I’m not sure what there is to say — the Dodgers have won two straight World Series because they’re an extremely well-run organization from top to bottom, employing a ton of scouts and a ton of analysts, empowering people to do their jobs, encouraging integration across departments, and, of course, spending money on players.
They acquired their top 15 prospects, in order, like so: international free agent, international free agent, trade, trade, trade, international free agent, draft, international free agent, draft, trade, trade, draft, draft, trade, draft. That’s three different avenues to acquire players, all well represented, none of which was a matter of just buying a player other teams couldn’t afford. They are doing something right. To paraphrase the philosopher Ellie Rowsell, you can hate them all you want, but it don’t mean nothing at all.
(Note: Tools are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale; ages as of July 1, 2026. EV = exit velocity.)
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 175 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 20
I regret to inform you that the Dodgers are at it again, as they signed Quintero in 2023 out of Venezuela for a paltry $297,500 bonus, and now he’s one of the best prospects in baseball. He was originally a catcher, but the Dodgers put him in the outfield because they thought he had a chance to stick in center and moving him would get his bat in the lineup more, and he’s advanced to the point where center is very much a viable outcome for him. Given where his bat is, that would make him an easy All-Star, as he’s already a very advanced hitter who’s starting to come into power already at age 19.
His 88 walks were the fourth-most of any teenager in the minors last year, as he’s a very patient hitter, almost to the point of passivity, swinging at just 37 percent of pitches he saw last year and only 62 percent of pitches in the zone, putting him down in Juan Soto territory. He starts out with an open stance and doesn’t always close it entirely after his stride, but when he does he gets excellent hip-shoulder separation and can drive the ball to all fields with authority.
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 185 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 21
De Paula’s 2025 season was more a plateau year than a growth one, as his second half was interrupted by hamstring issues that limited him to 99 PA after the All-Star break — including an 0-for-18 showing in his four games in Double A — and prevented him from going to his assigned spot in the Arizona Fall League. He still had an impressive year for a player who turned 20 in May and spent most of the year in High A, batting .263/.406/.421 at that level with almost as many walks as strikeouts. He’s incredibly disciplined, swinging at pitches in the zone 68 percent of the time, while only chasing pitches out of the zone 14 percent of the time — and that drops to 8 percent on pitches well out of the zone.
He hits the ball extremely hard, and consistently, although that hasn’t translated into home runs yet, with 12 in 102 games last season his career high. He’s a sneaky-good basestealer despite being a 40 or 45 runner, and he’s probably going to end up an adequate defender in an outfield corner as opposed to earlier fears he’d just have to go to first base. His approach at the plate is one of the best anywhere in the minors, and his ceiling comes down to how much he can convert that into greater damage — maybe 25-30 homers a year, in the best scenario — as he finishes filling out physically.
Zyhir Hope has electric bat speed. (Chris Bernacchi / Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Height: 5-10 | Weight: 193 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 21
Hope spent almost all of 2025 in High A, and that’s where he needed to stay, even with all of the much-deserved hype around his bat and his power after his breakout 2024 season. Acquired from the Cubs in the Michael Busch trade, Hope has electric bat speed and is an excellent athlete who came from a small town in Virginia and wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near this advanced as a hitter, swinging so hard that he seemed very likely to swing and miss too often to get to his plus power. His whiff rate did rise last year as did his strikeout rate; he was vulnerable to fastballs up and didn’t have any real two-strike approach, expanding the zone too much in those situations. He does know the strike zone better than I think anyone anticipated when he was an amateur, with just a 20 percent chase rate last year and a 14.9 percent walk rate, although when he does go out of the zone he whiffs at huge rates.
He’s a good enough athlete and runner to be a center fielder but doesn’t show the instincts for it and is already primarily playing right field. He’s an incredible athlete and very, very strong, likely to make a ton of hard contact; whether that’s for average or power or some combination of both will determine how high his ceiling is. I’m betting he ends up hitting for average with a ton of line drives, rather than getting consistently to 25-plus homers.
