Ogden Raptors being Pioneer League play, led by Valentin and Valdez

The Ogden Raptors open their 2013 campaign today and the roster is littered with some good, young talent and some 2013 draftees.

In recent years, players like Joc Pederson, O’Koyea Dickson, Corey Seager and Ross Stripling have cut their proverbial teeth in the league.

The Pioneer League is a hitter-friendly league in the rarefied air of Utah. Not many pitchers have success at the level -- especially young pitchers. It will be interesting to see how some of the young guys handle it.

The prospect on the Ogden roster closest to my Top 10 is Jesmuel Valentin (No. 13), who has already played with the Great Lakes Loons this season. The next-closest player is Jesus Valdez (No. 24), who also spent some time with the Loons this season.

2013 Ogden Raptors roster

Catchers

Austin Cowen

Kyle Farmer*

Infielders

Zach Babitt

Jake Chaplin

Faustino Oguisten

Dillon Moyer*

Alex Santana

Brandon Trinkwon*

Jesus Valdez

Jesmuel Valentin

Outfielders

Joey Curletta

Gerson Nunez

Jacob Scavuzzo

Pat Stover

Hank Yates*

Martinez

Starting pitchers

Scott Barlow

Michael Johnson*

Jonathan Martinez

Jacob Rhame*

J.D. Underwood*

Relief pitchers

Victor Araujo

James Baune*

Luis De Paula

Jose Agusto Diaz

Jake Fisher

Sawil Gonzalez

Kyle Hooper*

Ricky Perez

Thomas Taylor*

Francisco Villa

*- Denotes 2013 draftee

Not a lot of surprises, but I am disappointed to see guys like Valdez and Martinez on this roster. I thought they’d have more success in full-season ball. I haven’t given up hope on them yet, but a guy like Valdez needs to hit enough to get promoted back to Low-A and prove his worth. Martinez is 18 (for another week), so I’m not as concerned about him.

There are some interesting players to keep an eye on with this team. Santana was the Dodgers second-round pick in 2011 and should be the team’s everyday third baseman. I chose him as my breakout prospect for 2013. Valentin should hold down either shortstop or second base. Trinkwon will play whichever position Valentin does not.

In the outfield, Curletta should have a field day in this league. The powerful 2012 sixth-rounder should be the team’s starting right fielder and eventual cleanup hitter. He has legitimate 70-grade power. Stover is another guy who played with the Loons earlier this season. As the team’s 40th-rounder last year, it’s nice to see him actually playing.

In the rotation, this team has guys who have a lot of arm talent. Barlow is recovering from Tommy John surgery last season, but he has an electric arm and a legitimate breaking ball. He also throws a “show me” slider and changeup that could be average with work. Martinez had great success in the Arizona Rookie League last year before struggling as an 18-year-old in the Midwest League. The rest of the rotation should be filled with 2013 draftees. Underwood has a nice sinker/curveball combination, as does Rhame. Johnson is a soft-tossing lefty who could do well as an older pitcher against younger competition.

The bullpen has some good arms as well as guys who can swap spots with the rotation guys if need be.

My best guess at a lineup

Valentin SS

Trinkwon 2B

Stover DH/LF

Valdez 1B

Santana 3B

Curletta RF

Scavuzzo CF

Cowen/Farmer C

Yates LF/DH

I’m sure I missed on just about every spot (guess we’ll see tonight). There aren’t as many exciting prospects this year in Ogden, but there are definitely some guys to keep an eye on throughout the summer.

Photo credits: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' episode 25 - Dodgers, Jim Shonerd interview, Castellanos, Uribe, Baez, prospects

On this episode of "Dugout Blues," Jared Massey (L.A. Dugout) and I interview Baseball America's Jim Shonerd. Shonerd authored the Dodgers' Top 30 prospect list for the BA Prospect Handbook and gave us some good insight into the process.

Hyun-Jin Ryu and Zack Greinke's debuts are discussed briefly before we look at the case for Alex Castellanos making the 25-man roster. This led to a tangent about how terrible Juan Uribe is at baseball. It pleased me.

