Four publications have updated their MiLB Top Prospect lists:
- Baseball America – Top 100
- MLB Pipeline – Top 100
- ESPN (Kiley McDaniel) – Top 50
- Fangraphs – Top 107
The names have really not changed, but their rankings have, and in some cases, dramatically so.
Baseball America Pre-Season:
- Dalton Rushing – #50
- Gavin Stone – #82
- Andy Pages – #96
- Nick Frasso – #97
In the early 2024 update, Gavin Stone graduated and Nick Frasso was moved out of the top 100, due to injury.
The biggest jump was 19 year old OF Josue De Paula, who went from unranked to #40. Catcher/1B Liranzo went from unranked to #89.
Baseball America May In-Season Revision:
- Josue De Paula – #40
- Dalton Rushing – #41
- Andy Pages – #52
- Thayron Liranzo – #89
Fangraphs Pre-Season:
- River Ryan – #19
- Diego Cartaya – #60
- Dalton Rushing – #68
- Thayron Liranzo – #72
- Kyle Hurt – #86
- Joendry Vargas – #92
All 6 of the above prospects were still named in the May Update, although their ranking order did change. Rushing, Liranzo, and Vargas were relatively small changes. River Ryan was Fangraphs #1 LAD prospect and #19 overall. Because of his injury he dropped to LAD #2 prospect and #33 overall.
Kyle Hurt moved to #104 due to his injury, and Diego Cartaya dropped from #60 all the way to #106, and that was not due to injury.
Two new LAD prospects moved into the Top 100. Josue De Paula was unranked and moved all the way to #28, and is now the #1 LAD prospect per Fangraphs. The second LAD prospect is returning to the Top 100. Andy Pages went from unranked to #68.
Per Eric Logenhagen on both De Paula and Pages:
Josue De Paula, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
De Paula was left out of the Top 100 during the offseason because I wanted to see him actually hit for power (he is a corner defender, after all), which has started to happen. He didn’t have a home run until a few days before this update, but his underlying exit velos have been sensational. His 94 mph average exit velo so far this season is elite, up eight ticks from last year, while his 114 mph max is up four.
Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
Another guy who remade his physique during the offseason, Pages had season-ending shoulder surgery in 2023 and came back this year with a totally different body and level of athleticism. He is swinging with more athletic verve than ever before (he was a Top 100 guy before his injury), and it raises the ceiling on his defense to have better speed.
Fangraphs May In-Season Revision:
- Josue De Paula – #28
- River Ryan – #33
- Dalton Rushing – #65
- Andy Pages – #68
- Thayron Liranzo – #79
- Joendry Vargas – #94
- Kyle Hurt – #104
- Diego Cartaya – #106
MLB Pipeline Pre-Season:
- Dalton Rushing – #75
- Nick Frasso – #80
Dalton Rushing was considered a big move up, moving from #75 to #53 (+22 spots). Nick Frasso dropped out due to his season ending injury.
Josue De Paula appeared in his 3rd revised Top Prospect list, moving from unranked to #83. Andy Pages returned to MLB Pipeline Top 100 status after his injury, moving to #52, and becoming LAD top prospect.
MLB Pipeline May In-Season Revision:
- Andy Pages – #52
- Dalton Rushing – #53
- Josue De Paula – #83
The Cubs have 7 in the May revised top prospect list. The Rockies have 6 and NYM has 5. 11 teams have 4, and 7 teams (including the Dodgers) have 3. Only the Angels do not have at least 1 Top 100 prospect in MLB Pipeline.
ESPN Pre-Season:
- Josue De Paula – #68
- Dalton Rushing – #75
- Diego Cartaya – #85
- Nick Frasso – #86
- Andy Pages – #87
- River Ryan – #102
- Joendry Vargas – #106
ESPN (Kiley McDaniel) only had 50 top prospects in their May Revision:
- Josue De Paula – #35
- Dalton Rushing – #40
So the Dodgers not having any prospects in the ESPN Top 67 Pre-Season, now have 2 in their Top 40.
De Paula is the #1 LAD prospect in 3 of the 4 revised Top Prospect lists.