Height: 6-2 | Weight: 188 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
Sirota went into the 2024 draft season as a potential top-10 pick, then got sick before games began and lost some weight. He didn’t feel or look right until about halfway through the year, by which point a lot of teams had shifted their focus to other players. The Reds stayed on him and took him in the third round, then traded him to the Dodgers that same winter for Gavin Lux, only to have Sirota break out with his new organization after he got that strength back. Los Angeles started him in Low A, very conservative for a college player, but after he destroyed the level they moved him up to High A, where he kept hitting, with a .316/.458/.556 line at the higher stop and just one more strikeout than walks.
He’s a solid defender in center who probably ends up a 55 or 60 defender in right. Sirota is probably more of a power hitter than a pure hitter for average at this point, with some of that patience a function of not swinging very often, but he could disprove that somewhat if he continues to mash in Double A as a 23-year-old this year. His season did end early after injuring his knee on a slide, but he should be good to go this spring. I see a solid regular floor here, and if the hit/on-base parts of his game hold up when he’s facing pitchers his age, he could be an All-Star.
Height: 6-2 | Weight: 195 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 27
Ryan had Tommy John surgery in August 2024, shortly after his fourth major-league start where he outpitched Paul Skenes (granted, they did not face the same caliber of lineup that day). Ryan should be ready to pitch in some role this spring after hitting 100 mph during his rehab. If he were completely healthy, he might be the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball. He has above-average to plus stuff across the board, with ride on the upper-90s four-seamer, a slider, a cutter that was new in 2024, a two-plane curveball and a changeup, with the cutter probably the worst pitch at the moment because his other stuff is so good.
He’s an outstanding athlete who was a full-time infielder at UNC-Pembroke and only began to pitch somewhat regularly in his draft year in 2021, making remarkable progress in his delivery and command since the Dodgers acquired him from the Padres for Matt Beaty in the spring of 2022. The only real knock on him as a prospect is that at age 27, he’s the oldest player on the top 100 and I think the oldest I have ever put on one. I said last year he could be a No. 2 starter if healthy, but with his stuff looking better than ever, maybe he could be even more than that.
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 191 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Born in the Canary Islands, Morales signed for $1.897 million in January 2024 and has done nothing but hit at three stops so far in the low minors, including a .339/.420/.548 line in 143 PA in Low A to finish the 2025 season. Morales is extremely strong already, generating power with his legs as well as his arms when I saw him in the spring, with a big leg kick and some massive hip rotation to really drive the ball. It’s already shown up in the batted-ball data, with a peak EV over 110 mph as an 18-year-old. He’s a big kid already, not at all a shortstop, with third base his best long-term option, although he could end up in the outfield if he really fills out.
There are still some mechanical things in the box for him to smooth out, like giving him a stronger base and getting him to stay balanced more on every swing, and the off-speed recognition is probably going to take some time — in his brief stay in Low A, he whiffed on 41 percent of his swings against non-fastballs. That he’s hit so well, so quickly, even coming from a non-traditional baseball country, is a tremendous sign. At the least, he has 30-homer upside, and the hit tool seems to be more advanced than it looked even a year ago.
Alex Freeland has big-league experience and should be able to help some team at that level this season. (Mike Janes / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 200 | Bats: B | Throws: R | Age: 24
Freeland debuted last year for the Dodgers, getting 97 PA, but he still qualifies for this list because he’s with the Dodgers, who were one of the few teams that had no use for a major-league ready infielder who hit .263/.384/.451 in Triple A and could play three positions. Drafted in the third round in 2022, Freeland took off in his second full pro season in 2024, reaching Triple A for the first time thanks to his combination of patience and hard contact, all of which continued last season as well. He has above-average power, but takes more of an all-fields approach, so it shows up as much in the doubles column, with exactly 32 in each of the past two years, as the power does in home runs. He’s played shortstop, and could probably be a fringe-average big leaguer there, but he’s best suited to second or third.
Born with a club foot, he has always run far better than people expected, although it’s probably 45 speed in the end. He doesn’t have the upside of most of the players on this list, but he would be a regular on at least 25 teams right now. It’s too bad the Dodgers aren’t one of them.