Bullpen Banter released its Dodgers' Top 15 prospect list, which we discuss. No really big surprises, but Alex Santana continues to get some love in prospect lists despite not having hit much in his first two seasons.

We also examine Pedro Baez and his move to the bullpen. He's already drawing praise from one Hall-of-Famer in Sandy Koufax. I'll be penning a post about him in the not to distant near future.

Per usual, we close with listener questions. Who are some prospects to watch during Spring Training? What would it take for the Dodgers to land Emilio Bonafacio in a trade with the Blue Jays? Could the Yankees be interested in Andre Ethier after Curtis Granderson suffered a broken forearm?

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Look for new episodes of "Dugout Blues" every Wednesday. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we're always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.

If you have questions you'd like us to answer or certain topics/players you want to hear more about, feel free to email us (ladugout@gmail.com or feelinkindablue@gmail.com) or send us messages on Twitter (@LADugout or @FeelinKindaBlue). You can also "Like" the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.

Image credit: Joe Martin

Ogden Raptors announce 2012 roster, less impressive than last year

With the Pioneer League season set to begin on Monday, it's time to take a look at the players who will be on the Ogden Raptors' initial roster.

Admittedly, this season's roster isn't as impressive as last year's, as players like Joc Pederson, O'Koyea Dickson and James Baldwin played for the team last year. But there are definitely some guys to keep an eye on down there.

The Dodgers send recent draftees and, most of the time, younger prospects to the Pioneer League.

Pitchers
Derek Cone
- Threw a couple innings with the Quakes last week, but will be on his third stint with the Raptors
Carlos De Aza
Gregg Downing
Michael Drowne
Carlos Frias
Sawil Gonzalez
Jake Hermsen
- 2012 29th-round draft pick
Owen Jones
- 2012 19th-round draft pick
Matt Laney
- Pitched with Great Lakes earlier this season (4.34 ERA, 1.51 WHIP)
Kazuki Nishijima
Craig Stem
Jason West
- Pitched with Great Lakes earlier this season (2.22 ERA, 1.31 WHIP)

Catchers
JJ Ethel
Jose Capellan

Infielders
Justin Boudreaux
- Struggled with Great Lakes this season (.144/.250/.212)
Tae-Hyeok Nam
- 21-year-old Korean prospect, had short stint with Ogden in 2009 (3-for-9, five strikeouts)
Alex Santana
- 2011 second-round pick, played in Arizona League last year (.238/.298/.339)
Darnell Sweeney
- 2012 13th-round pick
Kevin Thompson
Jesus Valdez
- 17th-round pick in 2011 (5th-rounder in 2010), played in Arizona League last year (.241/.312/.434)

Outfielders
Devon Ethier
- Andre Ethier's brother
Malcolm Holland
- Played 2B in Arizona League last year
Devin Shines
- Struggled with Great Lakes this season (.219/.287/.343)

Ross Stripling, the Dodgers' fifth-round pick, has said on Twitter he was going to Ogden, but he isn't on the roster. We'll see if that changes.

Keep an eye on...

• Cone - He's probably pitcher with the most promise on the staff, but that isn't saying a whole lot because he's struggled so far in his professional career. He had a 5.03 ERA last year with the Raptors, but he also had a 10.6 K/9, so there's definitely promise. He was my No. 33 prospect heading into the season.
• Santana - He was drafted high and is expected to produce. But he's just 18 years old and can't be expected to light up the league just yet. After Corey Seager, he's the Dodgers' best third base prospect. He was my No. 31 prospect heading into the season.
• Valdez - He has good power potential and at 6'3, 180 pounds, he still has room to fill out. He's 20 years old and it's anyone's guess where he'll play. With Santana around, first base seems most likely. He was my No. 38 prospect heading into the season.
• 2012 Draft Picks - Hermsen, Jones, Sweeney, all of whom were not professional ballplayers before June 4. It'll be interesting to see how they handle their first taste of pro ball.

