Dodger Prospect countdown: 20 - 11

We are almost done with my Dodger prospect rankings as there is only one more post remaining after this one.  This group contains some very good players, many of whom would be considered a top 10 prospect if it weren't for the Dodgers deep minor league system (in my opinion).  Feel free to let me know what you think in regards to where I have ranked each player, as I always appreciate the feedback.

20.  Blake Smith, OF (30 games in Pioneer League, 6 games in Arizona League in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2009, 2nd round

6’2”, 220 lbs, 22.25 years old, bats left handed

.214 average, 1 HR, 14 RBI’s, 0 SB’s

Prior Year Ranking: N/A

I will probably take some heat for ranking Blake Smith this high.  He had an awful season in 2009, showing no power and striking out in 32.2% of his plate appearances.  But really this ranking is based purely on athleticism.  I've heard from many sources that Smith is a super athletic guy, so I really feel that he will provide the Dodgers with value at some point down the road.  Even if he doesn’t pan out as a position player, I am confident that Smith can return to the mound and become a useful reliever at the big league level.  In addition, if he does stay as an outfielder, he’s got a great arm so he should be able to be a solid right fielder.   In terms of his hitting abilities, Blake has a sweet lefty swing, which lead to .319 average and 10 HR’s during his junior season at Cal.  He also apparently put on a power display during his workout at Dodger stadium prior to the draft.  According to Logan White, “He was highly touted as a hitter and a pitcher.  Just like Loney, he has a really nice left-handed swing and he's a power guy with incredible raw power. When he worked out, he almost hit one out of Dodger Stadium -- way up in the seats. Obviously he can throw and if we can work with him to utilize that raw power, he'll be a front-line corner outfielder.”  In addition, Baseball America ranked Smith as the Dodgers best power hitter of the 2009 draft, and thinks he has 25 HR potential in the major leagues.  At the end of the day, I really think that Smith just needs some time to adjust to professional pitching.  Despite his struggles, I’m sure the Dodgers won’t be shy about sending him to LoA in 2010, and even though the Midwest League is known as a pitcher’s league, I think we'll see a jump in his stats next year.

19.  Austin Gallagher, 1B/3B (60 games in LoA in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2007, 3rd round

6’5”, 210 lbs, 21.25 years old, bats left handed

.257 average, 3 HR’s, 30 RBI’s, 1 SB

Prior Year Ranking: 7

When the Dodgers selected Austin Gallagher in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft, some scouts doubted his ability at the plate.  They thought that he should attend college instead because he wasn’t ready for professional pitching.  Well in his first two professional seasons, Gallagher proved his doubters wrong by hitting .284 in the Pioneer League in 2007 and .293 in a surprise season in the California League in 2008 (where he was the second youngest player in the league).  So heading into 2009, it looked as if Gallagher would either spend another season in HiA or possibly play in AA.  In spring training, however, Gallagher injured his throwing shoulder so the Dodgers didn’t want to push him too hard.  Therefore, they assigned him to LoA and also limited him to first base.  While Gallagher must have been disappointed with his demotion to the Midwest League, at the end of the day it was the right decision to keep him at the lower level because Austin was never fully healthy in 2009.  He struggled his way through 60 games and was shut down for the season in early July when he decided to have surgery in his nagging shoulder injury.  Despite the poor stats and the injury riddled year, I'm not giving up on Gallagher at all.  He is expected to be fully recovered for the 2010 season, and even though he missed most of 2009, he really isn’t behind in terms of experience because he is still just 21 year old.  He has outstanding bat speed and makes good contact, and even though he has yet to hit a lot of home runs, he is a line drive machine and has tremendous power potential for the future.  The biggest question surrounding Gallagher is what position he’ll end up playing.  As mentioned, the shoulder injury limited him to 1st base in 2009, but the Dodgers expect to give him another opportunity to play the hot corner in 2010.  He if can somehow find a way to stay at 3rd base despite his size and questionable footwork, that will be a huge plus for him as he moves up through the ranks.  However, even if he does get stuck at 1st base, I think he’ll be able to hold his own at that position offensively as he matures.  I think Gallagher will play in HiA in 2010 and hopefully he’ll have a better season than last year.