8. Chien-Hsing Ko, OF (Just missed)Height: 6-3 | Weight: 215 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 20
Ko has the tools to be in the top 100, but the consistent response I heard from scouts and execs was that they wanted him to prove the production he showed in the Arizona Complex League, where he hit .367/.487/.539, would hold up when he faces better pitching. He did finish last year in Low A, where he hit .219/.355/.281 in 32 games, getting burned in large part by an overly passive approach where he took too many strikes.
Ko is going to end up hitting for power, though, as he’s 6-foot-3 and already north of his listed 215 pounds, with quick hands and good rhythm to the swing. He’s really upright to start at the plate, and he’s not quick out of the box, showing average speed underway. He’s probably a corner outfielder in the end, with a chance to hit for 25-plus homer power and get on base. His 2025 season was a great start, and the stint in Low A showed he’s a little further away than some of his system-mates like Emil Morales.
9. Charles Davalan, OFHeight: 5-9 | Weight: 190 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 22
The Dodgers’ first two picks in the 2025 draft were at slots 40 and 41, and they used them both on players from the University of Arkansas. Davalan was the best prospect they drafted last year, coming with the second of those two selections, and earned raves from scouts who saw him in his eight games in Low A. I suppose it’s hard not to like a guy who hits .500/.541/735, and he probably would have moved up had a leg injury not ended his season.
He’s a plus runner who played left field for the Razorbacks but moved to center in pro ball and already showed plus range. He has excellent bat-to-ball skills with a history of making hard contact in college, although the swing isn’t geared for power right now. I think he’s at least an average regular; if the defense holds up and he gets to a little more power — he’s with the right organization for that — he could be an All-Star.
10. Jackson Ferris, LHPHeight: 6-4 | Weight: 195 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 22
Acquired with Hope from the Cubs in the Michael Busch trade, Ferris is a very athletic left-hander with a pretty good delivery and above-average stuff for a starter, but he continues to struggle with command and control. He walked 11.8 percent of batters he faced last year and gave up more hard contact than he should with his arsenal. He’s much better early in games, allowing a .315 OBP in the first three innings with a 10.5 percent walk rate, then allowing a .397 OBP from innings four onward with a 13.5 percent walk rate. He’s also gotten too fastball/slider heavy, and while those are both above-average to plus pitches, he’s not throwing the fastball in the zone enough and right-handed hitters are starting to hit him more. He already has a viable changeup, and with more use of that pitch and even fringy control, he’d be a starter in short order.
James Tibbs III was traded twice last season, from the Giants to the Red Sox and then finally to the Dodgers. (Chris Bernacchi / Diamond Images via Getty Images)
11. James Tibbs III, OFHeight: 6-0 | Weight: 201 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 23
The Giants took Tibbs in the first round in 2024 and traded him to Boston the following June in the Rafael Devers trade, at which point, he looked like he was on his way to everyday player status. The Red Sox immediately promoted him to Double A and tried to tweak his swing, leading to a .207/.319/.267 line in 30 games … and another trade, this one to the Dodgers in a swap for Dustin May. The Dodgers told Tibbs to go back to his college swing, and he did, hitting .269/.407/.493 for Double-A Tulsa despite some very bad luck on balls in play with a .484 expected slugging percentage on his outs. He’s a solid defender in right field with a plus arm who has looked fine in limited time at first base. I don’t think he’s a star, but he’s at least an everyday player because of his secondary skills, perhaps hitting for a modest average and picking up value with walks and 15-20 homers.
12. Kellon Lindsey, SSHeight: 6-0 | Weight: 175 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 20
The Dodgers’ first-round pick in 2024, Lindsey played 32 games last year before a shoulder impingement sent him to the IL in mid-May, ultimately ending his season. He’s a true shortstop and an 80 runner who hit .280/.394/.390 in his limited time on the field, but his issues hitting breaking stuff as an amateur were very evident in pro ball — he whiffed on sliders 57 percent of the time he swung in Low A. The injury cost him 300-plus plate appearances he needed to work on pitch recognition, and he probably should go back to Low A to start 2026.
