Drew Jackson

MiLB Organization All-Stars – Old Friends Just out of curiosity, I checked on all 30 MLB teams to see who had been chosen as their MiLB Organization All-Stars. I noticed that a number of former Dodger minor league players made that list. I have included the MiLB synopsis on each…

I continue to read about the sensational LAD prospects. Mark has the Dodgers as a top 10 MiLB organization while no major publication does. After the loss of Keibert Ruiz and Jo Jo Gray, the publications dropped them to mid-level (around 15). Certainly not bad, but also not…

Once again MLB has spoken, and the Dodgers farm system was the #1 shopping source for Rule 5 draftees. In the Major League Phase, the acquiring team “buys” the player for $100,000 and must keep that player on the roster for the entire 2021 season, or offer the player back for $50,000. Overall, 2 of the top 7 picks of the Major League Phase were Dodgers. RHRP Brett de Geus

Well at least the pitchers do! All that most Dodger fans remember about Yasmani Grandal were the passed balls. He was regaled, reviled and ridiculed by many fans. Sure he hit a lot of home runs, but they were in streaks and he struck out too much even though he had a good on base percentage. And on top of that he just disappeared in the playoffs last year . He

I am sitting continuing to try to understand how the Board of Trustees and the AD at USC have chosen to retain perhaps the most over his head coach in all of NCAA Football, Clay Helton. Rudy mentioned that both Westwood and South Bend are cheering loudly, but my radar has all of the Pac 12 and South Bend laughing at this. Oh well, enough pity party for me. It’s

What are the Dodgers needs going into the 2019 season? We know they need a catcher. I discussed that in great length yesterday. I think they need a 2B other than CT3 or Kike’, but I know I am in the minority. I think the Dodgers need a leadoff batter. That is really not what Alex Verdugo does, but he seems the most logical…if he makes the squad, and there

I was going to write about who I thought the three top potential GM candidates might be…Josh Byrnes, Kim Ng, and Chaim Bloom. My money was on Chaim Bloom, Rays Senior VP Baseball Operations. For those who may want to know a little more about Chaim…

The top prospects on the Tulsa roster at the beginning of the season were Mitchell White, Yadier Alvarez, DJ Peters, Yusniel Diaz, Will Smith, and Keibert Ruiz. Mitchell White was injured in the beginning and did not seem to get back on track until the end of the season. Yusniel Diaz was traded to Baltimore in the Manny Machado trade. Will Smith was promoted to AAA on August 1. Yadier

There s not much to say that hasn t been said ad nauseum. Almost every day we look at the lineups and have a cow or roll our eyes, but they win more often than not. I don t think it s the dumb, stupid, moronic lineups that are the problem. I don t care where you hit them or in what order (well, I do care, but it s not all that), I think hitters

What a difference a couple of years makes when it comes to middle infield prospects for the LAD. Prior to the 2015 amateur draft, there was one regular SS (Jimmie Rollins), one regular 2B (Howie Kendrick), one utility (Kike’ Hernandez), and one prospect (Corey Seager) at SS. Chase Utley was added later in the year. There really was no other prospect. In the 2015 draft, Gasparino’s crew selected: Willie

MLB Pipeline came out with their top 100 MLB prospects, and a new Top 30 for each team. The MLB Pipeline prospect list is put together by Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, two excellent minor league and amateur talent evaluators. Padres – 4 Top 25; 1 top 26-50; 2 top 51 to 75; 1 top 76 to 100 Top 100 = 8 Braves – 2 Top

Currently, AA is where most of the top prospects reside. Although still relatively young, some of the current roster will absolutely play at the ML level, but outside of Keibert Ruiz, none project to be perennial AS. There could be some AS performances from some of the higher rated players, but they all have questions that will need to be answered. Keibert Ruiz The second of two likely

The Dodgers minor league system is filled with “depth” pieces. As therealten pointed out, perennially competing for the playoffs and a potential WS takes a toll on the Dodgers draft slot. The last time the Dodgers had a top ten draft slot, they did very well with a HS pitcher from University Park, Texas…Clayton Kershaw. In 2016, the Dodgers had the #20 selection and drafted HS SS, Gavin Lux. In