18.  Brett Wallach, RHP (31 innings in Pioneer league in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2009, 3rd round

6’2”, 180 lbs, 21.25 years old

0-1, 5.23 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 11.03 K/9

Prior Year Ranking: N/A

By now, I’m sure that everyone knows that Brett Wallach is the son former Dodger player and current Dodger AAA manager Tim Wallach, and is also the brother of fellow Dodger minor leaguer Matt Wallach.  So Brett obviously has a very athletic background.  However, it wasn’t his name that caused the Dodgers to pick him because after the draft, Logan White said “To be honest, if his name was Jones or Jenkins, we'd still be excited to get him.  Having his father and his brother in the organization had no effect at all on us drafting him.  This kid is lean and lanky and has excellent arm action and an excellent delivery on the mound.”  Drafted out of Orange Coast Community College, Wallach led his team to the California Junior College state title in 2009.  Along the way, he had a 2.23 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 96.2 innings.  When he wasn’t pitching, he also served as the team’s first baseman/shortstop and had a .352 average with 46 RBI’s.  Because of his hitting skills, Logan White also mentioned “He's a good hitter too, and Tom Lasorda thinks he should be a position player, but Wallach loves to pitch. He's got a Hershiser-type sinker and a hard slider, changes speeds well and good mound presence. This kid is going to move very quickly.”  Wallach signed with the Dodgers relatively quickly, and was sent to the Pioneer League in July.  Though he made 12 starts for the Raptors, he was generally limited to only two or three innings per appearance because of his heavy college workload.  For the season, Wallach had a 5.23 ERA and allowed 4 home runs, but his FIP was a respectable 4.17 and he struck out an impressive 11 batters per 9 innings.  He has four workable pitches, including a very strong changeup, and the sinker and slider mentioned above.  His fastball usually sits around 91 mph, but he can hit 94 mph on occasion.  A very athletic player, Wallach hasn’t really been able to focus on pitching full time until 2009, so he really needs to get some innings under his belt.  He’ll definitely pitch in a full season league in 2010, with LoA as his most likely destination.  He has the potential to be a #3 starter in the big leagues some day, so hopefully he continues to improve and develop next season.

17.  Tony Delmonico, C (100 games in LoA in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2008, 6th round

6’0”, 194 lbs, 22.75 years old, bats right handed

.285 average, 9 HR’s, 43 RBI’s, 5 SB’s

Prior Year Ranking: 13

Tony Delmonico had a very solid year in 2009, and it is only due to the emergence of other Dodger prospects that caused him to drop in my rankings.  As expected, Delmonico made the transition to catcher in the Midwest League, but unfortunately he injured his hand during the season and didn’t get to spend as much time behind the plate as he would have liked.  Nevertheless, he improved drastically throughout the year in terms of his defensive catching abilities, and ended up throwing out 26% of would be base-stealers.  Dodger management has already indicated that he will continue to play catcher in 2010 as they feel that is the best position for him going forward.  According to various reports, despite his lack of playing time he was all around best catcher in the Midwest League, a statement complimented by the fact that he was both a mid season and post season all star.  In a season where he was supposed to concentrate on his defense, Delmonico continued to demonstrate strong offensive abilities with 9 HR’s and a .285 average.  He was also led the Loons with a .383 on base percentage and even stole 5 bases.  In 2010, I expect Tony to move up to HiA and share the catching duties there with Jeremy Wise.  If he continues to show improvement behind the plate, he is a legitimate candidate to one day take over for Russell Martin because of his strong offensive abilities.

