender, although with good range and an 80 arm he could be an elite glove in the corner.
The main concern on Verdugo isn’t skill; he can hit and should grow into above-average power. But his makeup is an issue, as Verdugo is a very intense player who has acted out in front of scouts in ways that seem to be affecting his trade value. He wouldn’t be the first 20-year-old who needs to grow up, and there are few 20-year-olds with his pure ability to square up a baseball.
UPDATE: Alex Verdugo was traded to Boston in the Betts & Price deal and is a potential Batting Champion and Perrenial All-Star there.
Summary
I was never enamored with Jose De Leon and evidently Andrew Friedman was not either because he traded him for Logan Forsythe. WHAT? As a Dodger, Logan Forsythe could not jump out of a boat and hit water!
I see Yadier Alvarez’s potential, but seriously doubt he can ever harness it. I feel the same about Yasiel Puig.
Walker Buehler will be a stud. ‘Nuff said!
I loved Alex Verdugo and hated to see him go. David Price could be the gem of the deal (amazingly) but hopefully, Mookie Betts will re-sign with the Dodgers. Mookie is one of the Top 5 to 10 players in baseball.
I do believe baseball will start back up by June. Maybe no fans… except on TV, but we need some normalcy. The minor league season is more problematic.
This pandemic is bad… really bad! But, we are going to beat this bitch! WE ARE! It’s all about HOPE.
Without hope, we have nothing. Hope sets us free. Fight for it!
I read a quote from Dave Roberts today that said Mookie Betts loves being a Dodger. Lets hope that rings true. I liked Verdugo, and think he has great raw tools. He is also a very cocky kid. My only gripe was he did not let the team know he was hurting for quite a while. So he was not available for the playoffs. That hurt the team because they were forced to play Pollock who was totally over matched in the playoffs. Alvarez is one of the many international signees who have been flops over the last few years. Buehler is a stud, that is for sure, and I questioned when they drafted him because he was hurt. I do not have that concern now. He is the best RH starter they have brought up since Orel. I hope baseball is back sometime. The nation needs some hope, and the game brings that.
Hope is the only thing stronger than fear!
How in the world are you going to prove that? Maybe there is not that much difference in the two? Fear is what helps keep you alive. Hope is what keeps you out of the present moment.
Verdugo a future batting champion? I like Verdugo, but I think it is an enormous claim that has no basis in actuality, which doesn’t diminish his value. You seem to like exaggerations, Mark.
Fear vs. Hope? From my experience, fear paralyzes and hope energizes. You need a balance of both, but if you just have fear and no hope, you have little ability to change.
“In 1965 Martin Seligman “discovered” learned helplessness. He found that when animals are subjected to difficult situations they cannot control, they stop trying to escape. They become passive.
Human beings are the same. If you experience devastating defeats, a persistent situation that you can’t change, or a terrifying event that you could not control your exposure to, then you may have lost hope for your ability to change your life or to change painful situations. Sometimes an ongoing mood disorder can lead to feelings of hopelessness.
Apathy or hopelessness may be puzzling to those around you. Why wouldn’t you try to get a job, make friends, eat healthier, or leave someone who is abusive? When you have no hope, you see any efforts to change your life as futile. You may blame yourself. You might say that you cannot manage life, cannot make friends, and cannot succeed in getting a job. You accept whatever happens as beyond your control. You may begin to despair.
When you don’t have hope, you have no energy or motivation for therapy or for any effort to change your situation. What’s the use in reaching out to meet people? You are sure you will be rejected. Why bother exercising or cleaning your home or volunteering—it won’t really make a difference. You know you will always be lonely, depressed, anxious, unemployed, or stuck in the same situation that is making you miserable. You don’t want to risk the pain of further disappointment by even trying.
Unfortunately, this painful despair and resignation set up a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have no hope, no belief in therapy or that any action you take will make any difference, then that may well be the outcome. Change is very difficult, has multiple ups and downs, and requires motivation and commitment.” — Psychology Today
What I said about Verdugo happens to be a Prediction. I think predictions can be wrong, but I don’t believe that exaggeration applies to prediction. It would aptly be used in the present tense. For instance, if I said “Verdugo was the best player on the team in his Rookie Year” – that would be an exaggeration! History will tell whether I was right or wrong on AV!
I put a lot of thought and research into what I write and you are free to disagree, but when you ridicule, you end up looking like the dumbass!
