Dodgers: 2017’s (a Little Past) Mid-Season Prospect Rankings

4.  Yadier Alvarez

This is probably the hardest guy on this list to place because of the discrepancy between his ceiling and what he has put out on the field so far. There may be a day that is looking back on this list; I roast myself for having a guy this talented out of the top-3 as he tears up major league hitters with triple digit heaters and knee-buckling sliders. There may also be a time when people are calling him a major bust or a player who just didn’t live up to the potential.

Alvarez started the year as the unquestioned, unmovable top prospect for the Dodgers. Now, it has been more about the players above him on this list having exceptional years rather than him underperforming, but he still has a lot left to prove. The 21-year-old has played at two levels now this season, and his ERA still is up near five. People will love his 66 strike outs in 63 innings, but he will have to become a more efficient strike-thrower if he wants to keep moving up the ladder.

3. Willie Calhoun

For the year he is having, it feels like people still don’t give Calhoun the respect he’s deserving. I’ve put him at No. 3 on this list because he has gone out and earned it. The toughest part about putting this list together is judging based on potential talent and what they have already done, which holds more value. For the Vallejo product, he has hit too well to put him any lower on this list.

Calhoun is amongst the league leaders for all of Triple-A in home runs and leads his club in total bases, RBI, runs, OPS, and triples. Not a bad year so far. Despite all that, there had been almost no rumors of him moving up to the big leagues this season.

Now, with the current state of the big league club, that’s not needed, but there was a time this year when Logan Forsythe went down, and Chase Utley was hitting below .200. Those times have passed, but the concerns over Calhoun’s defense have not, and that’s really his biggest knock.

He’s been a true second baseman since he was drafted and has improved over these last few years but not enough apparently. Some people say Calhoun is great trade bait for an AL team because of the defense as he could DH there, but it seems to me that he is a bit young to just give up on the glove.