This is the best farm system in baseball, with roughly 10 guys who’d be on a global top 150 (note to my editors: NO) and a whole different kind of depth — their “depth” guys aren’t depth guys for a major-league team, but prospects who have real upside and are just further away or higher-variance than the guys in their top 10.
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To qualify for these rankings, players must still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year Award in 2022, which means they may not have more than 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on an active roster heading into this season.
Note: Ages as of July 1, 2022.
1. Diego Cartaya, C (Top 100 ranking: No. 13)
Age: 20 | 6-3 | 219 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
We shouldn’t get too excited over any player’s 31-game sample, but Cartaya was already a serious prospect before this past season, receiving a $2.5 million bonus in 2018, then performing well in the Arizona Rookie League in 2019. He got into 31 games this year in Low A before a bad hamstring strain in late July ended his season, but he hit .298/.409/.614 when he played, with consistently high exit velocities and solid plate discipline all at 19 years old. Cartaya is going to be a monster at the plate with patience and power, and he’s improving as a defender across the board with enough of a baseline to leave no doubt that he’ll stay at the position. He needs more reps as a hitter and catcher, of course, with just 80 pro games under his belt, but he’s already so skilled for his age that he has No. 1 overall prospect upside.
2. Bobby Miller, RHP (Top 100 ranking: No. 50)
Age: 23 | 6-5 | 220 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 29 in 2020
The Dodgers took Miller out of the University of Louisville with the last pick of the first round in 2020 (before any supplemental picks), so the 6-5 right-hander didn’t make his debut until this year. The pick already looks like a steal, as Miller rolled out with four pitches, 94-98 on his four-seamer with good riding life, a plus slider at 84-89, and above-average weapons in his curve and changeup. He missed time with an oblique strain, but threw 56 regular-season innings with 70 punchouts and just 13 walks, then struggled a bit in three AFL outings. He has a stiff front leg when he lands and has had minor injury concerns, so there’s some small reliever risk here, but he has the weapons, the control, the history of getting lefties out, the size, just about every other box you’d want a potential front-line starter to check.
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3. Michael Busch, 2B (Top 100 ranking: No. 53)
Age: 24 | 6-1 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 31 in 2019
Busch is quite the anomaly: The Dodgers drafted him as a first baseman, converted him to second base and it worked. Busch has a beautiful left-handed swing that puts good loft on the ball, showing plus power against right-handed pitching, and he has long shown an advanced feel for the strike zone. He spent all of 2021 in Double A despite having just 10 games of pro experience before this year, and hit .267/.386/.484 in 107 games, with 20 homers and 70 walks. He struggled to do damage against lefties, with a .198/.355/.354 split against them, but wasn’t exactly overmatched against them, drawing walks and making contact, just without the impact. That’s a smaller hill to climb than one where a left-handed batter is striking out excessively on left-handers’ breaking stuff. With Busch playing solid enough defense at second, his bat makes him a clear regular, with a chance to be an All-Star if he improves his results on balls in play against southpaws.
4. Miguel Vargas, 3B (Top 100 ranking: No. 62)
Age: 22 | 6-3 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Vargas defected from Cuba back in 2015, then signed with the Dodgers and debuted in 2018, and all he’s done since then is hit — his professional line stands at .316/.384/.480, with just a 15.6 percent career strikeout rate, all of which has been consistent right up through Double A. He’s a very strong right-handed hitter who’s still coming into some power, with strength already in his hands and wrists to drive balls the other way. He’s gone from having no chance to stay at third base to having a very small chance to stay there; he’s not very athletic or twitchy, with an above-average arm but probably lacking the quickness on his feet to play third base at an average level. He may end up at first base, although the Dodgers have tried him at second as well, and the potential hit to his value is what keeps him out of the upper tier of prospects. His offensive upside as a .300+ hitter for average with 25-30 homers and 50-60 walks a year would make him a solid regular even if he does have to go to first.
5. Andy Pages, OF (Top 100 ranking: No. 76)
Age: 21 | 6-1 | 212 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
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Pages hadn’t played above the Pioneer League before 2021, but moved to High A as a 20-year-old and hit .265/.394/.539, finishing eighth in all of minor league baseball with 31 homers and 14th with 77 walks. Pages has 70 raw power and an advanced feel to hit for his age and experience level, along with average speed and an 80 arm that will serve him well in right field. His swing is balanced and very rotational, so between his hands and legs he can generate consistent hard contact; he’s already cut his strikeout rate from 28 percent in short-season to 24 percent last year, and it doesn’t have to go down any further to make him an above-average everyday player in right.
