Dodgers' full-season minor league team preview: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

This is the second in a four-part series projecting the Dodgers' full-season minor league teams. Up now, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

• Part 1 of 4: Great Lakes Loons

Last season's Rancho Cucamonga Quakes squad was set to blow right through the California League competition. The team was headed by top pitching prospects  Garrett Gould, Zach Lee, Chris Reed and Angel Sanchez.

Despite it being a hitters' haven, that quartet was supposed to lead the Quakes to the playoffs -- and it almost did in the first half.

The Quakes were tied with the High-Desert Mavs for the top spot. A one-game playoff between the two on June 25 determined the first-half champion. With Sanchez on the hill, the team jumped out to a 5-2 lead after 4 1/2 innings. The Quakes allowed six runs in the next two innings, giving the Mavs the playoff berth.

Lee pitched well before being promoted to Double-A, Reed pitched sparingly (35 innings) before his promotion to Double-A. The rotation was spearheaded by Gould (5.75 ERA), Sanchez (6.58 ERA) and Jon Michael Redding (4.42 ERA). Andres Santiago threw 96 1/3 quality innings until he was promoted to Chattanooga.

Pericht

While the offense had a nice 1-2-3 of Leon Landry, Joc Pederson and C.J. Retherford, the rest of the squad was inconsistent. Landry was traded at the end of July, Pederson paced the offense in the second half and Retherford was promoted to Double-A. Players like Austin Gallagher, Michael Pericht and Jonathan Garcia just weren't able to hit enough to overcome the lackluster pitching.

The Quakes lost some quality players in 2012 to promotions. With the number of quality players in Chattanooga, I wouldn't expect there to be a lot of up-and-down action between the two squads (injuries notwithstanding).

The 2013 roster doesn't look as good as 2012, but it could surprise some folks.

Projected roster

Catchers (2)
Pratt Maynard
Michael Pericht

Jacobs

Infielders (6)
Jesus Arredondo
Jesse Bosnik
O'Koyea Dickson
Pedro Guerrero
Chris Jacobs
Darnell Sweeney

Outfielders (4)
James Baldwin
Jonathan Garcia
Jeremy Rathjen
Scott Schebler

Starting pitchers (5)
Garrett Gould
Jarret Martin
Angel Sanchez
Duke von Schamann
Ross Stripling

Relief pitchers (8)
James Campbell
Yimi Garcia
Gustavo Gomez
Joel Lima
Brandon Martinez
Arismendy Ozoria
Matt Shelton 
Michael Thomas

The best prospects on this projected roster are Baldwin, Dickson Gould, Sweeney and Rathjen. Guys like Garcia, Gould and Sanchez are slated to repeat High-A because of poor performance and because there's a logjam in Double-A ahead of them.

The bullpen has three guys capable of starting (Gomez, Martinez, Ozoria), but they have to pitch somewhere. Perhaps one of them could unseat Sanchez in the rotation.

I'm not sure Rathjen and Stripling will begin with Rancho, but I'd like to see the Dodgers be aggressive with two of their selections from the 2012 draft.

My lineup
Baldwin CF
Sweeney SS
Dickson 1B/DH
Jacobs DH/1B
Garcia RF/Schebler LF
Bosnik 3B
Rathjen LF/RF
Maynard C
Arredondo 2B

Baldwin didn't hit a lick in Low-A, but he does have decent on-base ability. Maybe a hitter-friendly environment will help him, but it's also likely to hurt him, especially if he hits a few dingers early on. Rathjen could eventually work his way up in the lineup.

The rotation could be strong if Stripling handles the aggressive assignment well enough and Gould and Sanchez pitch to their capabilities. The bullpen has a nice back-end combination of Campbell and Garcia, while Thomas could be a nice sleeper in the group.

Someone who didn't make my projected Loons or Quakes roster is Juan Rodriguez. I have a hunch -- and that's all it is -- that he'll be released prior to the season. If he isn't, he'll likely begin in High-A.

The Cal League is a crap shoot, and this year is no exception.

Photo credits: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue