Dodgers: 3 MLB trade deadline chips plummeting in value

2. Kody Hoese

Kody Hoese entered the Dodgers’ farm system with a great deal of pedigree as an advanced college bat at the tail end of the first round in 2019.

However, whether due to the 2020 layoff that knocked many careers off track or unknown factors in his development, fans haven’t really seen much of the guy who entered 2021 as the team’s fourth-best prospect.

Now, the Tulane product looks more like a 24-year-old third baseman planted at Double-A who can’t find an offensive rhythm.

Unfortunately for all of us, Hoese’s batting average has remained in only two different area codes, and they both begin with “1” and “2,” making for a ludicrous season from someone Los Angeles recently had a good degree of faith in. At the moment, he’s stuck on the interstate at .183, sporting a single home run and 10 RBI in four rehab games at the Rookie League level, followed by 30 at Double-A.

Once thought to be someone who could carry a trade package for a mid-rotation arm (Kyle Gibson?), Hoese will now be a throw-in in any deal he joins, which is hardly an ideal scenario for a top-five prospect in a loaded system. Los Angeles has nearly no intention of trading the rest of their high-pedigree options, from Josiah Gray to Diego Cartaya to, yes, the blocked Keibert Ruiz. Hoese would seem to be a natural depth piece who’ll be lost to trade talks, save for his lack of performance, which has all but eliminated him from carrying the day.