Dodgers 2011 #6 Prospect Chat

In a very close vote, Kenley Jansen narrowly edged out Dee Gordon to become TBLA’s #5 prospect heading into 2011.  It was interesting to see Jansen fall to the #5 prospect after the initially "winning" the very first vote, but that just shows how much better the new voting method is.  Jansen is the first player on this list to have already spent time with the Dodgers, and I think it’s safe to assume that he’ll be a big part of the Dodgers bullpen next year.  I know many were put off by the fact that he is "just" a relief pitcher in terms of voting, but at the end of the day he has already shown that he has the potential to be a dominate force out of the bullpen.  Jansen’s 23 votes beat out Gordon’s 22, Allen Webster’s 5, and Chris Withrow’s 2.   Thus far, the TBLA Prospect List looks like:

1.     Jerry Sands

2.     Trayvon Robinson

3.     Zach Lee

4.     Rubby De La Rosa

5.     Kenley Jansen

While this group might not have the "can’t miss prospect" who is going to have an immediate impact on the team, I’m sure that most would agree that this is a pretty solid group.  Both hitters and pitchers are well represented, and the group as a whole has a lot of upside.  Hopefully at least a few of them will pan out for us.

While we probably don’t need to add any new names quite yet, I’d rather have too many names to select from rather than too few.  Therefore, I’m adding both Ethan Martin and Jonathan Garcia to this round.  I know there were some other guys mentioned, but I think that these two are the logical choices.  Feel free to continue suggesting names because I’ll probably add a name per round from here on out.  We are going to continue voting using the comment method, so refer to the fanpost and submit your vote in the comments.  I’m going to leave this vote open for approximately 24 hours, which should give everyone a chance to vote.

To make it obvious for those not reading the whole article, Click Here To Vote.

As always, use this thread to talk about the voting and other things, and only use the other Fanpost to submit your votes. 

The round 6 candidates (ages as of 2011 opening day):

Dee Gordon (22.75 years old) SS – Has a .297 career minor league batting average and has 126 stolen bases over the past 2 seasons, and scouts still describe him as very raw with a ton of potential.  Was one of the younger players in AA in 2010, and despite making a lot of errors at shortstop, many believe he has the tools to one day be a plus defender.

Allen Webster (21 years old) RHP – Webster has been excellent in his 3 minor league seasons, and has a career minor league ERA of 2.76 in 218.1 innings.  While his strikeout rate dropped a bit in 2010, his 131.1 innings with the Loons as 20 year old almost doubled his workload from the previous year, so it was expected that he’d tire a bit.  He has a low 90’s fastball that hits 94 and has a lot of sink, and his curveball is very solid. 

Aaron Miller (23.5 years old) LHP – Was great in the California league, but struggled during his 23 innings in AA.  He doesn’t throw real hard, generally working in the low 90’s, but he has great control.  He also has a power slider and is working on a changeup.

Chris Withrow (22 years old) RHP – TBLA’s #1 prospect last year, Withrow had a very disappointing 2010 season in AA.  However he was one of the youngest players in the Southern League at just 21 years old, so he still have plenty of time to improve his game.  He still has great stuff, as Baseball America’s most recent report says that "he features a mid-90s fastball that bores and sinks, and he also spins a plus curveball in the mid-70s." 

Ethan Martin (21.75 years old) RHP – Martin had terrible stats in 2010, but his stuff is still solid.  He throws in the mid 90’s, occasionally hitting 98, and has a big breaking curveball.  He also has a developing changeup, and is still just 21 years old.  His biggest problem last season related to the fact that his fastball lacked movement, so he needs to improve that as well as the mental aspect of his game.

Jonathan Garcia (19.25 years old) OF – Garcia played the entire 2010 season as an 18 year old and posted some very solid stats.  The only caveat to his .305 average and 10 homers is that he did most of his damage at home in the Raptors hitter friendly park.  He’s a little undersized at 5’11", but plays solid defense and at 19 years old he still could still hit a growth spurt.

Again, Click Here for the #6 Dodger Prospect Voting