Joc Pederson to represent Dodgers at 2013 Futures Game in July

Joc Pederson will represent the Dodgers at the 2013 Futures Game on the Sunday before the All-Star game. The 21-year-old is doing some good things in the Southern League.

He's not hitting as well as he was earlier this season, but he's still posting respectable numbers: .296/.383/.500, 11 home runs, 34 RBI, 53 runs scored and 21 stolen bases (in 24 attempts).

Every year, the top prospects are selected to play in what is essentially a prospect all-star game. There is a United States team and a World team. Last year, Chris Reed represented the Dodgers for the World team as he was born in London. Teams can only send two players -- one on each squad -- for this exhibition game.

Here's a list of Dodger prospects to participate in the Futures Game since its inception in 1999:

1999 - Chin-Feng Chen, Luke Prokopec
2000 - Chen, Randey Dorame
2001 - Ricardo Rodriguez,
2002 - Victor Diaz, Rodriguez
2003 - Franklin Gutierrez, Edwin Jackson
2004 - Joel Guzman, Koyie Hill
2005 - Andy LaRoche, Russell Martin
2006 - Guzman, Chin-Lung Hu
2007 - Clayton Kershaw, Hu (MVP)
2008 - Ivan De Jesus
2009 - Pedro Baez
2010 - Baez, Dee Gordon
2011 - Alfredo Silverio
2012 - Chris Reed
2013 - Joc Pederson

The best player the Dodgers have ever sent is obviously Kershaw. Gutierrez is about the only position player to make an impact in the majors and Jackson has been a serviceable starter.

I was hoping one of the hard-throwing relievers would get the nod on the World side (i.e. Jose Dominguez), but it didn't happen. Yasiel Puig would have been a lock for the squad if he weren't promoted to the majors. At this rate, he could be a Los Angeles Dodger representative in New York.

The Futures Game is Sunday, July 14 at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' episode 45 - Kemp, Puig, Anderson, Urias, Seager

On this episode of "Dugout Blues," Jared Massey (Dodger Diamond) talk about the return of Matt Kemp to the Dodgers' lineup. Here's hoping he's healthy enough to start being a valuable contributor.

Then there's the obligatory Yasiel Puig update. He's still really good at this baseball thing.

I question why the Dodgers have Puig in left field and Andre Ethier playing right field. I understand why it's happening, I just don't agree with it.

Chris Anderson and Tom Windle made their professional debuts with the Great Lakes Loons on Tuesday. Anderson was particularly impressive.

Julio Urias, who checked in at No. 41 on Jason Parks' (Baseball Prospectus) midseason Top 50 prospect list, has struggled a bit in his last two starts. I feel I say this a lot, but he is just 16 years old. Another teenager made Parks' list in Corey Seager (No. 35). He's starting to hit and hit with authority.

Zach Lee and Chris Reed (my boy) are having nice seasons with the Lookouts. Lee's strikeout rate is the highest of his career while Reed's is the lowest, yet Reed is still having success. We also talk about Justin Chigbogu, who's off to a fast start in the Arizona Rookie League.

The Dodgers won't lose a draft pick due to overspending, which is a good thing.

Finally, we answer listener questions. Please, keep them coming. Also, we're at 20 reviews on iTunes. I'm challenging the listeners to get that number to 23 by next week's episode. And, in case you were wondering, Jared did get to 1,000 followers.

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

Image credit: Joe Martin

Dodgers won't lose 2014 first-round pick, plus a Julio Urias GIF

The Dodgers won't lose their 2014 first-round pick after J.P. Hoornstra tweeted me some good news.

Respectively: 360K, 40K, 5K. RT @FeelinKindaBlue Any idea the bonuses Underwood (5th round), Farmer (8th) and Keener (10th) received?
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) June 21, 2013

I wrote on Monday the Dodgers were dangerously close to going over their draft spending pool limit. Luckily, the bonuses given to J.D. Underwood (5th-rounder, $360,000), Kyle Farmer (8th, $40,000) and Nick Keener (10th, $5,000) kept the Dodgers in the black.

Round	Player	Slot	Bonus	Savings
1	Chris Anderson	$2,109,900	$2,109,900	$0
2	Tom Windle	$986,500	$986,500	$0
3	Brandon Dixon	$566,500	$566,500	$0
4	Cody Bellinger	$409,000	$700,000	($291,000)
5	J.D. Underwood	$306,200	$360,000	($53,800)
6	Jacob Rhame	$229,300	$300,000	($70,700)
7	Brandon Trinkwon	$171,900	$171,900	$0
8	Kyle Farmer	$153,600	$40,000	$113,600
9	Henry Yates	$143,500	$5,000	$138,500
10	Nick Keener	$135,300	$5,000	$130,300
11	Spencer Navin	$0	$200,000	($200,000)
Total		$5,211,700	$5,444,800	($233,100)

The Dodgers were able to go $260,585 over budget (5 percent of their $5.2 million pool) without losing the 2014 pick. The team is now $27,485 in the black and probably won't spend much more of it.

Farmer

The Dodgers will have to pay a 75 percent luxury tax on the overage, which turns out to be $52,863.75 extra. A drop in the bucket for this ownership. The Dodgers also spent more than their allotted amount in 2012.

Despite what I wrote, I really didn't think the Dodgers were going to screw this up, but they sure did make it more "interesting" than it needed to be.

Underwood has some ability, but I'm interested to see how Farmer handles the transition behind the plate. He was a middle infielder and is going to be a catcher in professional ball.

Here's hoping the Dodgers don't make things this interesting next year. At this point, it's going to be a Top-10 pick, which wasn't the way they drew it up back in April.

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For no apparent reason, here's a GIF of Julio Urias' changeup, via theintentionalbalk.

Photo credit: Courtesy of UGA Sports Communications

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