has started doing a rundown of the top 200 Dodgers prospects using fanposts to post the countdown.

180 - 171

190 - 181

200 - 191

This is our Dodger top 30 in steroid mode. Coolguy_88888888 also did also did this last year, so take a look at his 200 from last year. This is quite a prodigious undertaking and I just want to thank him for taking the time to post his list this year on TBLA. It's members like this who help make our content richer then it would be if we only relied on the writers.

Josh Rawitch set up a Q&A session with Dodger Assistant GM, Player Development,  DeJon Watson. For those unfamiliar with DeJon he's a local boy who starred in baseball and football at Santa Monica High School and was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1985 draft by the Royals. He never advanced above A ball and turned to a career in scouting.  He quickly moved up the scouting ranks and was the Cincinnati Reds Director of Scouting when he did this interview.   In October of 2006, Ned Colletti hired him away from the Indians and brought him back home. Just one year later he was promoted to Assistant GM, Player Development.  A busy man he took a few minutes out of his time to talk with TBLA about the Dodger prospects.  Below is a summary of that conversation. Originally I had 50 questions but was told to cut it down to 10-12. I'm sure many questions you or I had were cut and in retrospect I wish I had asked a few of my other questions then the one's I did ask.

I did not have a phone recorder  so unless you see a quote, the answers I've written down are summaries

 Ivan DeJesus lost a year to injury. Other then a brief appearance in Arizona we have not heard how he's doing. Has he made a full recovery without any loss in athletic skills and can we expect him to be playing winter ball in Puerto Rico?  He's going to play winter ball in Puerto Rico, has a slight limp, still little trouble doing the turns, straight a head is fine, expectations are for him to be 100% by spring training. Little worried about the pounding his leg will take on the winter league astro turf.

Josh Lindblom started most of the time in AA but once promoted to AAA he pitched only in relief. Is the belief going forward that he's a bullpen guy instead of getting a shot in the rotation? He pitched in relief for the Isotopes just in case the Dodgers needed him in the bullpen. The expectation is that if he does not make the major league roster he will be pitching in the Isotope rotation.

Lucas May made some big strides with the bat this year, having a solid year in AA, World Cup, and the AFL. The one question many of us have is how is he progressing as a catcher? We have heard many a rumor that pitchers do not like pitching to him, has trouble with passed balls, and just does not appear to have the skills to be a major league catcher. Are these unfounded? Is he progressing as a catcher?  Defense is improving, has made "drastic improvement" based on his play in the AFL. Was the main catcher for the World Cup team which won the World Cup.

 Andrew Lambo had a pedestrian season in AA but is doing quite well in the AFL, where will he be playing in 2010? Still needs to prove himself in AA, very happy with his performance in the AFL as he's still one of the youngest players in the league but is one of the best hitters in the league.

Why did Kyle Russell spend the whole season with the Loons and how worried are you about the K's? - he stayed with the Loons all year because they liked the group of players they had there and wanted to keep them together as a unit for the complete season. Pitch recognition is his biggest problem and they hoped they made some big strides in the instructional league this Sept by adjusting his setup. They don't want to reduce his aggressiveness and realize that a hitter like that will strike out.

Tony Delmonico followed the Russ Martin, Carlos Santana, Lucas May playbook and was converted to a catcher. How did you and your scouts feel that worked out and is that going to stick? - Tony will stay at catcher and we felt he was making excellent progress when he was hurt and had to move from behind the plate.

Gerald Sands struggled in the MWL, was sent to Ogden where he destroyed the league playing CF, came back to the Loons and finished strong while playing 1st base. What position will he be playing in 2010 and do you see him making it to the California League?  "blue collar kid" , "Brings it every game" , going forward he will play both 1^st and the outfield, he has the foot speed to play the outfield but they are not ruling out 1^st base.

Ethan Martin and Nate Eovaldi became an interesting tag team during the 2nd half; can you elaborate on the thinking behind using them in the same game in the 2nd half for about three innings each? Since Ethan was coming off the injury last year and Nathan had the history of the TJ, they wanted to keep the innings down so they put them together. Next year the gloves will come off and they will both be in the rotation.

