Plenty has been made of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system this offseason, as Baseball America ranked it the best in baseball and ESPN ranked it second, behind only the Atlanta Braves.
Additionally, every prospect list that has come out, including ZiPS, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com and ESPN has ranked Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager the No. 1 overall prospect in all of baseball.
Along with Seager, the same lists have also ranked Dodgers left-handed pitching prospect Julio Urias as a top-10 prospect in baseball.
When president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman came over from the Tampa Bay Rays, who are usually at the top of farm system rankings, the Dodgers’ crop of Minor League talent has steadily improved and grown deeper.
While Seager and Urias are often the Dodgers’ most talked-about prospects, they were joined by five others in ESPN Keith Law’s ranking of the top 100 prospects entering the 2016 season.
Law also released a list of the top 10 prospects in every organization. Here is how he ranked the Dodgers Minor Leaguers:
Top 10 prospects (Top 100 rank in parentheses)
1. Corey Seager, SS (1)
2. Julio Urias, LHP (5)
3. Alex Verdugo, OF (51)
4. Jose De Leon, RHP (60)
5. Grant Holmes, RHP (71)
6. Yusnier Diaz, OF (77)
7. Cody Bellinger, 1B/CF (92)
8. Austin Barnes, C/2B
9. Omar Estevez, 2B/3B
10. Frankie Montas, RHP
Along with the players listed, the Dodgers also have talented prospects in second baseman Micah Johnson; outfielder Trayce Thompson; 2015 first-round draft pick, right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler; as well as right-handers Jharel Cotton, Chase De Jong and Yadier Alvarez.
Many of these prospects will be seen during Spring Training, as Seager, Barnes, Johnson and Thompson are currently on the team’s 40-man roster and Urias, De Leon, Holmes, Bellinger and De Jong are among the non-roster invitees.
After being called up in September last season, Seager batted .337/.425/.561 with four home runs, eight doubles, 17 RBIs, a .421 wOBA and 175 wRC+ in 27 games. He enters Spring Training as the Dodgers starting shortstop.
