Dodgers Top Prospects: Should they stay or should they go

The Dodgers are involved in trade talks on players which other teams can market in the top tier levels of who is available this deadline and who is not. Marcus Stroman, Felipe Vazquez, Edwin Diaz and Noah Syndergaard all rank as high-end talent with any team and for their services the Dodgers will have to pay a lofty price.

Like a buying team wants major league talent to bolster the end of the season and playoff rosters, selling teams want prospect returns to build a consistent, well rounded, core for their futures which they hope are brighter than whatever went into the decision to blow things up.

The Dodgers have one of the best systems in baseball and, be it a blessing or a curse, it will force them to trade players they like and have groomed to work for Los Angeles. They will undoubtedly have to deal top minor league talent and the question becomes who should be available or not.

This will examine each of the Dodgers top prospects and who determine who should be available versus who should not be.

Gavin Lux is having the biggest breakout season of any prospect in recent memory and needless to say, he isn’t going anywhere this year.

The 6’2, 190-pound middle infielder from Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin is hitting .357 this year with 21 home runs, 64 RBI’s, 222 total bases and a 1.051 OPS between Double-A and Triple-A this year and has been vaulted to baseball’s 10th best prospect. This is a guy that, in a dire situation, could be called up right now and more than likely succeed in the major leagues.

With the Dodgers being rather unstoppable in the big leagues right now, there really is no need to burn Lux’s service time and call him up but that’s exactly what he is: a call-up, not a trade piece.

Lux has every hitting tool imaginable plus he can play both second base and shortstop although his throwing accuracy could very well lend itself to him being a second baseman although one Dodgers scout shared, “we plan to push him as a shortstop until he proves he shouldn’t be one.”

Lux is an emphatic keeper for the Dodgers.

May is the first prospect where the decision making gets a bit tougher because he, like Keibert Ruiz is to Will Smith, is highly comparable to Tony Gonsolin and the two are in a way, packaged next to each other as far as who should be kept versus traded.

Both Gonsolin and May are hard-throwing righties with great breaking pitches. If the Dodgers choose to trade one and keep the other they’ll be able to add a power righty to either the rotation or back-end of the bullpen although, with both, the plan is clearly starting.

Gonsolin is developmentally farther ahead than May is right now although Gonsolin has played college baseball whereas May was a high school pick.

However, due to age and success, the Dodgers could benefit for a longer period of time by holding on to May over Gonsolin.

It’s important to note that for the right return, the Dodgers could flip May and keep Gonsolin but keeping the younger player with more potential is rather obviously the way to go.

This season, May has played in Double-A and Triple-A this season and has looked really great in Triple-A where, at the time of this article, he had only made four starts. Despite the small sample size in the minor’s highest level, the Dodger prospect has proven a lot by successfully pitching in a level where batters are hitting home runs at a 129 percent rate higher than last season.

Dustin May is an exciting prospect and for now, unless the right offer comes through, he should be kept.

Keibert Ruiz is the youngest player in Triple-A right now and the switch-hitting Venezuelan catcher arguably has the most potential in the Dodgers’ system. The 21-year-old catcher has an impressive bat the lends itself to a high average with natural power.

Ruiz hasn’t had the most impressive line over the last two season but with his youth and raw talent, he doesn’t raise any red flags for struggling and certainly does not require lowered expectations.

But, the Dodgers have an opportunity to market the very younger prospect and headline him in a return for a superstar, an option afforded to the team by Will Smith.

Smith has been unbelievable this year and despite his ranking on the prospect list is lower than Ruiz, he’s already in the big leagues and he’s already crushing the pitching there. Smith has been an unbelievable success since his first-round selection back in 2016.

With Smith in the bigs and no need to split playing time between two very talented catchers, the Dodgers can absolutely afford to trade Ruiz who has already been mentioned in talks with the Pirates for Felipe Vazquez which leads most people to believe he could be involved elsewhere.

Ruiz is a great player but the Dodgers, he’s best served on the market.

In December, the Dodgers traded Yasiel Puig and others to the Reds for two prospects and Homer Bailey. One of them, Josiah Gray, has been a roaring success this season ranks as the Dodgers fifth-best prospect.

Gray has been immensely good this year and has been promoted from Great Lakes (Low-A) to Tulsa (Double-A) between the start of the season and right now and between them he’s made 19 total starts with a 2.10 ERA and 103 innings pitched and 115 punchouts.

Gray started his career as a DII shortstop and converted to the mound in the Cape Cod collegiate summer league. He sports a 90-95 mile per hour fastball that reaches speeds as high as 97 miles per hour and the 21-year-old former infielder has used that and a great slider to get his outs this year.

Gray has been a massive breakout for the Dodgers since being acquired from the Reds and it would be foolish to flip the rising star so soon after acquiring him and given his immense and immediate success in the Dodgers’ system. This is a player the Dodgers should hold on to and utilize in the next few years given his rapid rise through the system. Gray is a keep without a doubt.