Silverwidow - thanks for the link to the Josh story in the last thread.

1 Sure.

Now, let's get some rankings!

0
That is amazing, it is one thing to lose a finger and get it reattached but to lose a thumb and multiple fingers, it is incredible that he can be a major league catcher.

2
He is going to tease us now and not post until after PCT lunch.

I expect a big drop for Chris Withrow.

Where was Lambo last year? He's gotta be top five this year.

I think Canuck is still very high on him. I'm guessing top 5:
Elbert
DeJesus
McDonald
Lambo
Withrow

In a world where there was one very distinctive voiceover announcer, Don LaFontaine passes away. Not sure if it was already posted, here you go.

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/64990/index.html

This is another sad day for me and the promo industry.

Saito thinks he can make it back this year.

"I'm very confident that I'm going to be back on the mound this season," Saito said through an interpreter.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_10358903

Saito thinks he can make it back this year.

"I'm very confident that I'm going to be back on the mound this season," Saito said through an interpreter.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_10358903

Dejesus ended the year like a manchild. He is very captivating considering he improved his power output and still maintained a very healthy walk rate.

7 Eovaldi is a sleeper top 10 pick. He was already promoted to Ogden and continues to pitch excellent.

8
That's awful. His voice was so distinctive. "In a world..."

Who is Anthony Delmonico? His stats look pretty impressive.

Lindblom is probably top 10 as well. You can't ignore him. Gallagher too even though he ended his season in a slump.

This was his ranking last year. We lost Kershaw, Hu, DeWitt, Troncoso, and D Young to rookie status. We lost Meloan, LaRoche, and Morris to trades.

Kershaw, Clayton 1
LaRoche, Andy 2
Hu, Chin-Lung 3
Mcdonald, James 4
Meloan, Jon 5
DeWitt, Blake 6
Winthrow 7
DeJesus, Ivan 8
Bell, Joshua 9
Paul, Xavier , CF 10
Elbert, Scott 11
Morris, Bryan 12
Miller, Greg 13
Lambo 14
Young, Delwyn 15
Orenduff, Justin, SP 16
Troncoso, Ramon, RP 18
Hammes, Zachary 19
Watt 20
Mattingly, Preston, 2b 21
Smit 22
Ortiz, Jamie 23
Wall 24
Gallagher 25
Adkins, James 26
Johnson, Steve 27
Sexton 28
Mathews 29
Pedroza, Jamie 30

Cory Wade really came out of nowhere.

14
He was the starting SS and made a key error in the College World Series. The word is that the Dodgers are going to convert him to catcher this winter.

I'm proud to note that I had Carlos Santana on my top 30 list while most had given up on him.

7 Based on previous comments Gallagher is number six.

17 I'm pretty surprised I was higher on Wade than Canuck. I had him at like 27.

19
Quit being so humble.

16 Can't see Greg Miller making top 25 this year.

As we await Canucks list, the True Blue community prospect list headed into 2008 is an interesting read.
http://tinyurl.com/TB2008ProspectList

19 I'll take credit for having Lambo at #7 and Gallagher at 13. Actually I might have somehow lucked into having a better list than Canuck. Broken clock and all that.

Good feature on Alec Baldwin ...

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/08/080908fa_fact_parker?currentPage=all

Torre said McDonald, the Dodgers' minor league pitcher of the year in 2007, will be limited to long-relief appearances for the rest of this season. McDonald had a 3.63 ERA in five appearances (four starts) in Las Vegas. "We're not going to run him out of the bullpen in the middle of an inning," Torre said. "We'll give him a little exposure and sort of get that out of the way."