16.  Kenley Jansen, RHP (11.7 games in HiA in 2009)

Signed by Dodgers 11/17/04

6’5”, 245 lbs, 22.5 years old

0-0, 4.63 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, 14.66 K/9

Prior Year Ranking: 36

A year ago, I was pretty high on Kenley Jansen as a catching prospect, ranking him 36th and documenting the potential similarities between him and former Dodger minor leaguer Carlos Santana.  So I was obviously disappointed when Jansen was hitting just .200 through 115 at bats at the end of June.  At that point I pretty much wrote him off as a prospect and was prepared to drop him in my rankings to somewhere in the 60 – 70 range.  But then something amazing happened as Jansen found new life on the pitching mound.  He started throwing fastballs in the mid 90’s and was striking batters out at an amazing rate.  He ended up pitching just under 12 innings with the 66ers and had a remarkable 19 strikeouts.  He also showed how raw he was by walking11 batters and posting an ugly WHIP of 2.14, but the potential was obviously there.  He was sent to the Arizona Fall League after the season to get some additional work in, and while he was there he again recorded ugly stats, but also continued to receive rave reviews due to his velocity.  After the season, Jansen was featured in a video for the 66ers that included a few useful pieces of information.  First, Jansen said that his fastball tops out at 98 mph and sits at around 96 mph.  Second, he said that he also has a curveball, slider, and changeup (accordingly to Baseball America, his slider the potential to be a good pitch).  Finally, DeJon Watson was interviewed in the video and said that Jansen is about 6’5” and 245 lbs, which differs from his listed height and weight of 6’2” and 220.  So Kenley really does have great size for a pitcher.  Added to the 40 man roster his past November, Jansen is in a great position to one day make Dodgers major league bullpen.  However, since he is just 22 years old and has very little pitching experience, the Dodgers will take their time with Jansen.  He’ll probably start the 2010 season back in the California League to get some addition work with Charlie Hough, but I’m sure that he’ll make it up to AA at some point during the season to face some more advanced competition.

15.  Travyon Robinson, CF (117 games in HiA, 19 games in AA in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2005, 10th round

5’10”, 175 lbs, 22.5 years old, switch hitter

.300 average, 17 HR’s, 64 RBI’s, 47 SB’s

Prior Year Ranking: 44

Los Angeles native Trayvon Robinson improved his prospect status significantly in 2009.  He showed the rare combination of speed and power by more than doubling his stolen base total and more than quadrupling his HR total from 2008.  He did all this while hitting .300 and posting a .866 OPS, both career highs.  While most of the damage was done in the hitter friendly California League, Robinson did spend the last three weeks of the 2009 season in AA and held his own while he was there.  After the season, Robinson spent time in the prestigious Arizona Fall League and was added to the Dodgers 40 man roster in November.  Even though Robinson’s newfound power was unexpected, in my opinion his breakout season wasn’t too much of a surprise because I had always considered him to be a legitimate Dodger prospect.  I had ranked him within my top 50 last season and knew that he had the potential to be an exciting player.  However, I’m not as high on Robinson as some people are, and for that reason I ranked him outside of my top 10.  While I think that he is a good player and has big league potential, I don’t believe that his power is for real as I can’t see him hitting more than 10 HR’s at the big league level.  In addition, I’m not sure if his other tools are strong enough to allow him to be a major league regular.  One indicator is that his 47 stolen bases in 2009 were tainted by the fact that he was caught 20 times.  The good news for Trayvon, however, is that will get to spend at least a portion of spring training in the Dodgers big league camp because he is on the 40 man roster.  As for the 2010 season, I’m sure that he’ll return to AA for another opportunity to prove himself in the Southern League.  Another solid season might give him the opportunity to play for a spot on the 25 man roster in 2011.