Lineup
Here's my lineup and rotation if I'm Damon Berryhill (Raptors' manager):

Shines CF
Boudreaux 2B
Santana 3B
Valdez 1B (L)
Nam DH
Ethier RF
Ethel C
Holland LF
Sweeney SS (S)

Valdez is the only true left-handed hitter on the roster right now.

It's unlikely Seager will sign by Monday, but I assume he'll go to Ogden (or Arizona, I suppose) when he's signed. I'm a little surprised not to see Jesmuel Valentin on this roster, but that doesn't mean he won't get there eventually.

#####

J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. Daily news wrote an article Friday about Dodgers' third-round pick Onelki Garcia, who signed with the team on Thursday. It's a good read about Garcia's trek to America and eventually professional baseball.

"After what Garcia has been through, with two months to work out a deal, the last place he seemed headed was free agency. Sure enough, he and the Dodgers agreed to terms Thursday. The terms were not immediately available."

Garcia could find himself in Ogden, but I'd like to see the 22-year-old be tested in Rancho Cucamonga.

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

The Dodgers should take note: It pays to draft third basemen early

The MLB Draft is a crap shoot -- more so than any other draft in professional sports. When there's as many as 40 rounds, that's bound to happen.

The Dodgers, in the Logan White era, have drafted many a pitcher. That is obviously his philosophy. There's nothing wrong with that.

White's first-round draft picks since 2002
(Italics denotes Supplemental first-round pick)
James Loney, Greg Miller, Chad Billingsley, Scott Elbert, Blake DeWitt, Justin Orenduff, Luke Hochevar (did not sign), Clayton Kershaw, Bryan Morris, Preston Mattingly, Chris Withrow, James Adkins, Ethan Martin, Aaron Miller, Zach Lee, Chris Reed

Only three of these guys were not pitchers.

Now, they say it's harder to find a frontline starting pitcher than, say, a third baseman. But is that true?

We all know the Dodgers are in desperate need of a third baseman in the minors, but it's foolish to draft for need in the MLB Draft. However, as was pointed out to me on the Scout.com Dodger Message Board, it's hard to find a quality third baseman if a team doesn't: 

1. Draft him in the early rounds of the draft, or
2. Sign him as an international free agent (which is going away soon)

Let me break it down.

Drafted third basemen in baseball (overall selection)
Pedro Alvarez (2)
Lonnie Chisenhall (29)
Chase Headley (66)
Chipper Jones (1)
Brett Lawrie (16)
Evan Longoria (3)
Mike Moustakas (2)
Alex Rodriguez (1)
Scott Rolen (46)
Kyle Seager (82)
Ian Stewart (10)
David Wright (38)
Ryan Zimmerman (4)

Top undrafted/international free agent third basemen
Adrian Beltre
Miguel Cabrera
Placido Polanco
Aramis Ramirez
Hanley Ramirez
Pablo Sandoval

Nearly two-thirds (19/30) of all starting third basemen in the majors were drafted in the first three rounds or were signed as international free agents.

With every rule comes an exception. David Freese (ninth round), Mark Reynolds (16th) and Kevin Youkilis (eighth round) were later selections who have made an impact in the majors. Reynolds not so much, but he still hit 44 home runs in a season.

And it doesn't stop at current major leaguers. There are a ton of quality prospects who were either drafted high or signed as either undrafted or international free agents.

Notable drafted third base prospects (in a team's Top 10)
Nolan Arenado
Dante Bichette
Nick Castellanos
Zack Cox
Matt Davidson
Matt Dominguez
Todd Frazier
Will Middlebrooks
Mike Olt
Anthony Rendon
Josh Vitters

Of these guys, only Arenado (second) and Middlebrooks (fifth) were not a first-round selections.

Undrafted/international free agent third basemen
Edward Salcedo
Miguel Sano
Cheslor Cuthbert

Of the 30 teams in baseball, just five do not have a third baseman ranked in their Top 10 (according to Baseball America's rankings). There are 29 third basemen ranked in a team's Top 10 among all 30 teams.Of the 29, 13 were first-round picks, including supplemental first-round selections. Ten of the 29 were undrafted or international free agents.