With Andy Pages at MLB, the Dodgers do not have any healthy Top Prospects in AAA, and only 2 in AA (Dalton Rushing and Diego Cartaya). That does not bode well for trades of difference making OF or middle infielders. Maybe a reliever.
Here is what one of the publications wrote about Thayron Liranzo after his slow start.
Thayron Liranzo, C, Dodgers: As a rule, it’s always a good idea to take the weather into consideration when assessing hitting prospects in the early portion of a minor league season. That’s especially true in the Midwest League, where it is particularly frigid to begin the year. As such, even the best will succumb to the elements and have their talents muted. Consider Liranzo squarely in that mix. The Dodgers’ catching prospect was icy cold in April, when he hit .159/.274/.333/.607 over 16 games. With the weather heating up, Liranzo has begun to perform. His May batting line is .308/.451/.492/.943 with three home runs, and 17 BB and 17K.
https://twitter.com/billplunkettocr/status/1794124434355150851
When will we ever get a straight answer from the Dodgers on an injury.
Now here is some reeeeaaaaly bad umpiring.
https://twitter.com/BaseballQuotes1/status/1793838322529583552
Umpiring. There’s a piece in the Times this morning about ABS. Manfred knows it’s needed, I read between the words and know this to be true. But, the system won’t be employed before ‘26. He did say the players would like a challenge system and that could be employed before ABS. I mentioned what I thought would be a good idea regarding that the other day. Challenge strike 3.
There was also a mention of working with Dow Chemical (not kidding about that) on the application they are currently using to make balls tackier. Dow first tried substances they had left over from the 60s but it turned the balls a shade of orange and was killing the grass so they switched to another 60s leftover substance, a sticky jelly like material that works, but it’s important not to smoke around the balls.
Liranzo: future 1B
De Paula: future RF
Interesting to see the fruits of the new International scouting and strategy with regard to prospects.
I’m interested in following the prospects and Jeff does an outstanding job of keeping us informed of their progress. But, with the history of the past couple of years the realization of any of them actually playing for the Dodgers is minimal.
De Paula is in AA and probably 3-4 years away from being a Dodger. Rushing, Liranzo, and Cartaya are most likely trade pieces as there is no position for them with Smith. Freeman, and Ohtani occupying positions that they could possibly play. Joendry Vargas is a SS who is 18 and is projected to make the Dodgers in 2028. This is probably the only other rated position prospect that has a realistic chance to play for the Dodgers in the future.
The top pitchers Ryan, Hurt, Sheehan, and Frasso are all injured. The team seems to do an excellent job developing their pitching prospects. But, how come so many injures once they get close to playing for the Dodgers? Bobby Miller has three starts to begin the season and then is on the 15 day IL for a month so far. It will most likely be another month before he returns.
The Dodgers have been lauded for their consistently deep farm system. It’s been ranked top five or so for years. It gives them “depth”. AF has drafted dozens of pitchers in the past few years with the objective of improving the BP with cheap, young arms. Where are they? Instead, AF churns through one marginal reliever after another. A recent example is Yohan Ramirez. What a shit outing by him last night. So, with all this minor league “depth”, the current staff, how in the heck does this pitcher even sniff a Dodger uniform? Why? Is AF trying to give the opponents a better chance to win? Paxton was not happy at being pulled. He had to be furious while watching the shit show that followed.
So, while continue to pull for Vargas, Pages, and Lux to be successful MLB players I have a feeling that none will be with the Dodgers in the near future.
Can the team produce pitching that can last longer than 3-4 games before going on the IL? I certainly hope I’m wrong.
Carry on
I think we will all be happy with a World Series win but most of us will be very grumpy and negative during the regular season if the team were to only win 85 games.
Thank you for putting this info together!
Well we just kinda suck now don’t we. 5 for 30, 0 for 7 WRISP, bottom of the lineup 0 for 10.
The prospect rankings are fun, but I wonder if they have much meaning to people like AF.
I assume that the Dodgers and most other teams use their scouting networks to make independent judgments. And I assume these judgments may vary widely from team to team.