14.  Kyle Russell, RF (133 games in LoA in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2008, 3rd round

6’5”, 195 lbs, 23.75 years old, bats left handed

.272 average, 26 HR’s, 102 RBI’s, 20 SB’s

Prior Year Ranking: 14

Kyle Russell had an outstanding season in 2009.  He led the Midwest League in HR’s, RBI’s, and slugging %, and was named as the league’s co-MVP with teammate Dee Gordon.  He also showed off his surprising speed by stealing 20 bases in 22 attempts.  I realize that a lot of people have discounted his accomplishments in 2009 because he struck out 180 times (32% of his plate appearances) and was a little old for the Midwest League at 23 years old.  But for me, I’m not too bothered by those two things, and I’ll tell you why.  In regards to his strikeouts, I don’t really care how many times a guy strikes out as long as he is producing.  Sure it’s a little concerning that he struck out so much at such a low level of the minors, but I really don’t expect his K rate to increase as he moves up.  I’m predicting it will stay at about 30% for his career, which isn’t such a bad thing as long as he continues to hit with power.  In regards to his age, there really isn’t much Russell can do about which level the Dodgers place him in, so he took the assignment with a good attitude and did his best.  Also, the other option for Russell would have been for him to play in the California League, which is actually a lot easier of a league to hit in.  So I’m actually more impressed that he put up those numbers in the Midwest League.  The other thing to mention is that Russell is not just good offensive player, but is also a very solid defensive outfielder.  He has enough range to play center field, but because he has a very strong arm he has spent most of his minor league career in right field.  In terms of his future potential, Russell has the ability to be a fringe major league regular if he can continue to improve his game.  Even if he doesn’t end up as a starter, at the very least he can be a solid lefty pinch hitter off of the bench as Russell does very well against right handed pitchers (included a .978 OPS against right handed pitchers in 2009).  Russell is clearly ready for AA in 2010, but he may be forced to start the season in HiA because the Chattanooga outfield is already pretty set (Lambo, Robinson, and Van Slyke).  No matter where he plays, expect him to hit a lot of home runs and strike out quite a bit.

13.  Ivan DeJesus, SS (4 games in Arizona Rookie League in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2005, 2nd round

5’11”, 190 lbs, 22.75 years old, bats right handed

.200 average, 0 HR’s, 3 RBI’s, 0 SB’s

Prior Year Ranking: 5

This past offseason, I’ve heard some people say that Ivan DeJesus shouldn’t drop in prospect rankings just because he was injured, especially since the injury was a freak broken leg that wasn’t his fault.  Personally I disagree.  I’m obviously going to rank a 21 year old coming off a season where he hit .324 in AA more favorably than a 22 year old who is coming off a broken leg.  In addition, while he has been able to resume full baseball activity, there are always going to be short term and long effects from a compound fracture.  For the short term, he proclaimed that he still isn’t even 100% healed heading into spring training, so that is going to limit him some.  For the long term, I really don’t think he is ever going to fully regain his speed (which was already marginal at best) or his defensive range at shortstop.  I also think that he may lose a little bit of aggressiveness since he’s going to have to be a little more cautious while running the bases.  All of these signs (along with the emergence of Dee Gordon) point to DeJesus moving to 2nd base in the near future.  The problem with that is that I don’t believe DeJesus quite has the offensive ability to play second base at the major league level.  Sure he hit .324 in AA, but at the major league level I see his ceiling as being a player who hits .270 with around 5-10 HR’s annually.  That’s just not very exciting.  Even with all that being said, DeJesus won't even turn 23 until May of 2010, so he still has plenty of time to heal, catch up in his development, and prove me wrong.  He was added to the Dodgers 40 man rosters in November, so management is confident that he rebound from his injury.  Despite missing a year, he’ll still be one of the younger players in AAA, which is his likely destination for the 2010 season.  While with the Isotopes, DeJesus will probably play both middle infield positions.  Another thing to point out is that Ivan’s father was a major league shortstop for 15 seasons, so Ivan has a great baseball background which has lead to him being a very intelligent player.  Overall, I’m obviously not as high on DeJesus as some people are, but if he can return to his previous form and demonstrate that he is 100% healed, then I have no problem changing my mind about him.  I’m hoping that he has a healthy and very productive 2010 season.