13. Kendall George, OFHeight: 5-9 | Weight: 170 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 21
George was a shocking pick when the Dodgers took him with their first selection in 2024 (pick 36), as he was an 80 runner with no power and a bad swing. He’s still an 80 runner, with very little power, but they cleaned up his swing enough that one could see a major-league role for him, with the obvious comparison to Chandler Simpson. He’s not getting on top of the ball as much, as he’s not trying to swing up with his lead elbow high through contact, and as a result he cut his strikeout rate from 20.5 percent in Low A in 2024 to 15.2 percent in High A last year, walking more than he struck out at the higher level, and tripling his home run total … from one to three. The walk rate may not hold up if he can’t make hard enough contact to dissuade pitchers from attacking him in the zone, but even if not, there’s a clear path to big-league value here that wasn’t there a year ago.
14. Zach Ehrhard, OFHeight: 5-10 | Weight: 190 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
Ehrhard came over with Tibbs in the Dustin May trade and, like Tibbs, took off immediately after changing organizations, going from .227/.305/.412 in Double A for Boston to .282/.391/.466 in Double A for the Dodgers. He played the corner-outfield spots before the trade, but the Dodgers see him as a center fielder — he played center at Oklahoma State over teammate Carson Benge — and had him play there almost full-time. He’s a very disciplined hitter, chasing pitches well out of the zone just 9 percent of the time, and only whiffed 20 percent of the time he swung all year, maintaining strong contact rates across all pitch types. He’s a regular somewhere in the outfield with his contact and on-base skills, maybe an above-average one if he sticks in center or gets to more than 15-18 homers a year.
Zach Root was the Dodgers’ first pick in the 2025 draft. (Joshua L. Jones / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
15. Zach Root, LHPHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 210 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 22
Root was the Dodgers’ first pick in the 2025 draft (pick 40), and the difference between where he went and being in the first round was his fastball. He’s got a plus curveball and a plus changeup and missed a lot of bats at Arkansas by going heavily to his off-speed stuff, as his fastball is hard but very hittable, with just a 9 percent whiff rate on the pitch in the spring. He showed above-average control in college, but it’s not really plus to the point where you would say you don’t worry about him becoming homer-prone on the fastball because he’ll keep guys off the bases. For him to become more than a back-end starter, he’ll either need a different fastball shape or a cut in his walk rate. I love the rest of the arsenal and the way he goes after hitters, so I’m an optimist here.
16. Joendry Vargas, SSHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 175 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 20
Vargas hit the IL three times in 2025 and played in only 32 games, hitting .226/.284/.376 with a 30.4 percent strikeout rate, making it a lost year for the Dominican infielder after a promising debut in the Arizona Complex League in 2024. When healthy, he’ll show a quick bat with some length to the swing from a high setup, flashing average power now and projecting to plus as he fills out his 6-foot-3 frame. He’s probably not a shortstop in the long term, as he’s a below-average runner and doesn’t have incredible range to make up for it, but he does have the arm strength to handle third. His spot here is more of a default listing, as he’s only 20 and still has a ton of potential.
17. Christian Zazueta, RHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 163 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 21
Zazueta had yet to pitch outside of the Dominican Summer League when the Yankees traded him to the Dodgers for Caleb Ferguson, but the 6-3 righty from Navajoa, Mexico, has emerged as a legitimate starter prospect after a velo jump last year as he repeated Low A. He’s mostly fastball/changeup now, with a low three-quarters slot and low release height that helps the fastball play up, while he babies a slider that’s not very sharp despite some tilt on the pitch. He’s 21 now and still projectable, with mid-rotation upside if he finds a functional breaking pitch.
18. Chase Harlan, 3BHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 205 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Harlan has huge raw power and made more contact in the ACL than I would have expected, as the Dodgers wisely played it slow with their 2024 third-round pick, who hails from Bucks County, Penn., and had a propensity to swing and miss in high school. He finished up with a stint in Low A, where he showed some feel for the strike zone but got eaten alive by secondary stuff, which is mildly concerning but also not shocking given his lack of experience. He’s a power-over-hit guy who moves well enough that there’s hope he’ll stick at third. They have safer guys in the system, but he’s in the top 20 because of the big upside in the bat.