26 Forgot the link.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_10358903

This is a tough year to be making out a Top 30 Dodger Prospects list for the next year. Between prospects graduating to the Dodgers' big league team (Woohoo!), and being traded away (Boo!), our system has been thinning out. I felt pretty good writing up the first half of my list this year, but the second half -- well, in some spots just coming up with names seemed like hard work. I usually don't like to rank anybody on whom I have zero scouting information, but our thinner-than-usual talent pool forced me to include four names in the Top 30 whose statistics couldn't be ignored in the absence of better performances from players whose tools I know something about. Also, we are going to lose two prospects to the Padres as the price of having Greg Maddux around, and since both of those players are likely among our Top 30 prospects, I have made my list run to 32 names. I will also note that I am assuming that Ramon Troncoso is not going to get enough MLB innings between now and the end of the season to lose his prospect eligibility. The list is by no means written in stone, and I am sure I will reconsider my evaluation of a few guys as new information becomes available, or I just change my mind on a whim, but the current list is an accurate reflection of my thinking right now. Questions and/or comments are welcome.

01. Scott Elbert, LHP
02. Andrew Lambo, OF
03. Ivan DeJesus, Jr. SS
04. James McDonald, RHP
05. Ethan Martin, RHP
06. Josh Lindblom, RHP
07. Austin Gallagher, 3B
08. Josh Bell, 3B
09. Chris Withrow, RHP
10. Ramon Troncoso, RHP
11. Michael Watt, LHP
12. Nathan Eovaldi, RHP
13. Steve Johnson, RHP
14. Geison Aguasviva, LHP
15. James Adkins, LHP
16. Xavier Paul, OF
17. Jon Michael Redding, RHP
18. Josh Wall, RHP
19. Tony Delmonico, 2B
20. Jesus Castillo, RHP
21. Devaris Strange-Gordon, SS
22. Justin Miller, RHP
23. Pedro Baez, 3B
24. Jaime Pedroza, SS
25. Tim Sexton, RHP
26. Matt Sartor, RHP
27. Elisaul Pimentel, RHP
28. Victor Garate, LHP
29. Miguel Sanfler, LHP
30. Francisco Felix, RHP
31. Cole St. Clair, LHP
32. Kyle Russell, OF

That is a really sad bottom half.

I am not really questioning it either way, but just wondering how Ethan Martin goes so high without any IP yet?

28

Good list, Canuck! I will defer to everyone else here, as my knowledge of the minors is limited.

However, the phrase "our system has been thinning out" really worries me. For the last year and a half I feared NedCo would slowly destroy the farm system. Do you think this will continue?

If we play our cards right, we should have a lot of picks in the next draft to reload.

28 Greg Miller just fell off the list?

30 -- Ethan Martin -- Impeccable tools, impeccable scouting reports. The injury that kept him out of action wasn't to his arm and wasn't serious, so that shouldn't be held against him.

31 -- Yes, if Colletti continues to be our GM, between the graduations to the majors that will occur and Colletti's love of trading for "experience," I can see our farm being depleted faster than Logan White can replenish it.

If Blake keeps mashing, he will play his way into type A status.

With Blake, Lowe and Manny, right there are 6 potential 1st+supp picks.

31 Ned has not destroyed the farm system, in the sense of the depth you are talking about. Its clear that right now, the drafts from 2004 have not produced the number of major league and potential major league talent as the 2002 and 2003 drafts.
From the 2004 draft, DeWitt, Elbert and Wade are on the 40 man roster and from 2005, only Jon Meloan has made a Major League appearance.

There are more players from the 2006-2008 period (when Ned has been GM, than from the 2004-2005 period when Paul Depodesta was the GM) on Canuck's list and while Ned certainly has dealt players who would have been on this list, the dearth of prospects from 2004-2005 is what hurting the depth of the system.

33 -- 2008 was a "last chance" year for Greg Miller's prospect status, as far as I was concerned. He is even out of options after this year.

Why is Withrow better than Eovaldi? They have similar skill sets, but that latter is younger and has better control.

Seems like a very solid list, Canuck. Hard to disagree with it overall. Thanks. I like having Lambo way up there, he's really vaulted himself to near the top in lightning quick fashion. I'm still pretty happy with the Dodgers top 10, even with the graduations and trades.

I don't know, I feel like the fact that the last 5-10 names don't excite isn't something to gnash teeth over too much. I'd be hard pressed to name too many ML franchises (I know there are a few) that could give you a top 40 players list with the bottom names ones that are surefire impressive. Am I off base on that? I think we're a little spoiled by the previous few years with the Dodgers. And I would expect this list to look more impressive again next year with international scouting, a number of high picks next year and so on.