Is Austin Gallagher a 1st baseman going forward and is his shoulder healthy?  - Still looking at both sides of the diamond for Austin. His shoulder is coming along and he's making progress, taking dry swings at the moment. They love the bat and his internal desire.

Aaron Miller was dynamite for the Loons during the regular and post season. Are the Dodgers going to be aggressive with him and move him to AA to start the season? - To be determined this spring but he's impressed everyone in the organization with not only his stuff but his poise.

Allen Webster had a big year, was that the biggest surprise of the season or did your scouting staff know what you had? - When drafted he was throwing 88-90 but after making some adjustments to his pitching mechanics and natural physical maturation he was touching 95 this year. "added five feet to his fastball".  Other players of note who he thought made big strides were  Buddy DeLaRosa - "touching 98 - 99 " this summer after some tweaks to his mechanics. Carlos Frias big arm.

One of the Dodger prospects we traded away a few years ago was Chuck Tiffany. He then suffered an arm injury and wasn't able to come back with the Rays. This summer we signed him to a contract but I've never heard a word about his progress? Is he still with the organization? If so what are the expectations? - arm never bounced back, he was released at the end of the year

What happened to College World Series hero Clayton Allison? - shoulder surgery (would not reveal what kind), expected to be 100% by spring.

Dead heat after two votes so they both get to call themselves the TBLA 13th best prospect. Final vote is now up for the 15th TBLA best Dodger prospect.  I don't know how the rest of you vote but I do it on what the ceiling is and if I expect them to reach the ceiling. So for me Lucas May will be no more then a backup catcher, while Jonathan Garcia could be Adam Jones (a comparable for his age in the Arizona League) offensively or just another fast starting kid who is swallowed up by advanced pitching.

Dead Heat between Webster and Russell with Lucas May getting some surprising support.

1 Chat and Vote -  Chris Withrow
2 Chat and Vote -  Dee Gordon
3 Chat and Vote - Scott Elbert
4 Chat and Vote - Ivan DeJesus
5.Chat and Vote - Ethan Martin
6.Chat and Vote - Andrew Lambo
7.                             Aaron Miller
8. Chat and Vote - Josh Lindlbom
9. Chat and vote  - Trayvon Robinson
10. Chat and vote  - Nathan Eovaldi
11.                              Xavier Paul
12. Chat and Vote  Garrett Gould

Garret Gould wins the vote for number 12 quite easily and is now the youngest player on the list. Seven out of twelve are pitchers. I've add a plethora of names to the poll as we head into the strech for the top 15.

1 Chat and Vote -  Chris Withrow
2 Chat and Vote -  Dee Gordon
3 Chat and Vote - Scott Elbert
4 Chat and Vote - Ivan DeJesus
5.Chat and Vote - Ethan Martin
6.Chat and Vote - Andrew Lambo
7.                             Aaron Miller
8. Chat and Vote - Josh Lindlbom
9. Chat and vote  - Trayvon Robinson
10. Chat and vote  - Nathan Eovaldi
11.                              Xavier Paul

It took two different votes but Nathan Eovaldi holds off Xavier Paul to win the coveted TBLA 10 spot.  A near dead heat in the first vote resulted in a run off vote that was close for most of the day, but the late afternoon/evening crowd pushed Eovaldi into the lead by 18 votes.

Now this may ruffle some feathers but I'm not putting Paul back out there. He got enough support for the 10 spot that I'm putting him in at 11.  I don't agree with it but the voters have given him plenty of support.  The vote is on for 12 and I'm adding the youngest player in the organization.

We all have our reasons for who and why we vote for someone. For me the next three spots are between the teen-agers. The high bonus golden arm of Garrett Gould or the promise of Jonathan Garcia or the unexpected brilliance of Allen Webster.

Fricking crazy that I'm talking about three guys who were born after 1990.

