A brief look at the Dodgers' farm system following trading season

The Dodgers were as active as they've been in years on the trade market this year. They acquired some big-name talent (Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez), but they also gave up quite a few young players.

Here's a scorecard of Dodger prospects and young players traded since July 25 (Ramirez trade):

Position players
Ivan De Jesus
Leon Landry
Jerry Sands (player to be named later)

Pitchers
Logan Bawcom
Rubby De La Rosa (PTBNL)
Nathan Eovaldi
Josh Lindblom
Ethan Martin
Scott McGough
Ryan O'Sullivan
Allen Webster

As you can see, the Dodgers certainly dealt from their strength. For the last few seasons, the Dodgers' biggest strength has been their young pitching. That's what the farm system was known for.

Of the three position players the Dodgers traded, two of them have every day potential. Sands, who curiously wasn't given a legitimate shot in Los Angeles, was sent to Boston in the August blockbuster. Landry, a player I'm higher on than most, just won the California League batting title (.341). He was traded with Bawcom to get Brandon League. He also led the league in triples (18) while finishing in second in total bases (262) and doubles (34).

The Dodgers traded eight young pitchers. Not many teams can do that and still have solid pitching depth. Don't get me wrong, it isn't as good as it was a couple months ago, but there are still some quality arms remaining. But the system, even more so now, lacks front-end starters.

Zach Lee and Chris Reed are the organization's top two pitching prospects by far -- and Lee is in a class my himself. Then there are starting pitching prospects like Garrett Gould, Matt Magill, Onelki Garcia and Andres Santiago. Definitely not the same potential star power as before with De La Rosa, Webster and Eovaldi paired with Lee and Reed.

The 2012 draft and International signings didn't really help strengthen the pitching side of things. Garcia was drafted in the third round and Zachary Bird, pegged as a sleeper by many, was a ninth-round pick. And we won't know much about a guy like Bryan Munoz, a 16-year-old, for a few years.

For the first time in a long time, it seems the Dodgers have more high-end (for this system, at least) hitting prospects than pitching prospects. Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager all have potential to be above-average everyday players.

So, Logan White has some work to do rebuild the pitching side of the system. Relief pitching is still strong (Shawn Tolleson, Steve Ames, Steven Rodriguez, Javier Solano), but the Dodgers will need some high-end starters down on the farm going forward.

Speaking of Andres Santiago...

This is my latest at Chad Moriyama's blog about the 22-year-old pitching prospect who's making a name for himself this season.

"There are a couple things that impress me most about Santiago. First, his increased strikeout rate. While he was able to get solid rates in the past (8.0, 7.4, 8.4 K/9 the last three seasons), he’s stepped up to another level this year. His 9.8 K/9 is second only to Matt Magill for best among starting pitchers in the system."

Looking forward to see how he handles a full season in Double-A.

Photo credits 

Reed: Courtesy of Brandon Lennox, True Blue LA

Landry: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Dodgers complete Blanton trade by sending O'Sullivan to Philly

The Dodgers sent right-handed pitcher Ryan O'Sullivan to Philadelphia today to complete the Joe Blanton trade.

I was a little surprised when I saw this news, but I guess it's not the worst trade. I was on board with the Blanton acquisition, but I thought it might take a little less than O'Sullivan to land.

O'Sullivan ranked as the Dodgers' 18th-best prospect in my midseason update. Baseball America had him ranked as the 23rd-best prospect in the organization.

O'Sullivan began the season with the Loons and pitched relatively well: 2.92 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 0.4 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, 5.5 K/9. Since being promoted to the Quakes, he's pitched exclusively out of the bullpen: 3.57 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9 and a 6.6 K/9. The only statistic he improve upon was his strikeout rate. He's an extreme groundball pitcher but will need to start missing more bats going forward.

The Phillies did well by landing a pitcher who at least has some talent for Blanton. Here's hoping he starts pitching better for the Dodgers down the stretch. His 8.23 ERA isn't going to get it done.

Dodgers promote top prospect Zach Lee to Double-A Chattanooga

In a move that was expected in a month or two, the Dodgers today promoted top prospect Zach Lee to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League.

Lee, 20, was the subject of a post I penned 10 days ago in which I pointed out he was having a great season even if some of his numbers looked a little below-average.

Lee is the second first-round pitcher to be promoted to Double-A this season, as Chris Reed was promoted in early June.

The Dodgers have rarely been afraid to be aggressive with their pitching prospects, so this isn't much of a surprise. However, the fact that Lee is 20 and will pitch in Double-A is sure to raise some eyebrows.

Chad Billingsley, Scott Elbert, Clayton Kershaw and Greg Miller all pitched in Double-A at age 20. Edwin Jackson one-upped the four of them by pitching with the Jacksonville Suns (the Dodgers' affiliate at the time) at age 19.

Aside from Miller, all the other pitchers have made it to the majors and had success (some more than others).

With Lee and Reed being promoted, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes' pitching rotation has been stripped of their two best pitchers. Ryan O'Sullivan was assigned to Rancho earlier today from Great Lakes to presumably take Lee's spot. They also have Garrett Gould and Angel Sanchez. And Jarret Martin could be promoted at any time.

The impact on the Lookouts is also apparent.

To say there's a pitching logjam in Chattanooga would be an understatement. The Lookouts now have seven who can start: Lee, Matt Magill, Ethan Martin, Aaron Miller, Reed, Allen Webster and Chris Withrow (when he comes back from the disabled list).

It remains to be seen what the Lookouts will do. Magill has thrown poorly of late, Martin has been mediocre, Miller has been decent but isn't throwing a lot of innings, Reed is still getting acclimated to the league, Webster seems to have finally figured it out and Withrow struggled before going on the DL.

