Another ring is on the fingers of the Los Angeles Dodgers faithful, just the thumbs remain in their pursuit to fill two whole human hands with hardware. That’s eight championships in their illustrious history, two in the last five years alone.
The Dodgers have gradually evolved into the class of Major League Baseball. While some of that success is attributed to dollars spent, most of the credit must be placed on a highly-optimized internal processes and a player development system seemingly years ahead of the pack.
And there’s more on the way.
A continued surge by teenage bluechip outfielder Josue De Paula, a ridiculous debut for shortstop Emil Morales, and the potential breakthrough of outfielder Zyhir Hope has the organization primed for sustained success whether through exciting promotions or trades in the near future.
DEVELOPMENTS
Movement may be the story down on the farm for the Dodgers, both in terms of additions and subtractions — see below — but how many players debuted and made some level of impact on the big club.
Beyond that, however, the influx of upside plays the last few years is remarkable, including De Paula, who at 19 hit his way to High-A Great Lakes, showing off hit and power tools. There’s projection to dream on, but he’s built a strong resume early in pro ball and could get to Double-A as a freshly-turned 20-year-old in 2025.
Joendry Vargas has done nothing but rake in his two short-season stops since signing. His 6-foot-4, 180-pound frame screams projection, and there’s at least a chance he sticks at shortstop, pulling surface-level Carlos Correa comps.
Morales is another physical projection and natural shortstop lighting it up in the rookie levels. Morales spent 2024 in the DSL and pounded the baseball to the tune of a .342/.478/.691 slash with 14 homers in 46 games.
QUESTIONS
Former top prospect Diego Cartaya dealt with a back injury this past season and hasn’t looked the same since his huge 2022 when he slashed .254/.389/.503 with 22 homers split between the two Class-A levels at age 20. It’s tough to forecast Cartaya’s future especially due to the nature of the injury, but if he can’t catch it puts prohibitive pressure on his bat.
The injury bug that’s unevenly bitten the Dodgers young arms of late — Dustin May, Emmett Sheehan, Gavin Stone in 2024 alone, with Walker Buehler just coming off missed time — is worth some digging for the club. Whether it’s random or there’s something about the way they scout or train arms is an intriguing internal project. If they solve it, forget it.
Otherwise, it’s the one yellow flag on crowning the Dodgers the perfect organization.
ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTIONS
Morales gets the headlines here. A consensus top-five prospect in the international free agent signing period in January 2024, scouts loved the frame and actions Morales brings to the sport. His offensive game was blossoming as he signed with the Dodgers $1.9 million and he didn’t disappoint.
Across 46 games in the DSL, Morales slashed .342/.478/.691 with 14 homers and twelve stolen bases. He had almost as many walks as strikeouts. He looks the part of the next star Dodger to come by way of the international ranks and could be tested up the ladder with aggressive promotions in 2025.
If development is linear in any way, Morales is likely to finish the 2025 season as a Top 100 prospect.
The Dodgers landed Hope and left-handed pitcher Jackson Ferris from the Cubs in a January trade that sent second baseman Michael Busch and righty Yency Almonte to Chicago.
Almonte didn’t amount to much for the Cubs, but Busch had a solid debut this season. Still, the trade might not age well for the Cubbies.
Hope posted a .290/.419/.484 slash across the low minors and parlayed that success into even more impressive showings in the Arizona Fall League. He’s a rising star prospect in the sport. Ferris was aggressively pushed to Double-A as a 20-year-old where he posted a .254 ERA in 28.1 innings. He punched 26 tickets and walked 14 batters.
There’s certainly continued reliever risk on the player, but he’s beginning to come into his own as a professional.
The Dodgers had fun in the 2024 Draft as well reaching for high-end athletes with exceptional ceilings if the tools come together. Shortstop Kellon Lindsey was selected in the first round and might be the fastest player in the entire class. He’ll make his pro debut in 2025.
The organization added power-hitting third baseman Chase Harlan in the third round spending most of their money on those two players. But keep an eye on left-handed pitcher Jakob Wright going forward. He’s been up to 95 mph and flashed one of the best sweepers in the entire 2024 Draft.
Via trades over the summer, the Dodgers parted with C Thayron Liranzo, SS Trey Sweeney, RHP Michael Flynn, Ss Alexander Albertus, and SS Jeral Perez in trades to land RHPs Jack Flaherty and Michael Kopech, SS Tommy Edman, and IF/OF Amed Rosario.
The club also shipped out RHP Ricky Vanasco in a cash deal with Detroit and acquired RHP Oliver Gonzalez and SS Moises Bolivar in deadline business.
GRADUATIONS (since the start of ’24)
Gavin Stone, RHP
Landon Knack, RHP
Andy Pages, OF
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP
Gus Varland, RHP
Stone played a big part on the big league roster this season throwing 140.1 innings across 25 starts. Knack also debuted in April and saw his rookie eligibility exhaust shortly thereafter. He ended up throwing 69 innings this season across 15 games.
Pages also his long-awaited debut for the organization. He slashed .248/.305/.407 with 13 homers this season and could see an expanded role on the team in 2025 if he isn’t used as a trade chip this winter.
BIG-LEAGUE RADAR (yet to debut)
Dalton Rushing, C/1B
Alex Freeland, SS
Peter Heubeck, RHP
Jackson Ferris, LHP
Nick Frasso, RHP
Diego Cartaya, C
Payton Martin, RHP
Maddux Bruns, LHP
Patrick Copen, RHP
Jared Karros, RHP
Austin Gauthier, UT
SCOUT SAYS
“It’s impossible to underestimate their ability to identify their elements and build upon it with a customized development structure for every player.
“They have arms because they always have arms, but a lot of injuries, too. How many arms are in their public Top 25? 15? It’s what they do and how they do it. And they can take chances others can’t. It’s a great formula for the parent club, and everyone wants to play there.”
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