top prospects: dodgers
the dodgers are loaded. the west might be baseball's weakest division, but with the future of the dodgers and the diamondbacks, it won't be for long. let's look at these dodgers.

1. Chad Billingsley, rhp 
2. Andy LaRoche, 3b
3. Joel Guzman, ss/3b
4. Russell Martin, c
5. Jonathan Broxton, rhp
6. Scott Elbert, lhp
7. Blake DeWitt, 3b
8. Matt Kemp, of
9. Etanislao Abreu, 2b
10. Chin-Lung Hu, ss

these guys are all good prospects. in addition, we'll talk about james loney, justin orenduff, julio pimentel, and whoever else we can think of. post a comment if you know somebody.

Career Pitching Statistics for Chad Billingsley:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2003 Ogden        Pio  19 La  Rk   54.0  49   0  15  62 .066 .706 .000  2.83
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A    92.0  68   6  49 111 .125 .677 .026  2.35
2004 Jacksonville Sou  20 La  AA   42.1  32   1  22  47 .122 .704 .009  2.98
2005 Jacksonville Sou  21 La  AA  146.0 116  12  50 162 .083 .708 .031  3.51

chad billingsley is gonna be a good one. i analyzed him a month ago and said two things:

1. he strikes people out.

2. he's gonna make it.

he's young for his level, and he's got a pile of strikeouts. he may have a little trouble with control, but his stuff is so good it will carry him through. that's funny baseball america give him the best control in the system. i find that hard to believe.

anyway i was gonna compare this kid to kerry wood. the numbers look similar at least. and he's got a curveball. he probly doesn't have as good a fastball. wood when he came up. not the tired, broken down wood we see today.

there's another comparison to wood that's disturbing. it's innings pitched, as in a lot. at a young age. with that many walks and strikeouts you know he's throwing a lot of pitches.

the dodgers have a bunch of talented young arms. many of them are in higher levels than they need to be. there's no need to rush these kids. take care of your pitchers, dodgers!

ned colleti inherited a farm system that will bring him glory. if he doesn't fuck it up.

Career Batting Statistics for Andy LaRoche:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 Ogden        Pio  20 La  Rk   20   1   4   0   1 .048 .800 .063 .211
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  21 La  A   222  19  42  10  13 .079 .811 .128 .237
2004 Columbus     SAL  21 La  A   246  37  30  13  20 .131 .878 .153 .283
2005 Vero Beach   FSL  22 La  A   251  20  38  21  15 .074 .849 .169 .333
2005 Jacksonville Sou  22 La  AA  229  35  54   9  12 .133 .764 .120 .273

the dodgers are seriously loaded. andy laroche is one of 4 legitimate third base prospects. he's the best of the four, and one of the better hitting prospects in baseball.

in 2004 he showed patience, contact, and power in the sally league. he was old for that level, but it was basically his first pro experience. then he moved up to high-a and hit for contact and power. 21 home runs in 251 at-bats is impressive in a pitcher's league. it's impressive in any league.

in double-a he had some strikeouts but he showed good patience, which is usually a precursor to improvement.

i don't know what the dodgers are doing with bill mueller. they should be playing willy aybar, who for some reason is not listed among the top ten.

Career Batting Statistics for Willy Aybar:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2000 Great Falls  Pio  17 La  Rk  268  36  45   4  16 .118 .832 .090 .263
2001 Vero Beach   FSL  18 La  A     7   1   2   0   0 .125 .714 .000 .286
2001 Wilmington   Caro 18 La  A   436  46  64   4  27 .095 .853 .083 .237
2002 Vero Beach   FSL  19 La  A   376  72  54  11  20 .161 .856 .096 .215
2003 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A   450  44  70  11  32 .089 .844 .113 .274
2004 Jacksonville Sou  21 La  AA  484  53  77  15  27 .099 .841 .103 .276
2005 Las Vegas    PCL  22 La  AAA 408  41  56   5  30 .091 .863 .099 .297
2005 LA Dodgers   NL   22 La  MLB  86  19  11   1   8 .181 .872 .120 .326

it was a small sample size, but in 86 at-bats willy posted a .181 wal and a .872 con. that is some sick strike zone control. he also had nine extra-base hits. he's 22 years old.

why is no one talking about this kid? he's shown great contact his entire career. also an ability to draw walks, and power potential.

unless he's older than he says he is, willy aybar is gonna make it.

Career Batting Statistics for Joel Guzman:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2002 Great Falls  Pio  17 La  Rk  151  18  54   3  10 .107 .642 .134 .252
2002 GCL Dodgers  GCL  17 La  Rk   33   5   8   0   2 .132 .758 .080 .212
2003 South Georgi SAL  18 La  A   219   9  62   8  13 .039 .717 .134 .235
2003 Vero Beach   FSL  18 La  A   240  11  60   5  14 .044 .750 .106 .246
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  19 La  A   332  23  78  14  30 .065 .765 .173 .307
2004 Jacksonville Sou  19 La  AA  186  14  44   9  14 .070 .763 .162 .280
2005 Jacksonville Sou  20 La  AA  449  47 128  16  33 .095 .715 .153 .287

joel guzman is the third of four dodgers third base prospects who are going to make it. obviously they won't all play for the same team.

guzman has lots of power. his contact is not great, but he's extremely young for his level. he'll get it together.