I like how aggressive the Dodgers are with their minor-league pitchers, so I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles advanced hitting in perhaps the most talented level of the Minor Leagues. Before the end of the season, he'll work out of the bullpen to limit his innings.

But no matter what happens the rest of this season, Lee will begin in Double-A in 2013.

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Two noticeable absences on the Great Lakes Loons' 25-man roster

O'Koyea Dickson and Joc Pederson were noticeably absent from the 2012 Great Lakes Loons' Opening Day roster, announced today by the team.

The Dodgers' Low-A affiliate in the Midwest League -- a team that featured Zach Lee, Garrett Gould and Angel Sanchez in 2011 -- is not as pitching-rich as last season, but the offense looks better than the '11 squad.

However, Dickson and Pederson -- both of whom were expected to begin in Midland -- were not included on the team's 25-man roster.

Dickson, a 2011 12th-round pick, played with Ogden in the Pioneer League last season, which is typical. His next step would have been to Great Lakes. I'm really surprised he's not on the roster.

Pederson began 2011 with the Loons because they lacked outfielders. He had a rough go at it, hitting .160/.288/.160 in 16 games with the team. He was, correctly, reassigned to Ogden and promptly mashed: .353/.429/.568.

This means one of three things:

1. One or both of them will begin with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League (High-A)
2. One or both of them will return to Ogden
3. One or both of them will begin the season in Extended Spring Training

I really don't think they'll be pushed to Double-A, so I didn't include that as an option.

I sent a tweet to both of them about it. We'll see if any information comes from that. I could see them both starting with the Quakes (Dickson more than Pederson), but that would be an aggressive play.

Update (April 2, 9:28 a.m.): Wouldn't you know it? As soon as I hit "publish post," I get this reply from Pederson:

"still in AZ rehabbing my groin...so gotta get it better before I can break camp and they haven't told me where I am going"

That's one mystery solved.

As for the rest of the squad, it looks solid.

Here's a breakdown by position (my Top 50 rank in parenthesis):

Pitchers
Jose Dominguez
Eric Eadington
Yimi Garcia
Gustavo Gomez
Matthew Laney
Juan Noriega (47)
Jarret Martin
Brandon Martinez (42)
Ryan O'Sullivan
Arismendy Ozoria
Matt Shelton
Michael Thomas
Jason West

Infielders/Catchers
Jesus Arredondo
Jesse Bosnik
Justin Boudreaux (27)
Andrew Edge
Pratt Maynard (23)
Delvis Morales
Kevin Taylor
Jan Vazquez
Joseph Winker

Outfielders
James Baldwin (16)
Noel Cuevas (36)
Scott Schebler (25)
Devin Shines

No other real surprises. The outfield, as should be the case for most levels of the Dodger minor leagues, should be the team's strength. Baldwin should hit leadoff for the Loons. That's pretty much the only certainty. The rest of the lineup is anyone's best guess.

I like Maynard a lot and want to see him succeed. He was one of my favorite selections from the 2011 draft. Schebler has big-time potential, but he needs to cut down on his strikeout percentage in a big way. Boudreaux might surprise some folks this season.

On the mound, O'Sullivan might be one of the team's best pitchers. Martin, acquired from Baltimore, is a wild card. A lefty who can throw hard is never out of demand. He needs to work on his control and command. Martinez might be the best starting pitching prospect on the club. Garcia had a 12.2 K/9 with Ogden last season. It'll be interesting to see how he does in Low-A.

Overall, the team appears to be in better shape at the dish than on the mound. Of course, it's hard to live up to last season's pitching. With this team (and probable midseason additions), the Loons should contend for a playoff berth.

Redding having nice season for Dodgers' High-A team

When I saw Jon Michael Redding pitch against the Stockton Ports on June 17, he was less than impressive. His line: 4 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Despite the poor outing, he still had a nice 3.38 ERA in the hitter-friendly California League. Since that game, though, he's pitched quite well.

Last 10 games: 59 IP, 49 H, 22 R, 17 ER, 4 HR, 22 BB, 62 K, 1.20 WHIP, .220 BAA

Redding, 23, doesn't overpower hitters with his stuff -- he tops out at 90-91 MPH with a solid curveball and slider. He's more of a junkballer than anything, which doesn't bode well for his future success. However, he's leading the Cal League in ERA (minimum 90 IP) at 2.98. He also had a career-high 14 strikeouts on July 16 against the Modesto Nuts.

He's a tad old for his competition and with guys like Allen Webster, Chris Withrow and until recently, Nathan Eovaldi, there hasn't been much room for him on the Chattanooga roster. Even retreads like Will Savage and Michael Antonini (acquired for Chin-lung Hu in the off-season) have pitched well for the Lookouts.

Redding will definitely start 2012 in Double-A, but I'm not expecting much from him. At best, he'd be a fifth starter/long reliever in the majors, but his prospects are not that bright. Still, he could find himself on a Major League pitching staff before his career is over.

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Jake Lemmerman was promoted to Double-A after the Dodgers recalled Justin Sellers to take over for the injured Dee Gordon. Lemmerman is 2-for-11 with a double in his first three games. Nice to see him get the promotion. I'm higher on him than most. I'd like to see him finish the season strong and start in Chattanooga next season.

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Matt Kemp is great. I don't know how many times I can write it. He's up to 28 home runs, 31 stolen bases on the season and making a strong push for National League MVP. In fact, his 28 HRs and 89 RBI tie his total from 162 games in 2010 -- and there's still 42 games left in the 2011 season. If the Dodgers weren't so miserable, he'd be the clear front-runner for the award.

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The Dodgers signed fourth-round draft pick Ryan O'Sullivan today before the signing deadline. He got a $100,000 bonus. The team has now signed its top nine picks. Ryan's brother, Sean O'Sullivan, pitches for the Royals.

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.

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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.