36
Justin Ruggiano, also from the 2004 draft, has had a cup of coffee with The Best Team in Baseball™.

35 But the Dodgers will almost certainly sign some free agent this off-season, don't you think? (Or maybe you don't think this. Do you believe that the Dodgers will look to in-house options for 2B and SS and 3B?)

Unless the Dodgers finish very poorly (and secure their pick), they will lose their draft picks when they sign someone, right?

36
He hasn't destroyed it but he has thinned it out. Just figure where the guys he traded would be on the list.
Morris - top 10
Santana - top 10
Meloan - top 10

I'm not saying yes or no on the deals but you cannot deny he has thinned the depth. The 2004 draft has both Elbert and DeWitt on the major league roster. For a few years we were wondering if they would pan but right now they are looking spot on. The 2005 draft other then DeJesus is certainly his worse draft. You could also argue that during Ned's reign he has invested very little in quality international signings. The one nugget Baez regressed big time this year.

28

Matt Sartor should be placed a little higher, no? He has put up outstanding numbers in the Cal League and is only 23. Or am I missing something on the guy?

41
I agree, I think we end up with a push. I wouldn't be counting our draft picks until the dust settles.

39 Do we have a good idea of who Logan White would have taken in those drafts if we're blaming DePo? Was Phil Hughes on the radar?

43 23 is old for a guy with half a season in the Cal league.

41

I'm expecting they will re-up furcal for a year and go in house at 2b. 3b is interesting because there isn't a lot out there on the market. If Blake wants to come back for one year on an arb contract, that's fine but I'm expecting him to get a longer term deal.

3b might be the target for a trade. Hank Blalock? Adrian Beltre? I dunno, just throwing out names.

28 What do you think we'll do with Elbert next year? L.A. bullpen or AA rotation?

8, 13 - I actually knew Don LaFontaine and his family and am saddened to hear of his passing. He had become known as "One take Don" in his industry and that is why he was in such demand because he would save the producers money by just needing one take to do the trailer. He had a great sense of humor and for being very wealthy, he never acted like it, maybe because he worked and scraped to succeed. He was also a very generous and loving man who worshipped in the same church with his family as my wife and I for about 17 years. He participated in the golf tournament in my dad's honor a couple times and one time at our post game meal at a restaurant, he sprung for everyone's meal, just on a whim. (Those meals were always paid individually by the people that attended the event). Our heart goes out to his wife Anita and his daughters.

Any new news on Furcal? Is he even going to be able to pinch hit or do anything in September? Is he toast for 2008? I haven't heard anything new about his progress lately.

I'm a longtime lurker, infrequent poster.
Good list! The only name I might add, in place of about anyone in the bottom half of the list, would be Lucas May.

Brignac and Gallardo were the only other useful high schoolers taken in the first two rounds that year. Would we have grabbed them?

39

I think in the 2005 I read somewhere that Logan like Clay Buccholz.

38 -- Eovaldi had an inconsistent slider before needing Tommy John surgery in high school, and he couldn't throw a breaking ball at all after getting back into action in high school. Maybe that has changed since the Dodgers drafted him, but I don't know. Right now, I am rating Eovaldi as high as I am because the Dodgers say they have clocked his fastball as high as 96 MPH and he has performed well in a few innings as a pro. Withrow, before this year, had both the plus fastball and a good curve, and I am also taking into account Charlie Hough's opinion that Withrow has a better arm than Kershaw.

48 AA rotation?

I think he'll start in the bullpen and be given a shot at starting.

We could have a:
Billingsley
Kershaw
Elbert
rotation before our eyes at some point next season.

Throw in Kuroda/Penny/or a FA (drool, Sabathia) + McDonald and that's a pretty good future.

38 I am also taking into account Charlie Hough's opinion that Withrow has a better arm than Kershaw.

Wow, I never knew this.

54 Inviting idle speculation:

Is the current hubbub about the Brewers possibly overusing Sabathia a genuine story that should concern potential bidders for CC, or overblown hype? Should the buyer beware? Or is CC one of those freaks that can throw limitless innings? Or has he not actually been overused all that much (I admit, I haven't been checking his pitch counts)?

