The 5 Most Important Prospects for the Dodgers to Hold on to This Winter

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a new front office, and new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is undoubtedly familiar with the Dodgers farm system. He will be properly unwilling to trade the elite prospects.

In fact, team president Stan Kasten clearly has an appreciation for the talent in his organization; a report from Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times stated that “Colletti was prevented by ownership from making any midseason adjustments to the bullpen, people familiar with the situation said. Top prospects Corey Seager, Julio Urias and Joc Pederson were labeled as untouchable by…Kasten.”

With all of that being said, though, the Dodgers will clearly attempt to make their roster better, and the possibility exists that they will include a minor leaguer to sweeten a deal. These are the five players the Dodgers should hold on to, if at all possible.

Note: All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

1. Corey Seager, SS

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This spot is unquestioned. Corey Seager is the star of the Dodger system: a shortstop who can hit. Prior to the 2014 season, he was ranked as a top-50 prospect by each of Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus—and all he did this year was hit.

He has a career .921 OPS, and he hit .345/.381/.534 in 161 plate appearances in Double-A despite being just 20 years old. Depending on what happens with current free-agent Hanley Ramirez, Seager could see major league action as soon as this year.

He has the potential to be the type of homegrown star that is virtually impossible to get through any method other than the draft, and he is a position player in a system full of pitchers. The Dodgers should keep him, if possible.

2. Zach Lee, RHP

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Zach Lee was undoubtedly a disappointment in 2014, but he did not all of a sudden lose his pedigree. He was a first-round pick in 2010, and his 3.54 ERA in 208.1 innings at Double-A should have boded well for his future. Unfortunately, though, he was a disaster at Triple-A: 150.2 innings, a 5.38 ERA and high walk and low strikeout numbers.

However, given the trajectory of players, it is still likely that Lee turns into a serviceable big leaguer, but it is unlikely that he has that kind of value given his performance last year. Lee is not an indispensable part of the Dodgers' future; instead, he is just simply likely to be worth more in a few months than he is right now.

3. Joc Pederson, CF

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Joc Pederson doesn’t rank higher on this list because he doesn’t have a guaranteed position in 2015. He’s almost without a doubt the best center fielder on the 40-man roster, but the Dodgers still have five big league outfielders who are currently ahead of him on the depth chart.

In fact, barring a trade of at least one (and perhaps even both) of Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier, it’s still difficult to see a path to playing time for Pederson. However, he is unlikely to be traded because he does have the obvious high ceiling.

4. Julio Urias, LHP

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Teenage pitchers are extremely high risk because they are so far from the majors, and anything can happen. However, if it’s possible to be low risk and an 18-year-old who’s never pitched above High-A, Julio Urias is that pitcher.

He’s really good. He has a 2.41 ERA in his career—which, again, consists of full-season ball during his age 16 and 17 seasons. Like Pederson and Seager, he’s a high-impact prospect, and there are precious few of those.

However, his age and position makes him more of a lottery ticket than either of the other two, so he ranks below them.

5. Grant Holmes, RHP

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This list has more pitchers than I would normally be comfortable with, but Grant Holmes—like Urias—has the potential to be extremely good, and there simply aren’t any position players with that ceiling (except for maybe Alex Verdugo).

MLB.com ranked Holmes as the Dodgers’ fourth-best prospect at midseason, and he was really good during his half season on the mound. In 48.1 innings, he walked just 13 while striking out 58—and, also like Urias, he’s just 18 years old. His ceiling makes him an intriguing prospect.