6. Eddys Leonard, SS (Top 100 ranking: No. 98)
Age: 21 | 6-0 | 160 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Leonard had just one game above short-season coming into 2021, but hit so well at both levels of A-ball, with a .297/.390/.539 line, that the Dodgers had to put him on the 40-man in November. Leonard has a fantastic swing, hammering fastballs even up in the zone and producing hard line-drive contact, enough to rank him in the top 25 of all minor-leaguers in extra-base hits with 29 doubles and 22 homers last year in just 107 games. He’s mostly played shortstop and second base, although the Dodgers tried him out in center for 11 games last year; he could stay at short and maybe end up a 55 defender there, but he’s an above-average runner and centerfield might be a better option given the Dodgers’ other talent in the infield. The bat is going to play anywhere, though, and if he shows he can crush better offspeed stuff the way he crushed tough fastballs last year, he’ll be in the top 25 next winter.
7. Ryan Pepiot, RHP (Just-missed list)
Age: 24 | 6-3 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 102 in 2019
The Dodgers’ system is hilarious; I see at least four other guys who had a credible argument to be on the top 100 or this just-missed list. Pepiot has an 80 changeup, one of the best pitches of its type in baseball right now, along with an above-average fastball, although he didn’t dominate left-handed batters last year as you’d expect for someone with a change or splitter of that caliber. Instead, he uses it as much to neutralize right-handed bats as left, and I think he could pitch in the majors in relief right now. He has a simple delivery and gets on top of the ball well for some plane on the fastball and to help turn over that changeup. What he lacks is the command and control he’ll need to be a starter without an above-average breaking ball (for now, at least); he walked a man every other inning in Triple A, only getting through five innings twice in 11 starts because of his inefficiency. That said, it’s an 80 changeup, and helps the fastball play up as well, and a tighter slider or a bump in control would make him at least a back-end starter right now.
8. Landon Knack, RHP
Age: 24 | 6-2 | 220 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 60 in 2020
Knack was the Dodgers’ second-rounder in 2020, a fifth-year senior who had incredible control, and he continued all of that in 2021, working 93-96 with a slider and changeup. He doesn’t have a plus pitch but the three he shows are all at least solid-average, and this kind of control — eight walks last year in 62 1/3 innings between High A and Double A — is more than enough to make him a back-end starter if he stays healthy, and he should make an impact sooner than most of the other arms on this list.
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9. Jorbit Vivas, 2B/3B
Age: 21 | 5-10 | 171 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Vivas is an exceptional hitter for contact, striking out just 11.5 percent of the time between both levels of A-ball as a 20-year-old, but he’s more than just a Punch-and-Judy hitter. Vivas slugged .515 in Low-A Rancho Cucamonga with 13 homers, and should end up with average power down the road. He’s mostly played second base in pro ball, splitting time last year between second and third, but he’s much better at the former spot and will need work on his defense if he’s going to stay at third or be a super-utility guy. He’s not a great athlete, but if he plays second, hits for this kind of contact, and gets to 15-20 homers a year, he’ll be a regular.
10. Jose Ramos, OF
Age: 21 | 6-1 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
No one bothers with stats from extended spring training, but if they did, Ramos might have been the MVP of Arizona’s version last year, and the Panamanian outfielder never stopped hitting once the games started to count: .383/.456/.633 in 15 games in Rookie ball, then .313/.377/.559 in Low A. He hadn’t played anywhere outside of the Dominican Summer League before last year, making the performance even more impressive. He gets the bat to the ball well but his swing isn’t that efficient, with his hips and hands often out of sync, which does raise the question of exactly how good he would be if someone helps him streamline his mechanics — the answer to which would probably be a top-50 prospect in the game. Did I mention he has an 80 arm and is an average runner who should be at least a 50 defender in right? The Dodgers signed him for just $30,000 in 2018, the same year they signed Luis Rodriguez, and Ramos has blown right past his more famous teammate.
11. James Outman, OF
Age: 25 | 6-3 | 215 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 224 in 2018
Outman was an unremarkable baseball player at Sacramento State who showed some power, but not huge power, and didn’t hit for much average. After he hit .226/.332/.407 as a 22-year-old in Low A in 2019, he was a non-prospect. A swing overhaul over the prior two years has turned him into a possible everyday player with 25 homer/25 steal upside and the potential for above-average OBPs. He can run, he makes hard contact, and he might be able to play centerfield. There’s still some swing and miss here but he’s at the very least gone from a release candidate to someone who’ll almost certainly finish 2022 in the majors.
12. Andre Jackson, RHP
Age: 26 | 6-3 | 210 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 370 in 2017
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Jackson made his major-league debut last year at age 25, which might seem old for a prospect, but Jackson didn’t become a full-time starting pitcher until 2018, a year after the Dodgers drafted him in the 12th round out of Utah. He’s still a work in progress on the mound, and lost some velocity since 2019, working more at 90-94 last year, using a slider now more than his curveball, and with a changeup that is probably his best offspeed pitch. He’s very athletic and is a great worker, so there’s some hope he’ll get his prior stuff back.