12.  Pedro Baez, 3B (79 games in HiA in 2009)

Signed by Dodgers 1/22/07

6’2”, 195 lbs, 22 years old, bats right handed

.286 average, 10 HR’s, 61 RBI’s, 5 SB’s

Prior Year Ranking: 11

Pedro Baez was signed out of the Dominican Republic for $200K before the 2007 season.  And actually he was the last “big” international signing the Dodgers have had, which is a little sad.  Anyways, I'm a little higher on Baez than most, and that is due to his youth, raw power potential, and ability to play 3rd base.  While his defense right now is still a little raw, he has the tools to be an above average third baseman if he can improve his footwork.  His arm is outstanding, and he has been clocked as high as 94 mph on throws across the infield.  In fact, now that Josh Bell is gone, it appears that he is the heir apparent to take over third base once Casey Blake’s contract expires.  In terms of his 2009 season, Baez was doing quite well until a knee injury ended his season in mid July.  He hit a respectable .286, and his 61 RBI’s ranked fourth on the team even though he missed a month and a half of the season.  He was also selected to play in the 2009 Futures Game, which is a big compliment because it features some of the game’s best prospects.  Another interesting thing about Baez is that even though he is right handed, he hit .300 against right handed pitchers and .247 against left handed pitchers.  The best part about Baez, however, is his power.  As mentioned above, he has great raw power and absolutely kills fastballs.  While he has trouble with offspeed pitchers, I think that his pitch recognition will come with maturity.  Even though he is coming off of an injury, I think he is young enough to rebound fully in 2010.  Baseball America says that he will start the 2010 season in AA, although I think he might be better served spending a little more time in the California League.  Overall I see him as a player with 30 HR potential at the big league level, but whether or not he reaches that potential is the question.

11.  Allen Webster, RHP (47.7 innings in Arizona League, 21 innings in Pioneer League in 2009)

Drafted by Dodgers 2008, 18th round

6’2”, 165 lbs, 20 years old

4-1, 2.36 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 10.09 K/9

Prior Year Ranking: 100

I want to start off with a story that I told last year, only I want to go into a little more detail.  So in January of 2009, I was at a Kings Hockey game and happened to sit right behind Ned Coletti.  Once I realized it was Ned, I looked around and realized that I was actually sitting right in the middle of the section that included almost all of the Dodgers front office and scouts.  Now I didn’t really want to bother anyone, plus I didn’t really know who most of the people were.  However, when I saw Mitch Webster sitting by himself, I couldn’t help but go over and talk to him.  I started out by introducing myself, and then we got to talking about the minor league system.  One of my first questions was “so how is your son Carl doing?  I saw that he had a nice year in the GCL in 2009.”  Webster burst out laughing said Carl Webster isn’t my son…in fact I think Carl Webster is black!”  I was a little embarrassed because I really had thought that Carl was his son and that’s why the Dodgers picked him, but at the same time it was really funny.  It also goes to show that the Dodger scouts tend to concentrate on their specific areas and don’t even know about all minor league players because Mitch was obviously wrong about Webster being black.  Anyways, a lot has changed for Carl Webster since I first talked about him.  First, he clarified that he wanted to go by his middle name Allen.  Most importantly, however, is the fact that he jumped up the prospect ladder in 2009 with an outstanding showing in the Arizona League.  Through almost 50 innings he had a 2.08 ERA, a FIP of 2.03, and a batting average against of just .197.  He also had a great WHIP and struck out more than a batter per inning.  Webster earned a promotion to the Pioneer League in late August and pitched 21 more impressive innings, posting another good FIP 2.39 during his stay in Ogden.  I’m not going to say that I predicted anything, but in my write-up last year I did say “When he does gain some muscle, I expect his K’s per 9 to increase dramatically.  I would keep an eye on Webster, and I predict that in a few years, we will be talking about what a steal he was as an 18th round pick.”  While Webster is still listed at 165, I’m sure that he has gained some weight since he was drafted, which I’m sure has lead to his dominance.  In terms of his stuff, Webster works in the low 90’s but frequently reaches 95 mph.  Like most pitchers he also has a breaking ball and a changeup, and while they both are considered plus pitches at times, they both can also use some work as he advances through the system.  From the looks of things, Webster will spend the 2010 season in LoA.  I’m sure he’ll have no problem securing a spot in the Loons rotation, and it will be good for him to pitch in a full season league.  Baseball America seems to think that Webster has the potential to be a #2 starter at the big league level, and while those seem to be pretty lofty expectations, it shows that they must be seeing something in him that they like.  Realistically I think he’ll be more of a #3 or #4 starter, but only time will tell.