Some first week observations: It is obvious that the Dodgers offense misses JT; the one clutch hitter in the lineup. The only offense thus far is Yasmani Grandal. Without any concrete evidence, it is my opinion that the Owings HR off of Jansen with two outs in the 9th on the Monday game against the DBacks had a negative impact on the Tuesday and Wednesday games. The Dodgers have

We have bandied about a potential LAD 25 man roster, so now I want to take a shot at a possible 25 man roster at OKC and Tulsa. One thing we have learned is that FAZ really wants players who can conceivably be called to LA if needed at AAA. At times there may be a player that has advanced quick enough to move to OKC without a real opportunity

The New MLB Pipeline Dodger Top 30 prospeccts have been published. Jim Callis is a premier minor league talent evaluator. He is not the typical sabermetrics talent evaluator. He uses the eye test as well. If he has not seen the player live, he has studied hours of tape. Some people prefer Eric Logenhagen of Fangraphs or Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser, but I am partial to Jim Callis. The

Mark referenced a site, https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers/ , that I have studied for some time. I went back to look at my notes and do have some observations: There is no way the bench will be comprised of 4 RH hitters and 1 switch hitter. I do not see Segedin or Thompson on the 25 man coming out of Spring. I would project Toles and one of Peter/Muncy/Locastro to replace Segedin

This year’s MLB Winter Meetings will be held December 10-14 in Ontario, Florida. On the final day of the MLB’s Winter Meetings, the annual Rule 5 draft takes place. Players eligible for selection must meet the following criteria: Not on the MLB team’s 40 man roster. 5th Year after signing initial contract is signed at 18 or younger, or; 4th year after signing initial contract is signed at 19 or

The 2017 Rancho Cucamonga Quakes had a record of 76-64, good for 2nd best overall record in the California League (High A). They made the playoffs for the third consecutive season, but fell to the Lancaster JetHawks in the first round. Multiple players have come through RC on their way to promotions, including Walker Buehler who went from RC to the ML roster. Others who have made it into AA include:

The Dodgers AA affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers in the Texas League, had a very successful season. They reached the Texas League Championship final game and lost a heartbreaker 1-0. Dennis Santana pitched an outstanding game in a pressure situation, and looks primed for 2018. There were some outstanding performances by individuals as well, and many look to be promoted to AAA for 2018 where they are one step away from

DRAFT UPDATE The 2017 MLB Draft is in the books, and the signing deadline has come and now gone. The Dodgers had 40 draft picks, and signed 33. Each of the first 13 picks signed, and 19 of the first 20 signed. 8 signed from picks 21-30, and 6 signed from picks 31-40. For comparison purposes, the Dodgers drafted 42 in 2015 and 2016, and signed 36 and 33 respectively.

On June 12 – 14, MLB will hold the 2017 Amateur draft. The Dodgers will select #23, #62, #100 in the first three rounds. The draft is again considered light on college position players, and strong with high schoolers. The overall number one selection goes to the Twins, who most project will select either University of Louisville 2 way player (lefty pitcher and 1B, Brendan McKay), or high school 2

Has another vulture emerged? It is not the same way Phil Regan used to do it, but in the Rancho Cucumonga Quakes first 8 games, Alex Hermeling has a 3-0 record with all three wins coming in relief. A lot of attention has been directed to Mitchell White and Walker Buehler, and deservedly so. But on April 7, it was Alex Hermeling that pitched the final three innings in the RC

We now know who comprises the 25 man roster. Is it what I would have chosen? Probably not, but I do understand the reasons for the selections. I was disappointed that Chris Taylor was not selected, but I understand why Kike’ was valued more as utility player. I understand that Taylor is an infielder that needs to learn OF. If Seager goes on the DL, it will not be Kike’

At first I was surprised that Chase De Jong was traded, but the more I thought about the more sense it made. Evidently Seattle has been trying to get De Jong for several months. MLB has De Jong rated as the Dodgers #16 prospect and he was currently likely 12th or 13th on the Dodgers starting pitcher depth chart. With a low 90 s fastball with little movement, his arm does