My Top 5 Dodgers' prospects at minor-league every level

In preparation for prospect season, I'm going to rank the Top 5 prospects at every level of the Dodgers' minor-league system.

It won't necessarily reflect a prospect's position on my Top 50 list (as I've yet to complete it), but it should give some sort of idea where I rank these players.

To be eligible, I'm using Baseball America's rules. For hitters, they must average at least one plate appearance per team game. For starting pitchers, they must average at least 1/3 of an inning per team game (no applicable to short-season teams). For relievers, they must have made 20 appearances (10 appearances for short-season leagues).

Here are my top 5 Dodgers' prospects at each level. Player's age-season in parenthesis.

Dominican Summer League Dodgers

1. OF Michael Medina (16)

2. OF Deivy Castillo (17)

3. LHP Jairo Pacheco (16)

4. OF Ariel Sandoval (17)

5. RHP Osiris Ramirez (17)

Arizona League Dodgers

1. 1B Cody Bellinger (17)

2. LHP Victor Gonzalez (17)

3. RHP Victor Arano (18)

4. RHP Bryan Munoz (17)

5. SS Cristian Gomez (17)

Ogden Raptors

1. OF Jacob Scavuzzo (19)

2. 3B/OF Alex Santana (19)

3. 2B/SS Jesmuel Valentin (18)

4. 1B Justin Chigbogu (18)

5. RHP Scott Barlow (20)

Great Lakes Loons

1. SS Corey Seager (19)

2. LHP Julio Urias (16)

3. RHP Chris Anderson (20)

4. LHP Tom Windle (22)

5. RHP Zachary Bird (18)

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

1. OF Scott Schebler (22)

2. RHP Duke von Schamann (22)

3. OF Noel Cuevas (21)

4. 1B O'Koyea Dickson (23)

5. SS/2B Darnell Sweeney (22)

Chattanooga Lookouts

1. OF Yasiel Puig (22)

2. RHP Zach Lee (21)

3. OF Joc Pederson (21)

4. RHP Ross Stripling (23)

5. LHP Chris Reed (23)

Albuquerque Isotopes

1. RHP Matt Magill (23)

2. OF/1B Scott Van Slyke (26)

3. RHP Red Patterson (26)

4. LHP Kelvin De La Cruz (24)

5. No one else qualified

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Hope this gives some insight to how I rank the Dodger prospects. I'd like to hear how you'd rank some of these prospects in the comments section.

I'm shooting for December or January for my Top 50 prospects list. Follow me on Twitter for updates on its status.

Photo credit: Ali Messick, courtesy of the Great Lakes Loons

Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' episode 57 - Dodgers clinch, pool, Ryu, Nolasco

On this episode of "Dugout Blues," Jared Massey (Dodger Diamond) and I chat about the Dodgers clinching the National League West title for the first time since 2009, and the resulting celebration in the sacred Diamondbacks' swimming pool.

Then we delve into a discussion about some Dodgers who may or may not have peed in said pool. It's not classy, but who among you can say you've never peed in a pool?

After far too much talk about urine, we actually get around to talking baseball.

We talk about the ideal opponenets for the Dodgers' on their path to the World Series. As of now, it looks like they're going to play the Braves or the Cardinals. I'll take Atlanta.

Hyun-Jin Ryu pretty much clinched the No. 3 spot in the Dodgers' postseason rotation, and not just because Ricky Nolasco has been bad in his last four starts.

Jared has a review of Rookie Ball, with guys like Victor Gonzalez and Jacob Scavuzzo getting ample mention.

Episode dedications
Jared: Stu Pederson
Dustin: Luke Prokopec

Then, we close with Q&A, which consisted of mostly urine and playoffs.

Libsyn link
Direct link
iTunes link

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 (@Dodger_Diamond or @FeelinKindaBlue). You can also "Like" the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.

Image credit: Joe Martin

Dodgers sign five players on first day of new International signing period

The Dodgers signed five International free agents on Monday, the first day of the International signing bonanza. It was also the first day under the new rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Teams are limited to $2.9 million total to spend on International free agents. This comes on the heels of the Dodgers signing Yasiel Puig to a 7-year, $42 million deal -- the largest contract for a Cuban defector.

The four players the Dodgers signed are 16 years old. If that didn't make you feel old, here's one more: they were born in 1996.

From Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:

"(T)he Dodgers on Monday announced the signing of a quartet of 16-year olds.

The Dodgers signed Mexican pitchers Lenix Osuna and Victor Gonzalez, as well as Venezuelan pitcher William Soto. Osuna is the son of former Dodgers pitcher Antonio Osuna.

'We are pleased to announce we have been extremely active in the July 2nd signing period and have signed multiple players with more on the horizon,' said assistant general manager Logan White in a statement. 'We are able to get three fine young arms with bright futures.'

The Dodgers also signed Mexican catcher Julian Leon, whom White called "one of the best catching prospects on the International market."

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles TImes reported the total spent on the four players was roughly $1 million."

Of course there's a former player's son in this group. It would have almost been disappointing if there wasn't.

They also signed Dominican shortstop Cristian Gomez, who is also 16 years old. From Ben Badler of Baseball America:

"Gomez, 16, is 5-foot-10, 180 pounds and stands out in the field with soft hands, good range and an average arm. He's an instinctive player in the field and has gap power from the right side of the plate. Terms were not available but Gomez was expected to sign for a low six-figure bonus.

Gomez is from Nizao and trained at La Academia. His trainer is Alberto Mercedes, better known as "Pelkin" in the Dominican Republic, where his recent players have included Indians shortstop Dorssys Paulino and Mariners shortstop Ketel Marte, two of the better shortstops in short-season ball."

The fact is these guys will not play this year due to the rules and they won't even be on the prospect map for a couple years at minimum. White always speaks well of his signings and draft picks, so it isn't surprising to hear him praise the signings.

It's almost like the Dodgers are so amped up to get back into the international scene that they overpaid for Puig (which I don't have a problem with ) and can't wait to hype up the players they sign -- even if said players aren't viewed among the top International free agents available. They also sent out a press release earlier this season announcing they had signed some 20-plus international free agents. It's a good PR move, but that kind of thing happens every year. It's not uncommon.

So, it'll be interesting to see how these guys develop and how many more international free agents the Dodgers can land. Aside from Puig, no one they've signed were among the top international prospects. Six of Baseball America's Top 20 International free agents are still available. I'm hoping the Dodgers can land at least one of them, but preferably multiple (as the Blue Jays, Phillies, Rays and Yankees have).