Los Angeles Dodgers: Prospects that could be used as trade bait
By Jason Reed
1. Keibert Ruiz
Keibert Ruiz became much more tradable this season with the emergence of Will Smith on the big-league club. Smith has always been behind Ruiz in terms of the prospect rankings but has been ahead of him in the organization and he got his first shot at the majors.
Smith thrived in the majors. He enjoyed a record-setting hot start for the Dodgers and instantly won ever Dodger fan over who was sick of watching Austin Barnes on a nightly basis. He did cool down towards the end of the year, but he still was on pace for 41 home runs and 126 RBIs if he played 150 games.
He would not have reached those totals but Smith proved that with more experience at the big league level he could at least hit 25 home runs and drive in 80 RBIs in a season. At least.
That makes Ruiz tradable if the Dodgers are looking to make a big move this offseason. Perhaps it is for bullpen help and Ruiz can be like Francisco Mejia, the catching prospect that the San Diego Padres received for Brad Hand.
MLB Pipeline ranks Ruiz as the third-best prospect in the Dodgers organization, the third catching prospect and the 33rd overall prospect. That would warrant a nice return for LA and they can definitely afford it with Smith and the rest of the organization’s catching depth.