And, from Damn Yankees;
You’ve gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
When the odds are sayin
You’ll never win
That’s when the grin should start
You’ve gotta have hope
Mustn’t sit around and mope
Nothins half as bad as it may appear
Wait’ll next year and mope
When your luck is battin zero
Get your chin up off the floor
Mister you can be a hero
You can open any door
There’s nothin to it but to do it
You gotta have heart
Miles and miles and miles of heart
Oh it’s fine to be a genius of course
But keep that old horse before the cart
First you’ve gotta have heart
You’ve gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
(When the odds are sayin you’ll never win
That’s when the grin should start)
You’ve gotta have hope
Mustn’t sit around and mope
Nothins half as bad as it may appear
Wait’ll next year and mope
When your luck is battin zero
Get your chin up off the floor
Mister you can be a hero
You can open any door
There’s nothin to it but to do it
You gotta have heart
Miles and miles and miles of heart
Oh it’s fine to be a genius of course
But keep that old horse before the cart
First you’ve gotta have heart
Love it!
I have the movie. Tab Hunter played Joe, Ray Walston was Mr. Applegate, and Gwen Verdon played Lola..what ever Lola wants, Lola gets.
Once baseball actually starts again in front of live fans at the stadiums I’ll be very interested to see what the attendance numbers are like. People will be starved for baseball and a trip to the ol’ ball yard or any other activity that they haven’t been able to do for weeks/months.
The question will be, how many people will have taken such a hit financially that they won’t be able to afford those kinds of activities for quite awhile.
The answer to that question will have an effect on every sports team and their ability to put together rosters, etc. for the coming year. The Dodgers will, no doubt, be one of the least affected, but what about teams like the Pirates who didn’t spend even when times were good. And this is all happening just about the time the new CBA will be negotiated. Interesting (and difficult) times.
I think attendance will be way off. I won’t go.
It could be in 1/4 filled stadiums.
This will not go away until there is a vaccine… if there is a vaccine.
China needs to shut down its wet markets… Period! They need to be sued by the World!
Some writer suggested we just tell China we’re not going to repay their T-bills. I like the idea. Then we call it square.
Exactly. The lower income fan is going to be less likely to attend as many games as they used too. Especially if they are out of work for any amount of time. A good idea would be reduced prices for the fans. I also think MLB.TV should not charge the full fee for the year. Last year, since I was did not renew, because I was going to be in California for 3 months helping my sis, when I got home in mid June, I checked to see how much it would be for the rest of the year. I got home at just the right time because they had a sale, the rest of the season for 40 bucks. If they do that again, I would consider doing that. 119.00 for half a year is a little bit much.,
As hospitals scramble to obtain enough ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, a growing number of doctors are saying the machines may not be necessary for certain patients and, in some cases, could make their condition worse.
Their reasoning is based on multiple hospitals reporting unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, highlighting the fact that definitive treatment for managing the virus that emerged only months ago may still be far off.
The fact is that ventilators may make the virus more virulent.
Until there is solid evidence, you shouldn’t be repeating this kind of stuff. This is rumor, and spun by the anti-Chinese sentiment popular in the Trump Dump. You also probably think masks are useless!
https://www.webmd.com/lung/ventilator-complications#1
https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/08/doctors-say-ventilators-overused-for-covid-19/
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/doctors-moving-ventilators-virus-patients-70048940
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4896812/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventilator-associated_lung_injury
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/ventilator-induced-lung-injury
https://anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx?articleid=1932722
Do you want more proof?
There are hundreds of more sources I can quote. If you have to get on a ventilator the odds are way high that you get off it because you are dead. I don’t even know where that came from and I do wear a mask… just not all the time. Geeeezzzz!
If you think that any of these articles you link to tell the real story, you are sadly mistaken. All are partial truths. We use fire for various reasons, but because it can injure, we don’t stop using it completely. Some people can die from eating certain foods, but we don’t remove those foods so no one can eat them. Let medical professionals determine the use of ventilators when appropriate. They have saved numerous lives. That’s why they exist. All you are doing is introducing unnecessary fear and incomplete information. Stick to your opinions about baseball and stop blowing your own horn!
You said Alex Verdugo is a potential batting champion. You could say that about dozens and dozens of MLB players. But usually that is reserved for those who have exhibited some kind of track record through at least 1 or 2 seasons. What has Verdugo done in his short stint as a Dodger to even make you think this could come true? You seem to say this more easily than you would about Cody or Mookie, or even Corey, for that matter. My criticism doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but is not likely, IMO. Dumbass? Where are your manners, sir? You never got any, did you?
Maybe I learned them from you.
For those of you who don’t already know, I am not a conventional thinker. I am not an engineer or a scientist… just a guy who is blessed with vision. I have been able to pioneer new methods of treating water that are often ridiculed in the beginning.