So, 23 of the 29 (79.3 percent) were either first-round picks or signed outside the draft. The Dodgers have none neither of these things in recent years, hence the lack of quality third base prospects.

As it stands right now, guys like Pedro Baez and Alex Santana are the Dodgers' best third base prospects. Baez was an international signing and Santana was a second-round pick. Baez hasn't panned out (though, he's playing decent ball this season) and Santana is 18 years old -- many, many years from contributing.

With third base deep in this year's draft, the Dodgers could be in a position to upgrade the position rather quickly. It obviously pays off to draft third basemen early in the draft. A lot of them pan out, even if some don't (Stewart) or haven't yet (Alvarez, Chisenhall).

With the draft three days away, the Dodgers are going to have decisions to make. Whoever they draft now won't be able to help for a couple years (at the soonest), and they certainly don't want to reach for a third baseman for the sake of drafting a third baseman. But if a guy like Richie Shaffer is available at No. 18, there probably won't be many better players available at the pick

Photo credits  

Wright: slgckgc, Flickr

Shaffer: Courtesy of Clemson University Sports Information

Rubby De La Rosa set to make first start

Rubby De La Rosa is replacing the injured Jon Garland in the Dodgers rotation tonight against the Phillies.

He has a lot of hype behind him, but the thing I think I like most about him is his attitude. In Spring Training, he was asked about the Giants success last season and gave a great quote:

"Champions last year. Not this year."

If that wasn't enough, he was quoted today in reference to making his first big league start:

"No, I'm not excited," De La Rosa said. "It's what starters do. They start. I'm not nervous. I never get nervous. I don't feel butterflies when I pitch; I don't feel anything. I grew up in the streets. How can I be scared of anything compared to that?"

The kid has ice water in his veins and his attitude is something the Dodgers haven't had in quite some time. Granted, he has all of five Major League innings under his belt, but it's hard not to get excited for him.

Let's hope his arm backs up his words.

#####

The Dodgers were back at it again today at MLB Draft. The team's second-round pick was 3B Alex Santana from Mariner High School in Florida. The good news: he's a third baseman. The bad news: he was the 72nd-best prospect in the state of Florida (he was pick No. 73 overall), power is a concern (despite being 6'4) and some think he might be a better pitching prospect.

Jim Callis of Baseball America said he was an "easy sign." Seems to be a theme for the Dodgers' draft plans this year.

Rounds 3-16
3. C Pratt Maynard, North Carolina State
- Probably the Dodgers' best draft choice. There are concerns about him remaining behind the plate long-term.
4. RHP Ryan O'Sullivan, Oklahoma City University
- Brother of Royals' RHP Sean O'Sullivan, Ryan has a nice fastball-curveball combination.
5. RHP Scott McGough, Oregon
- Two consecutive college relievers for the Dodgers, McGough has a mid-90s fastball and low-80s slider.
6. RHP Scott Barlow, Golden Valley HS
- Finally, the first high school pitcher for the Dodgers. Sounds like a junk-baller, though.
7. 3B Scott Woodward, Coastal Carolina
- 6'2, 205, has good speed and OF experience.
8. LHP Rick Anton, Utah
- They grabbed the wrong University of Utah player (Cron). Has four pitches and is left-handed, so he has a chance.
9. C Tyler Ogle, Oklahoma
- He was the heir apparent to Dodgers' prospect J.T. Wise. He's a bat first, glove second catcher.
10. LHP Jamal Moore, Westchester HS
- Upper-80s fastball, not much to get excited about.
11. SS David Wingo, South Carolina
12. 1B O'Koyea Dickson, Sonoma State
13. RHP David Palladino, Emerson Jr. Sr. HS
14. SS Justin Boudreaux, Southeastern Louisiana
15. RHP Craig Stem, Trevecca Nazarene University

The two best Dodger picks are probably the third- and fourth-rounders, unfortunately. Frank McCourt cannot get out of town soon enough. This is the most unimpressive draft since 2005, which still produced Ivan DeJesus, Josh Bell and Jon Meloan.