Dodgers trade Frankie Montas, Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes to A’s for Rich Hill, Josh Reddick.

Josh Reddick

Josh Reddick has eight home runs and a .296 batting average for the A’s this year. (Getty Images)

The Dodgers have traded minor league pitchers Frankie Montas, Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes to the Oakland A’s for pitcher Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick.

The five-player swap is the Dodgers’ largest — and so far only — move on the day of baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline. Trades must be completed by 1 p.m. Pacific Time.

Continue reading “Dodgers trade Frankie Montas, Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes to A’s for Rich Hill, Josh Reddick.” »

Corey Seager tops Baseball Prospectus’ annual top prospect list.

Corey Seager

Corey Seager is Baseball Prospectus’ number-1 prospect going into the 2016 season. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff photographer)

The Dodgers have six of the top 101 prospects in baseball, according to Baseball Prospectus, including the top-ranked player on the list, shortstop Corey Seager.

Pitchers Julio Urias (6), Jose De Leon (28), Grant Holmes (40), Yadier Alvarez (78) and outfielder Yusniel Diaz (91) also made the list.

Ranking baseball prospects is a sport unto itself with many participants. You can read BP’s take on each of those guys here.

Grant Holmes, Cody Bellinger, Josh Sborz, Philip Pfeifer headline fall instructional league roster.

Grant Holmes

Pitcher Grant Holmes, the Dodgers’ first-round pick in the 2014 draft, has been invited to the upcoming Fall Instructional League. (Getty Images)

The Dodgers have invited 60 minor league prospects to their annual Fall Instructional League, which begins next week at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
Continue reading “Grant Holmes, Cody Bellinger, Josh Sborz, Philip Pfeifer headline fall instructional league roster.” »

And Julio Urias’ 2015 innings limit will be …


PHOENIX, Ariz. — Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said that the front office will meet this spring to discuss Julio Urias’ 2015 workload.

The 18-year-old pitcher threw 87 ⅔ innings at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga last year.

“It’s just going to be using his total innings last year as a foundation and then building off that — not just regular season but even camp,” Zaidi said. “In general, you don’t want a guy’s innings to jump by more than 20 to 50 innings.”

So, somewhere between 107 ⅔ and 137 ⅔ innings then, right?
Continue reading “And Julio Urias’ 2015 innings limit will be …” »

Julio Urias, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson among top 11 prospects (FanGraphs.com).

Julio Urias

Julio Urias, 18, is fourth on FanGraphs’ list of the top 200 prospects in baseball. (Associated Press photo)

Julio Urias, Corey Seager and Joc Pederson continue to lay waste to the 2015 prospect rankings.

In the latest glorified opinion, Urias is fourth, Seager is sixth, and Pederson 11th on FanGraphs’ Top 200 prospect list. Right-handed pitcher Grant Holmes, the Dodgers’ first-round pick out of high school last year, is 89th. Andrew Heaney, whom the Dodgers traded to the Angels to acquire Howie Kendrick, is 50th.

Pitcher Chris Anderson and outfielder Alex Verdugo also made the list but were not ranked (players 143-200 were not assigned a specific numerical ranking).

For Urias, Seager and Pederson, it’s time to play baseball. The Sporting News, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com all ranked the three prospects similarly high on their lists. (BaseballAmerica.com, we’re waiting.) All of this makes their arrival in major-league camp one of the top storylines of spring training — which I wrote about over the weekend.