Arthur Schopenhauer once said this about new ideas: “Truth Passes Through Three Stages: First, It Is Ridiculed. Second, It Is Violently Opposed. Third, It Is Accepted As Self-Evident.”
“Vision” is something that improves with use. You learn from your mistakes and try not to make the same ones again. When people are selling stock, I am buying. I do not plan to get the COVID-19 and I am practicing all the social distancing and we have people all day long with masks and glove and wipes and spray sanitizer wiping down surfaces, doorknobs and sanitizing things. Everyone in our business has their temp taken by a scan thermometer 4 times a day. If someone shows the slightest symptom, they are sent me and cannot come back without a Doctors Release. We are an essential business and have to keep operating. Our employees are committed. All of the office staff have been given permission to work from home. Most have declined as they want to be in the office.
However, if I do get it, I am taking hydroxychloroquine, because there is nothing better and I have no heart issues. I made that decision based upon a lot of research. 3 of the 4 Major Health Networks in San Diego are using it, while UC San Diego Health is violently opposed to it. One doctor there says he wouldn’t let his own family take the drug – even if they were critically sick from COVID-19. Arrogantly Dumb is what I would say!
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/3-of-4-major-san-diego-health-networks-using-unproven-drug-to-treat-covid-19/2302233/
I am not a Doctor and am not saying you should take it, but there’s not much else available. Chris Cuomo said to “keep moving” and exercise a little. I remember the Hong Kong Flu and I was so sick as were my parents and siblings that no one could do anything for over a week. COVID-19 sounds about like that. I hope none of us get it.
Here is a great article about the Dodgers’ souting and player development system:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/theyre-the-model-how-the-dodgers-player-development-machine-rolls-on/
That was outstanding!
“They’re the model right now,” one rival NL executive said. “They’re hitting on all cylinders. They’re drafting very well. They’re developing very well. They’re obviously very good at the big league level. They’re doing it all.
“With their resources on top of it, it’s definitely a bit of an uphill battle for the rest of us.”
Fun read for a Dodger fan. Thanks
Hi – hope everyone is keeping well.
Was wondering what people thought about the Dodger’s chances in a truncated season?
Would it play to our strengths, because it appears that our depth is more suited to the longer season – 162 + Playoffs, or would a shorter season shorten our chances?
I think it would probably work against us, but not by too much?
I like their chances either way. If they play most or all of the 162 games there will have to be a lot of double headers, which will play to the Dodgers strength of depth. They can run two different major league teams out in double headers and keep everyone fresh.
If they play a shorter season then Bellinger, Mookie, Seager, Turner, etc. will play almost all of the games. They have arguable the strongest starting lineup, including pitchers.
I think the Dodgers’ depth, especially pitching, will be the envy of MLB.
There will be injuries – there always are – but the Dodgers are built to weather that storm better than any other team.
I like their chances.
” Sports Illustrated reported in October 2018 that the Department of Justice was investigating MLB’s dealings in the international player market for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, with the Dodgers figuring prominently.” What has happened on this front?
I hate to say it, but it was “Fake News.”
Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports said on Twitter that the reports of an investigation were false and a ‘misconception’.
MLB is not currently investigating the Dodgers — or any other club, for that matter — for alleged international misconduct, according to sources. Seems to be a popular topic — and misconception — lately.
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) January 29, 2019
Be careful of what you read and believe. Remember, the Devil was once an Angel.
Wow – now we’re debating the use of ventilators?
As someone who’s wife has been on a ventilator numerous time (I have seen her being intubated and extubated – both scary), I can tell you that they only put someone on a ventilator if they can’t breathe on their own. If oxygen alone solved low blood oxygenation levels, they would use it – they have done that for my wife too.
Many infections, whether bacterial or viral, lead to sepsis. (This is not “blood poisoning”.) Sepsis is a condition where infection leads to inflammation, lactic acidosis and ultimately organ failure and death. People with sepsis often develop pneumonia, respiratory failure, hypotension, extreme tachycardia. Sepsis causes 20% of all deaths around the world; according to the CDC, in ordinary times, 1.7 million Americans develop sepsis annually, resulting in 270,000 deaths per year. 1 in 3 hospital deaths result from sepsis.
The risk of infection from something like COVID 19 is sepsis, leading to organ failure, respiratory failure, or pneumonia which can lead to death. When you have sepsis, you NEED a respirator.
This is hard-won knowledge. My wife has nearly died over a dozen time in the last decade and most of these have been related to sepsis.
My prayers and thoughts to you and your wife.
However, in the instant crisis, the COVID-19 allegedly causes severe lung damage, which many say is not reversible.
Once you get to sepsis level, your odds are very low.