Career Batting Statistics for Russell Martin:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2002 GCL Dodgers  GCL  19 La  Rk  126  27  18   0   6 .176 .857 .056 .286
2003 Ogden        Pio  20 La  Rk  190  30  26   6  13 .136 .863 .116 .271
2003 South Georgi SAL  20 La  A    99   9  11   3   5 .083 .889 .091 .286
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  21 La  A   424  81  54  15  25 .160 .873 .108 .250
2005 Jacksonville Sou  22 La  AA  412  88  69   9  18 .176 .833 .079 .311

russell martin is apparently a strong defensive catcher. he also has incredible strike zone skills. that kind of patience and contact together is rare.

he's likely to develop power. if he does, he'll be a star.

Career Pitching Statistics for Jonathan Broxton:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2002 Great Falls  Pio  18 La  Rk   29.1  22   0  16  33 .127 .700 .000  2.76
2003 South Georgi SAL  19 La  A    37.1  27   1  22  30 .137 .784 .009  3.13
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A   128.1 110   7  43 144 .080 .709 .020  3.23
2005 Jacksonville Sou  21 La  AA   96.2  79   4  31 107 .078 .710 .015  3.17
2005 LA Dodgers   NL   21 La  MLB  13.2  13   0  12  22 .182 .593 .000  5.93

jonathan broxton made the majors at age 21 and struck out 22 in 13 innings. his walks were bad, but did i mention the strikeouts? he's also shown an ability to limit home runs.

in 2005 he struck out 107 in 96 innings of double-a. with 31 walks and 4 home runs. the year before he struck out 144 in 128 innings of high-a. with 43 walks and 7 home runs. so yeah he's a killer.

Career Pitching Statistics for Scott Elbert:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2004 Ogden        Pio  19 La  Rk   49.2  47   5  30  45 .133 .770 .033  5.26
2005 Columbus     SAL  20 La  A   115.0  83   8  57 128 .118 .701 .027  2.66

the numbers don't yet support a rating this high for scott elbert. he needs to reduce his walks.

Career Batting Statistics for Blake DeWitt:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2004 Ogden        Pio  19 La  Rk  300  31  78  12  22 .094 .740 .153 .284
2005 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A    31   1   3   1   3 .031 .903 .143 .419
2005 Columbus     SAL  20 La  A   484  38  79  11  34 .073 .837 .111 .283

blake dewitt is the fourth of four third base prospects. he hit 34 extra-base hits in rookie ball, then vastly improved his contact in the sally league. wal, con, and pow are all on the threshold of breakout. small improvements in any area will yield large returns. and young players improve.

Career Batting Statistics for Matthew Kemp:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 GCL Dodgers  GCL  19 La  Rk  161   7  25   1   7 .042 .845 .059 .270
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A    38   4  12   1   5 .095 .684 .231 .351
2004 Columbus     SAL  20 La  A   428  29 100  17  30 .063 .766 .143 .288
2005 Vero Beach   FSL  21 La  A   423  30  92  27  25 .066 .783 .157 .306

matthew kemp has shown a lot of power for a 21-year-old. his patience and contact need work. he's got a shot. youth and power. good shot.

Career Batting Statistics for Etanislao Abreu:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 GCL Dodgers  GCL  18 La  Rk  163  16  24   0  12 .089 .853 .086 .294
2003 Vero Beach   FSL  18 La  A    10   1   2   0   0 .091 .800 .000 .000
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  19 La  A    44   2   8   0   4 .043 .818 .111 .419
2004 Columbus     SAL  19 La  A   362  15  59   8  29 .040 .837 .122 .301
2005 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A   398  20  56   4  30 .048 .859 .099 .327
2005 Jacksonville Sou  20 La  AA   97   5  21   0   5 .049 .784 .066 .250

abreu has shown good contact and developing power at a young age. he's a good shot to make it. walking more would help.

Career Batting Statistics for Chin-lung Hu:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 Ogden        Pio  19 La  Rk  222  14  33   3  14 .059 .851 .090 .305
2004 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A    75   5   6   0   5 .063 .920 .072 .307
2004 Columbus     SAL  20 La  A   334  23  50   6  19 .064 .850 .088 .298
2005 Vero Beach   FSL  21 La  A   472  26  40   8  30 .052 .915 .088 .313

chin-lung hu plays good defense and makes great contact. power is a possibility. walking would be nice. again, good shot.

as you can see, the quality is very high, all the way to the end of the list. and there's more. i'm gonna go ahead and publish this, and follow up with a part two.
- posted by julien @ 10:12 PM