13. Nick Nastrini, RHP
Age: 22 | 6-3 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 131 in 2021
Nastrini was the Dodgers’ fourth-rounder in June, working at 94-98 with a power breaking ball, but he had a lot of trouble with the strike zone, walking 38 batters in 31 innings for UCLA … and then in pro ball, he cut his walk rate in half while striking out 55 percent of the batters he faced in 14 innings. It’s a high-end starter’s arsenal if he can harness it, and the Dodgers think they’ve figured out some things UCLA couldn’t. He’s probably going to hit 100 mph at some point, and if the Dodgers smooth out some more things in his delivery, like getting his front foot down sooner, he has an above-average starter’s ceiling.
14. Maddux Bruns, LHP
Age: 20 | 6-2 | 205 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 29 in 2021
The Dodgers’ first-round pick in 2021, Bruns has huge stuff for a lefty, up to 98 with a high-spin curveball, but he couldn’t throw strikes on the prospect showcase circuit in 2020 and had on-and-off control trouble last spring. He wasn’t much better in five innings in Rookie ball, although 30 batters faced (with seven walks) isn’t much of a sample. There’s plenty to work with here in size, delivery, athleticism and stuff; you can see a No. 2 starter here, and you can see him going all Bill Bene.
15. Gavin Stone, RHP
Age: 23 | 6-1 | 175 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 159 in 2020
The Dodgers’ fifth-round pick in 2020 out of Division I University of Central Arkansas, Stone looked like a money-saving pick at the time, but he’s become a serious prospect with two major-league pitches, including a fastball at 95-96 with good secondary characteristics. He throws a ton of strikes and is so athletic that he seems like he’ll be able to make adjustments well.
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16. Emmet Sheehan, RHP
Age: 22 | 6-5 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 192 in 2021
The Dodgers’ sixth-round pick in June, Sheehan was mostly 90-92 for Boston College in the spring, topping out at 95. A few weeks after the draft, he was 94-99, with a three-pitch mix that should let him at least go out as a starter in 2022, with high upside in the bullpen if his short arm action doesn’t allow him to stick in the rotation.
17. Carlos Duran, RHP
Age: 20 | 6-7 | 230 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Duran has a plus-plus slider and pitches in the mid-90s with some sink to the fastball, with control but not command, and he needs a third pitch for lefties. He has starter size and a delivery that should work there as well.
18. Clayton Beeter, RHP
Age: 23 | 6-2 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 66 in 2020
Beeter has a devastating hammer of a curveball with big velocity on his fastball too, but he’s had trouble staying healthy and threw limited innings this year as the Dodgers tried to bring him back slowly from the lost season. It’s starter stuff in a reliever’s delivery and track record.
19. Peter Heubeck, RHP
Age: 19 | 6-3 | 170 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 101 in 2021
Heubeck was the Dodgers’ second pick in 2021, a deep projection high school arm who was 90-93 this spring with an average curveball; he has good secondary characteristics on the fastball and some scouts saw advanced feel and command from him as an amateur.
20. Michael Grove, RHP
Age: 25 | 6-3 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 68 in 2018
Grove’s 2021 season was going off the rails, but some adjustments to his delivery towards the end of the year seemed to yield better results, as the former second-round pick — who has a career ERA in pro ball of 7.12 — punched out 33 against just five walks in his last six starts, covering 26 1/3 innings. He’s still up to 96 with a plus slider but was very homer-prone all the way through 2021, and might end up a reliever.
Others of note
Justin Yurchak hit .365/.436/.504 between High A and Double A last year as a 24-year-old, but he’s limited to first base and was old for those levels; the Dodgers couldn’t find room for him on their 40-man roster and he seems like a prime candidate for the Rule 5 draft … Wilman Diaz, who signed for just under $2.7 million in 2020, only played in 24 games after losing about 20 pounds while sick with COVID-19. He’ll play at 18 this year and should repeat the Arizona Complex League, hopefully at full strength this time … Luis Rodriguez, who signed for $2.67 million the year before Diaz, hit .216/.326/.367 with a 31 percent strikeout rate in the ACL, showing some power but a poor feel for the strike zone. He’s just 19, so he has time in his favor, but he’s not as advanced as the Dodgers might have hoped.
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2022 impact
Pepiot and Knack could throw meaningful innings for the Dodgers at some point this summer. Outman, Busch and Vargas are all reasonably close to call-ups, depending on what the Dodgers do with their infield.
The fallen
Kody Hoese was a reach in the first round in 2019, a fourth-year junior who hit 23 homers for Tulane mostly off pitchers younger than he was. He hit .188/.241/.245 in 59 games for Double-A Tulsa last year, then was one of the few guys in the Arizona Fall League who didn’t hit, all while playing well below-average defense at third.
Sleeper
Ramos. Pages went from sleeper to top-100 prospect; Ramos looks like he’s ready to follow in Pages’ footsteps.
(Photo of Diego Cartaya: Tom Priddy / Four Seam Images via AP)