I talked to my doctor about this and here in Indy, ventilator use is very low. From what I have seen, it does seem that they are overused, but sometimes, it may be the only way. My doctor told me that once you are on a ventilator, you seldom go back to a “normal life.”
Again, I am not an expert, but I do talk with people who are.
https://www.livescience.com/too-much-ventilator-use-for-covid19-coronavirus-patients.html
I know nothing about your wife’s medical history, but even NPR says that COVID-19 patients have nearly 90% mortality rates when they go on ventilators.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/02/826105278/ventilators-are-no-panacea-for-critically-ill-covid-19-patients
Is the high mortality rate because of the ventilators or because the patients are in such bad shape already and that’s why they are put on them? I’m sure there will be a bunch of studies about this and maybe it will help guide doctors in the future.
When my wife had her second stroke, she was in a coma for 5 days and they put her on a vent. She was on for 8 days and when they extubated her, her airway was inflamed by the tube, leading to a condition called stridor. Her airway was so swollen that it took days of being on high doses of steroids until she could breathe normally again.
But she still needed the respirator and would have died without it.
I am sure she did need it. I am not saying ventilators are bad but in the case of COVID-19, it is an attack directly upon your lungs that is devastating. I am not downplaying ventilators.. .just maybe that they are not a panacea in COVID-19.
Wow, dodgerick. Makes my troubles seem trivial compared to your wife. Hoping she, and you, keep doing well and thanks for sharing. Your wife sounds like a fighter to me.
It may or may not come to pass, but I believe that we will have Dodger Baseball as early as June, but by July for sure.
I am not saying June 1st, but during the month of June or July.
That’s just my gut feeling based on everything I have heard to date.
Anyone else care to pick a month when we will see our guys on the field?
Jeff, I commend you… You have the huevos of King Kong…
There are folks out there that will have already told you that
19 was a hoax, that crowd in Charlotesville back in Aug. had good folks on both sidesand burning coal is good for our already great air quality…
I could go on ad nauseam, but why try and trump the chosen one…
P.S. Slamming a drug that hasn’t been tested is like Steve McQueen going to Tijuana for Laetrile..
Thanks for sharing DodgerRick..
8 years before I was born, my grandmother was given 6 months to live and went to Tijuana for Laetrile… My grandmother died when I was 9.
SpokaneBob… I’ve been secretly hoping and wishing for July 4… What an Independence day that would be for baseball fans…
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Now every radio that exists is broken along with a piece of my heart.
Missing John Prine myself, Quas. He was one of my all-time favorites.
Boy I miss baseball. And I mean a lot. I do watch some of the old games that MLB.TV is letting us see for free. I enjoyed watching the weekend series with the Rockies where we won 3 straight games on walkoff homers by rookies. Beatty, Verdugo, and Smith’s second walkoff of the year. I was there when he hit his first against the Phillies. Chase Utley chimed in and said he does not think MLB’s proposed plan of playing all the games in Arizona will work. I am a tad skeptical of that plan also. I think the heat would be a major factor. If you have never lived in Arizona, the nights can be very very warm. About the only place you could play comfortably would be Chase Field. I got a little surprise from my auto insurance company today. They are giving us a 20% discount on our payments the next 2 months. Totally unexpected. Seems they feel because of the stay at home order, we are using our vehicles a lot less, and therefore they want to help when people are struggling to make ends meet. I thought that was pretty cool. Saves me 10 bucks a month for 2 months. That is about a half tank of gas here. MLB.com has been listing the top 5 players at each position in history for each team. I don’t think a player who was only with a team for 3 years should be on the list. They had Jeff Kent at # 5 for the Dodgers. He played in LA for 4 years, so he gets the nod because not many played longer. But I would have opted for Charlie Neal.
I always liked Jim Levebvre.
Although Lefebvre played all 8 of his MLB seasons as a Dodger, after his first 3 he was more of a utility player than a regular. And he never approached the numbers he had in his rookie and sophomore seasons. In fact, he only hit in double figures in HR’s once more after that, 1971 when he hit 12.
In Jim Lefebvre’s second year, I told my Dad that he was my favorite Dodger and that he would be in the HOF.
I was 13… what do you expect from a 13-year-old?
Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed.
This day in Dodger history. 4-9-81…A kid named Valenzuela makes his first MLB start, substituting for Jerry Ruess, wins 3-0 and a mania is born. 4-9 1913. Brooklyn Dodgers play their first game at Ebbets Field.
How I was hoping Fernando would make his starting debut on October 6, 1980 instead of Dave Goltz. The Dodgers only scored one run so it might not have made any difference but falling behind 4-0 after three innings was a bit discouraging. Rick Sutcliffe didn’t help much either.