Anybody else you would like to have the voters have a crack at? Lucas May, Jamie Hoffman, Brent Leach, Francisco Felix, Travis Schlichting, Justin Sellers, Javy Guerra, Pedro Baez, Steven Caseres, Jamie Ortiz, Tim Sexton, Kenley Jansen, Tony Delmonico, Jamie Pedroza, Gerald Sands, Geison Aguasviva, Jon Michael Redding , Allen St. Clair, Brian Cavazos-Galvez, Gorman Erickson, Franklin Jacobs, Mario Songco, Brett Wallach, Jonathan Garcia, Danny Danielson, Roberto Feliciano.

1 Chat and Vote -  Chris WIthrow
2 Chat and Vote -  Dee Gordon
3 Chat and Vote - Scott Elbert
4 Chat and Vote - Ivan DeJesus
5.Chat and Vote - Ethan Martin
6.Chat and Vote - Andrew Lambo
7.                             Aaron Miller
8. Chat and Vote - Josh Lindlbom

It was close between Lindblom and Trayvon until the afternoon when Josh just blew him away using his killer repertoire

Lindblom touched 96 mph as a college reliever, and he still pitched with plus velocity (89-94) as a pro starter, with plenty of heavy life on his fastball. His heater bores in on righthanders, his slider has lateral tilt and his splitter is a swing-and-miss pitch. He has a durable body, clean delivery and good mound presence..

If the voters go down the same path as the last vote this next poll is really between Xavier Paul and Trayvon Robinson as we decide which one of these center fielders has the better future. Both of these players are similar in some aspects.

1. Both play center field

2. Both have some power but neither will ever be considered home run hitters.

3. Both strike out much more then they should given their lack of power. At least when Kyle Russell makes contact you know the ball is going big fly.

4. Paul put up huge numbers in AAA but a closer look shows he did most of his damage at home in one of the best offensive parks in baseball. Robinson put up big numbers in the offensive California League. Paul couldn't break an OPS of .800 while in the Southern League joining Lambo in that futility.

5. They both need work on their stolen base game. Robinson has been caught 46 times in 149 attempts  which won't get it done if he wants to have value as a basestealer. Eric reported for what it is worth that Trayvon is considered by 66er fans to be one of the worse baserunners on the team. Paul isn't much better as he's been caught 48 times in 134 attempts.

To be honest I'm not sure why Paul got so much traction in the last vote. In the best possible scenario he could become Shane Victorino but I think he has a very small chance of that happening. The reality is that Paul is probably going to become at best a platoon outfielder who never holds a regular job on a good team. We don't know yet what Robinson will do with the two 1/2  years he has on Paul.  I'd rather hedge my bet on what we don't know then what we do know. Some have seen Paul's excellent numbers in AAA but as Eric showed in the chat, the MLE's for that kind of production are tepid.  I don't want to make it seem like I don't like Paul, I do, I think in 2010 he'd make an excellent fourth outfielder for the team because he can play all three outfield positions, can give us a solid pinch hitter against RHP, can pinch run. But this team is probably in trouble if Xavier Paul is playing LF with any regularity.

I'd welcome any arguments for anyone on this list. If you think someone should be winning this poll just don't call the vote a sham. Put together a cohesive argument on why you think so because otherwise it is irritating to read someone say "this is ridiculous, blah blah is clearly the better player" without any arguments to back it. I spend a good amount of time writing this stuff up and a three second comment bashing the voting is just irritating. If you don't like the way a vote is going, give reasons why you think the voters are wrong. 

Kyle Russell was talked about quite a bit in the last chat and vote. I personally like Kyle Russell very much because the Dodgers have no one close to him when it comes to power. He may have more power then anyone has had since Billy Ashley was in the system but those of us who remember, know what happened to Billy Ashley. The difference and I hope this is the difference between failure and success is that Kyle Russell is an excellent athlete. That said I'm not putting him on the ballot until after this next vote.  I'm a bit amazed that our system got so deep that Gould/Eovaldi/Webster are looking at the outside of the top ten.

After a heated battle Aaron Miller, Andrew Lambo, and Ethan Martin were just about dead even. This next vote will only take place in the comments and will run until 09:00 AM tomorrow.  Only vote for one of the three, you may use initials if you choose.

AM = Aaron Miller

AL = Andrew Lambo

EM = Ethan Martin