43 -- Sartor is one of the guys whose stuff I know nothing about, so I was never going to be bold in ranking him. Like Reg says, at 23 he was not young for high A, but I might not have been deterred by that if I at least knew he throws hard and has a nice breaking ball. But the stats are nice and deserve some recognition. He might be the next Cory Wade.

48 I always liked Earl Weaver's adage about getting pitchers' feet wet in long relief.

Colletti wouldn't have had to thin out the prospect pool if he would have made some good better free-agent signings... or just not made some at all. I think he values the kids more than we think. He just doesn't recognize the point of diminishing returns with the older players. I do hope he is replaced with White after this season no matter the outcome.

48 -- That is a question I have been asking myself, and what we end up doing with Elbert may depend on how well Elbert performs as a reliever in front of Torre this month. If Elbert looks as good as he as so far for the rest of September, Elbert's future may resemble that of Broxton more than Billingsley or Kershaw -- meaning, he could become a reliever permanently.

57

Thanks.

Maybe I shouldn't try to understand Simers, but his latest on Kent perplexes me. He spends 75% of the article bashing Kent and saying no one will miss him, and then he ends the article with an anecdotal story on how Jeff Kent might be misunderstood and that he may be a decent guy after all.

I take it that Orr has not been very good then?

62

I don't think he understands himself.

63 Must be the case, if a fellow Canuck leaves him off the list. ;-)

62 - I don't think those are mutually exclusive: saying no one will miss him and saying he's misunderstood.

63 -- Orr has been disappointing, but there is always a risk taking Canadian players who have been untested in a college league in the US. The level of competition Canadian teens face is so poor that the jump to even the lowest level of the pros in the US is really, really huge.

What I notice most immediately about Canuck's list (and thanks for it!) is the absence of a catcher now that Santana's gone for a few weeks of Blake. Canuck, is May that bad? Is there anyone out there about to be switched to behind the plate?

47 Martin's the 3rd baseman next year... I'd bank on it. They want him to play everyday. He wants to play everyday. It's a questionable decision but not a terrible one.

I just hope this it's someone like Javier Valentin for very cheap that replaces him and not the surely overpriced Varitek. They'd produce about the same.

A trade of a prospect for a catcher would be foolish unless a lot of salary and one of the overpriced outfielders could be moved. Even then it better be an awesome catcher and at least a replacable prospect.

63

He's putting up .220/.283/.384/.667 with 64K to 14BB in 178 PA in his second year of rookie ball.

Tonight will be Kershaw's 2nd start against the Padres, but it's not quite that since most of the lineup he faced June 10 will not be the lineup tonight:

CF Hairston - out for season
2B E.Gonzalez - Antonelli is starting now
RF Giles
1B A.Gonzalez
3B Kouzmanoff
SS Greene - injured
LF Huber - Headley is starting now
C Barrett - Hundley is starting now

Here is how Kershaw has fared in his other "2nd time around" starts:

July 22 @ Colorado: 3 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K
Aug 7 @ St. Louis: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 7 K (highest game score of the year -- 70)
Aug 23 @ Philly: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K

66

I agree with you on that point, and Jeff is certainly responsible for some of that perception. I guess the article content and tone did not gel well with the final paragraph, especially with no discussion about the anecdote. It felt jagged and rough.

Can anyone tell me the ave. MPH to Elbert's fastball?

68 Know nothing about him, but last thread someone mentioned that Anthony Delmonico is rumored to be converted to a catcher.

72 - That, I will not argue with.

69 - I disagree. Martin will stay at catcher. Moving him to third is no way to improve an offense everyone agrees needs improving.

