by Hoosiers
We’ll see what the deal ends up being, but it appears that there is one headliner – Diaz – and then the Os get to take advantage of a the LAD excess minor league talent to lift a couple talented guys who might otherwise be exposed to the Rule V draft and/or blocked.
First, Diaz is a preseason 55 rated OF per BA (“alluring package of strength, tools and athleticism, and he began to translate his raw gifts into consistent skills in 2017”, “prolific tools”) who rated sixth in the LAD system. Just last week, Baseball Prospectus labeled Diaz the 31st best prospect in the minors. This is a tremendous get for about 70 games of MM. Diaz has a .428 obp and .905 ops this year in over 200 at-bats at AA Tulsa after over 100 ABs at Tulsa last year with a .881 ops. This is a player we can put into the 1 or 2 or 3 spot in the lineup as soon as he is called up.
Second, it is easy to look at that LAD system and say – well, give me one of their top three pitchers, one of the two well-rated catchers and Verdugo …. after all MM is a ‘transcendental’ talent. Why would the LAD let a rising High A pitcher like May stand in the way of getting MM? The reality is that the Dodgers only needed to be the highest bidder by a penny, not by $1M. The best offers in rumors involved Burnes, Medina, Gamboa …. Diaz blows those guys out of the water. There was a quote about this deal should have been done a couple weeks ago and IMO that is a quote from an Os official reflecting how difficult it has been to separate one of Verdugo/May/Ruiz/White/Diaz/May/Lux into an LAD offer – probably until the Phillies offered up Medina/Gamboa.
Third, guys here wanting Verdugo – who has strong offensive skills, but there are make-up issues according to at least two sources. Per BA, “criticisms of his effort level and maturity have plagued him since his amateur days and were again prevalent in 2017.” Per Baseball Prospectus, “there are long-standing makeup concerns.”
Fourth, one clear allure of the LAD system – as made clear last night – is the number of prospects that LAD will have to add to their 40 man roster this offseason affords the Os to be a bit greedy in the overall package. Alvarez started the year as the LAD fifth rated prospect ahead of Diaz – a 55 rated guy with “easy velocity” “95-99” but with horrible command. BA concludes “someone too limited to be a started, but electric enough to possibly be a first division closer”. Rios is 24 and entered the year as BA’s 12th rated prospect in the LAD system with a 45 rating with medium risk. This is a guy who will play in the majors with big power, but is blocked by Bellinger/Turner. We’ll see who we get back, but we are big winners here.