19. Jakob Wright, LHPHeight: 6-0 | Weight: 170 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 23
Wright missed most of 2025 due to injury but came back in the Arizona Fall League to throw 93-95 with an above-average slider and an average-ish changeup that was a little firm but deceptive enough to work at that level. Wright was their fourth-round pick in 2024 out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he missed his freshman year after internal brace surgery.
20. Aidan West, SSHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 205 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 19
The Dodgers went over slot in the fourth round last year to sign West, a high school shortstop from the Baltimore area who had been committed to NC State. He’s got very quick hands and is a plus runner, probably not a shortstop but perhaps well-suited to center field. He had some issues with contact against better stuff at showcases the summer before his draft year. I did like the pick, if that doesn’t make it clear — he has a few pluses on the scouting report but is raw like a lot of cold-weather high school bats.
Others of note
Ryan Ward looks ready to help a big-league team, even if it isn’t the Dodgers. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Ryan Ward will turn 28 in February, but the Dodgers’ 2019 eighth-round pick out of Bryant University hasn’t reached the majors yet. He should this year, as he worked to transform his approach before the 2025 season and improved across the board, walking more and whiffing less while continuing to hit the ball quite hard. He peaked at an EV of 111.4 mph last year and his hard-hit rate was just over 50 percent, while he’s an above-average runner and can handle an outfield corner or first base. He does have a big platoon split, but he’s left-handed and should probably play as the strong side of a platoon for someone this year — like, how is this guy not a Marlin or a Rockie by now? … Right-hander Brady Smith finally made his pro debut two years after the Dodgers took him in the third round out of a Tennessee high school, throwing 20 innings in the ACL and Low A with below-average command but a sick changeup that has huge tumbling action to it. He’s one to watch in March. … Second baseman Elijah Hainline hit well at both levels of A-ball last season, although as an Oregon State product he was too advanced for those levels. He controls the zone well and puts the ball in play a ton, often on the ground as the swing is flat. I’ll buy it more if he hits well again in Double A. … The Dodgers signed Sam Horn, the right-handed pitcher/quarterback from Missouri who broke his tibia on the first play of the Tigers’ season in August, which ended his football career in unfortunate fashion. He hasn’t pitched much, having missed 2024 after Tommy John surgery and throwing 15 innings total in college, but the stuff is front-line starter-level and he obviously has the build of a workhorse. … Right-hander Hyun-Seok Jang had a disappointing full-season debut where his stuff was down and his command was worse. He came back to hit 96 in the AFL but walked a batter an inning there and got hit hard. That’s two years now where he’s pitched sparingly and not had any real success. … Right-hander Cam Leiter, cousin of Jack and Mark Jr., missed the spring at Florida State after shoulder surgery, but had flashed first-round stuff before the injury, sitting 95-96 with a 55 changeup and a big-breaking curveball. The 2025 second-round pick has never thrown strikes — across two colleges and two summer-league stints he has a walk rate over 15 percent — and he just hasn’t pitched that much, so I really don’t know what to expect after major surgery. … Right-hander Patrick Copen lost the vision in his right eye after he was hit in the face by a line drive in August 2024, but he was back on the mound in April and threw 117 innings last year between High A and Double A, striking out 29 percent of batters but walking 16 percent. He always had control issues and projected as a reliever even before the injury; with a fastball that’s already 94-95 and a plus slider, he could be extremely effective as a short reliever. If you want a guy to root for in the minors, this is as good a pick as any.
2026 impact
Heh, like the Dodgers have room for anyone in their early 20s.
The fallen
The Dodgers took high school lefty Maddux Bruns with their first pick in the 2021 draft (pick 29), betting on premium stuff and a good athlete despite his history of below-average control. He does flash that big stuff but has a career walk rate in the pros over 16 percent and did it again last year, with 37 walks in 49 innings as he repeated High A. He walked at least two batters in every one of his 16 appearances last year. The Dodgers did not add him to the 40-man roster this winter and he went unselected in the Rule 5 draft.
Sleeper
The safest bet here of someone who could jump well into the top 100 in a year is Davalan. If you’re looking for a less obvious pick, I’d watch Zazueta.