74
OMAHA -- Logan White doesn't want to make everyone a catcher. But it would seem the thought does cross his mind quite a bit.
So it wasn't much of a surprise when the Dodgers' assistant general manager in charge of amateur scouting suggested that two of the players he selected in last week's First-Year Player Draft might, at some point, trade in their infielder's gloves for some catching gear. Florida State's Tony Delmonico, whom Los Angeles grabbed in the sixth round, and Stanford's Austin Yount, who was tabbed in the 12th round, will square off in the opening game of the College World Series Saturday afternoon at Rosenblatt Stadium
from dodgers.com

68 -- I have no faith in May as a catcher, and I wonder if the attempt to convert him to catching should be judged a failure and he should be allowed to go back to the outfield. His defense is terrible as a catcher, and Elbert said in Jacksonville that he and the other pitchers hate throwing to May. Hitting-wise, I can't help but notice that in both 2007 and 2008 May was a really hot hitter in April, but just withered at the plate after April. That could mean that May just couldn't stand up to the physical demands of catching longer than a month and it affected his offensive game.

Tony Delmonico is rumored to be a candidate to move behind the plate. We'll see what happens there.

And frankly, I did consider listing A.J. Ellis in the 25 to 32 range. I see no reason why he can't step in right now and be a back-up catcher in the majors, and a major leaguer is a major leaguer even if he is a bench guy. But when you consider that Ellis is 28, and the Dodgers will probably re-sign Ardoin to be Martin's back-up next year, I opted against putting Ellis on my list.

76 As a third baseman, Martin's numbers would surely improve. If Casey Blake does not return, I could see them putting Martin there. Plus you know McCourt would loooove to have Varitek in Dodger blue.

74 77 78 Thanks.

73 Elbert was 91-94 when I saw his debut.

74

He's been outstanding so far at Ogden, putting up .333/.438/.705/1.143 with 10HR and only 25K in 145PA. He is already 21, however.

76 But wouldn't moving Martin improve his offensive numbers? One of the problems the Dodgers had early in the season was that their best hitter was a catcher and put him out pretty much every day. He has worn down and is not hitting like he was early in the year.

73 -- According to Fangraphs.com, Elbert's fastball has averaged 91.9 MPH in the majors so far.

Good stuff Canuck. I had been wondering why X. Paul seems to often be a prospect when Hoffman is not, but now I notice Hoffman is 6 months older (24 in AA) and I seem to remember that Paul is terrifically athletic.

P Joel Hanrahan is Washington's recipient of the 2008 Roberto Clemente Award, and by extension, he becomes one of the 30 nominees for the league-wide Clemente award, given annually to the major leaguer who "combines outstanding skills on the baseball field with devoted work in the community." Hanrahan this year began a partnership with the American Red Cross and led efforts to raise awareness and funds for disaster relief in Iowa, his home state, which was hit hard by flooding.

http://tinyurl.com/3dj3u2

It's easier to find a decent third baseman than a catcher. I can imagine Martin moving to third someday, perhaps, but hopefully not soon. That said, I do fear McCourt's Red Sox fetish, and wonder where Gammons got this bowl of Boston baked beans.

Actually, I think Varitek would make a perfectly fine backup catcher. We just don't want him playing every day.

Martin's career OPS by month:
April- .876
May- .814
June- .825
July- .816
August-.767
Sept.- .732

I'd figure Martin could put up at least a .876 if playing full time at thirdbase.

76 I'm not saying it's the right decision. I just think it will happen and it's not going to be too hard to recover from. Up to me - I just give the guy more rest. If he could produce all year like he has in his past few first halves, he'd be a perfectly acceptable option at 3rd base, although I'd prefer 2nd. He clearly has more value at catcher but he seems to be on the path of Jason Kendall. Just my opinion.

I thought the close to Simers' column today was missing the notification about the "last word" he typically runs in his column, which is usually an e-mail from a reader he hacked off.

89 But does it then help to replace him with someone like Varitek (.691)?

Frankly, I'm expecting the Dodgers to be a better team in September without Jeff Kent. I expect DeWitt to play better defense. And although the Dodgers would have been better if Kent had been able to continue the hot streak he was on the first couple of weeks of August I was not expecting that to happen.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex

USC jumps to #1. UCLA #23.

Regarding Martin. He's our catcher.

Kershaw is throwing 70% fastballs according to Fangraphs. That is WAY too high.

Billingsley is at 59% for comparison.

I don't think Martin's best month represents w