Developed Teams 2015: Los Angeles Dodgers

In what could end up being Don Mattingly's final game managing the Dodgers, the only franchise that plays in Los Angeles lost one of the closest and tensest games in recent memory to Jacob deGrom, Daniel Murphy, and the surging New York Mets. Many of the players who contributed to that losing effort were developed by the very same team for which they now play, but many more weren't, so let's take a look at how the developed Dodgers stack up:

Let's start at the top of the order and examine the offseason trade that very well might have cost Los Angeles the chance to advance to the next round of the playoffs. The Dodgers top brass apparently thought Dee Gordon's strategy of slapping singles and using his speed to make a difference on the base paths was unsustainable, so they embarked on a flurry of moves that essentially boiled down to trading Gordon straight up for Howie Kendrick. That move didn't work out quite as planned, as Kendrick's late season injury prompted the acquisition of Chase Utley, who broke Ruben Tejada's leg on a needlessly reckless slide into second base during the division series, effectively poisoning whatever good karma Los Angeles might have stored up. Meanwhile, Dee Gordon won the batting title and led the league in steals for Miami. Another recently departed Dodger is Matt Kemp: he was traded to the Padres this offseason despite two balky knees, but ended up eclipsing the production of all six Dodgers right fielders combined in 2015 (they averaged 1,743 points and 10.8 ppg).

Among the other high profile members of this offense to have left Los Angeles, Adrian Beltre and Russell Martin made solid contributions in a Dodger uniform, making a combined four playoff appearances with the club and a combined $75.5 million on the contracts they signed directly after leaving the club via free agency. Neither Carlos Santana nor Franklin Gutierrez made their debuts with the Dodgers, but received plenty of minor league seasoning in the organization before both being traded to Cleveland for Casey Blake and Milton Bradley, respectively. Gutierrez had a very successful 59 games with Seattle this year after missing all of 2014, which (along with his sterling defensive reputation) earned him a starting outfield spot on this squad, while Santana is slated to play first base. If Gutierrez can't maintain this level of production for a full season, Matt Kemp can shift to the outfield, Santana could DH, and James Loney could slot in at first. And last but not least are the current Dodgers rookies - if you could combine Joc Pederson's first half with Corey Seager's second half, you would have a Rookie of the Year candidate to rival Kris Bryant on the Cubs.

At the top of the rotation, you could not ask for a better pitcher than Clayton Kershaw, but after the lefty from Texas, things get a little dicey. Hyun-Jin Ryu, another special foreign import case, missed all of 2015 due to injury, but he has the talent to slot behind Kershaw in that rotation when healthy. Nathan Eovaldi and Rubby De La Rosa both ranked near the bottom of Baseball America's top 100 prospect list exactly once, and they've filled out into decent mid-rotation talents. I put Carlos Frias in the fifth starter slot because he saw some decent playing time in his rookie campaign, but he would definitely have some competition from former rotation mainstay Chad Billingsley or current Dodgers minor leaguer Eric Stults. Edwin Jackson, a starter for most of his career, found a new lease on life in the bullpen for the Cubs and Braves, so he's probably not an option. Let's just say I'm sure these developed Dodgers wish that Hiroki Kuroda didn't move back to Japan to retire.

Kenley Jansen is currently the Dodgers closer, and one of the best in the game at that. He's set up by Shawn Tolleson who blossomed into the closer for the Rangers this year, supplanting Neftali Feliz about a month before he was traded to the Tigers. Pedro Baez is perhaps better known for unsuccessfully entering playoff games in relief of Clayton Kershaw than for being the 9th-hardest throwing pitcher in 2015, but he could very well blossom into a good setup man as well. One pitcher who's not on this roster but has a good chance to bounce back given the right circumstances is Jonathan Broxton, a former setup man and closer who made his way back to the playoffs with St. Louis this year. Overall, the developed Dodgers look very top heavy in all areas (lineup, rotation, and bullpen), but given the best or near-best case scenarios for some of their prospects, and this team could be a force to be reckoned with.