The Los Angeles Dodgers set the standard for team building in Major League Baseball.
They've done so by nearly perfecting the art of player development. It also helps that they have a seemingly endless supply of cash for their payroll.
However, their farm system and player development give them a unique advantage when it comes to building out their roster. The Dodgers can trade prospects with the confidence of knowing that there'll be more coming up the pipeline.
A good example of this comes via the updated ESPN farm system rankings after the draft and trade deadline.
LA dealt prospects Alexander Albertus, Thayron Liranzo and Jeral Perez at this year's deadline, and they actually managed to leap five spots to No. 3 in MLB insider Kiley McDaniel's rankings.
Via ESPN:
Only Andy Pages has graduated so far this year, with pitchers River Ryan and Justin Wrobleski the latest call-ups to reinforce a big league club staff hit hard by injuries and underperformance. Eduardo Quintero, Emil Morales, Joendry Vargas and Alex Freeland have made big gains as position players in 2024. The Dodgers' draft class was headlined by two upside prep position players in Kellon Lindsey and Chase Harlan, which backfilled for some position players L.A. dealt at the trade deadline: Thayron Liranzo, Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez.
De Paula (one rival scout compared him to Yordan Alvarez), and Dalton Rushing (rumored to be off limits in deadline talks) will headline this system until at least midseason in 2025.
McDaniel does his rankings by projected farm system value which uses a series of projections to calculate a dollar figure that each club's farm system is worth. Only the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays rank higher than LA.
This is why LA has such a distinct team-building advantage. They have two prospects they love in Josue De Paula and Dalton Rushing. Both players could conceivably be impactful for LA as early as next season. They could also headline a blockbuster trade if LA feels the need to make one in the offseason or at next year's trade deadline.
It's a prime team-building model that doesn't force LA to lean on its prospects or free agents. They can bring their prospects along and either work them into the lineup (like they've done with Andy Pages this year), or flip them for high-end talent. And they can do that with confidence knowing that even when they send prospects out, they'll have an opportunity to actual climb up an MLB farm system ranking.
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