by Richard Douglas
The Dodgers have fully moved on from the disastrous ownership the McCourts presided over, bringing in plenty of high priced veterans and making sure to re-sign their own talent. While this has limited the chances of some of prospects making a jump to the big leagues soon, (as well as sending 3 of last year’s top 5 prospects to the Red Sox and Marlins in various deals). This hasn’t meant though the farm has been neglected though, since the team handed out three of their top five highest bonuses this past year. This includes the money paid to Hyun-Jin Ryu, a left-handed Korean prospect the Dodgers had scouted since he was in high school. His pro career in Korea has been very good, posting a 2.80 ERA and a high 8.8 K/9, including a career best 10.3 last season. He has an excellent fastball that runs in the 92-93 mph region, which he controls and adds a cutting action to. He also has two above league average secondary pitches in his slider and changeup. He’s seen a lot of work already, as most Asian pitchers do, logging 1269 innings of work already before the age of 25. In spring training this year, he’s struggled a bit with the transition. Appearing in 3 games with 2 starts, Ryu has allowed batters to bat .320 and has given up 4 earned runs in just 6 innings of work. His talent level shows he should be much better, but its early still. His ZiPs projection gives him 25 starts this year with 180 innings, and a 3.99 ERA.
Ryu though was not the prospect to earn the highest bonus in club history. That was the high risk, high reward Cuban defector Yasiel Puig, a right handed outfielder who has the speed to play center, but just an average arm that will likely push him to right field. Puig has excellent power in his bat, driven by great bat speed. His time in Rookie and High A leagues shows his potential, posting a 1.076 OPS with 5 home runs in just 23 games. His strike out to walk rate was at just 5:4, something that he can correct by being more patient at the plate. His projections for this season by Steamer and Oliver should be taken with a grain of salt by anyone worried about his future, since he’s only been to High A and is likely to start there this season. The risk with Puig isn’t on the talent side, but with his maturity. HE missed a year of playing for the Cuban professional league because of a discipline ban, and had issues with opponents and scouts in his 14 games with High A Rancho Cucamonga.
Puig’s fellow defectee Onelki Garcia was forced to miss the 2011 season because the MLB tabled his case for a year. This move likely cost him millions, since the Dodgers had thought to take him in the first round that year, instead of the third round he ended up going in. Garcia has a good fastball that he keeps in the low 90s, and can run it up as high as 97 when he reaches for it. He also ahs an above average 12-6 curve that might be his best pitch because of its excellent rotation and depth of movement. Garcia has a good frame and should be able to handle a full work load. He hasn’t pitched this year in spring training, but should start the year at Chattanooga.
Fellow pitcher Zach Lee seems to be the forgotten man after the team signed Ryu and Zack Greinke, after being the teams top prospect last year. Lee has 4 advanced pitches that are all solid, offering a 90-95 mph fastball, a curve and a slider that have similar 1-7 break and a solid changeup. He advanced quickly up to AA last year, where he struggled some, posting a 4.25 ERA and allowing .272 batting average. So far in Spring Training Lee has tossed just one inning, but it wasn’t very good. He gave up 3 hits and a pair of earned runs, but did post 2 strikeouts.
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