Dodgers rich farm system gets richer
The Los Angeles Dodgers trade with the Cincinnati Reds has received plenty of attention for the major league pieces and the salary implications, but the Dodgers again won the story not told about this deal.
For the last 15 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers have seen one 90-loss season and a total or two losing seasons while winning 9 divisional titles. During that time, the Dodgers have also maintained one of the best farm systems in the entire game, in spite of changing general managers and owners in that time.
On Friday, the Dodgers were involved in a huge deal that allowed them to clear space, trading Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, and Kyle Farmer to the Cincinnati Reds. The major return on the deal that most fans know is right-hander Homer Bailey, who the Dodgers intend to cut immediately, instead taking the salary savings that end up between $12 million and $18 million, depending on who you believe.
However, there were two more pieces to this deal, and like so many deals that the Dodgers have swung over the last decade and a half, it’s those extra pieces that will likely turn this deal strongly in their favor in the end.
The Reds traded right-hander Josiah Gray and infielder Jeter Downs, both prospects who have not played above A-ball yet. So why are these two players so likely to turn the deal in the Dodgers’ favor?
In our Reds top prospect list recently published here at Call to the Pen, Gray was featured as the 2018 draftee to follow, and Downs was ranked #5 in the Reds system.
Both players are notable because while they do have very high ceilings, they also have very high floors. Downs doesn’t have any one tool that is double-plus, but he does have a plus contact ability and plus arm as well as very high-level instincts for the game, which allow him to work at shortstop right now and should allow him to play well up the middle down the road.
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Offensively, Downs likely has a ceiling of someone like Omar Infante, not an elite guy in any one thing he does, but a guy who when you put everything together is a player that sticks around the league at a valuable level for many years.
Gray could end up being the gem of this deal. He only ended up going to an NAIA school, but he impressed enough that he was drafted in the second round. He’s very athletic in his build, working up to mid-90s with his fastball now that has excellent life and control, especially for a guy who has so little experience on the mound after moving to pitching during college.
He has a high floor as a reliever with an excellent fastball and feel for two breaking pitches that he can throw for strikes that would work very well as at least a middle inning reliever to have a long career. However, with his limited arm usage and building the feel for his pitches, he has a very high ceiling, and many feel that he could end up developing into a second-tier frontline player or turn into an elite closer-type.
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Once again, this is another instance of why the Los Angeles Dodgers are able to sustain their success. They can pursue high-priced players while staying under the luxury tax due to their ability to produce cheap players that are very useful to the team. While others are focusing on Kemp, Puig, and Wood, it could end up Downs and Gray that bring the most value out of this deal.