The 2011 Albuquerque Isotopes enjoyed a fair amount of preseason hype due to the presence of four of the Los Angeles Dodgers' top 10 prospects on the opening day roster.
Dee Gordon (No. 1), Jerry Sands (No. 6), Scott Elbert (No. 7) and Trayvon Robinson (No. 10) went on to enjoy seasons of varying degrees of success, with Elbert moving up to the Majors for most of the year and Robinson eventually being traded to the Mariners.
The 2012 Isotopes were not nearly as loaded, with only Tim Federowicz (No. 10) ranking among Baseball America's best.
Based on this year's Baseball America top 10 list, there does not seem to be much chance of a 2011 repeat.
Only left-handed reliever Paco Rodriguez (No. 8) and right-handed starter Matt Magill (No. 9) seem to have a shot at opening in Albuquerque. Rodriguez's chances of making the major-league roster, however, went up with the news that Elbert had a second elbow surgery recently, all but ruling him out for opening day.
Magill, 23, was one of the top pitchers in the Double-A Southern League last season, going 11-8 with a 3.75 ERA and a league-leading 168 strikeouts in 146 innings. He was added to the 40-man roster this season and seems like a safe bet to open with the Isotopes. However, the Dodgers have often withheld their top pitching prospects from Albuquerque's altitude, so there is no guarantee.
The rest of the top 10, and their expected destinations: No. 1 Hyun-Jin Ryu LHP (Majors), No. 2 Yasiel Puig OF (Double-A Chattanooga), No. 3 Corey Seager SS (Low-A Great Lakes), No. 4 Joc Pederson OF (Chattanooga), No. 5 Zach Lee RHP (Chattanooga), No. 6 Chris Reed LHP (Chattanooga), No. 7 Onelki Garcia LHP (Chattanooga), No. 10 Ross Stripling RHP (Great Lakes)
Comparing prospect lists
Other websites evaluated the Dodgers' prospects differently. FanGraphs' Marc Hulet did not rank Magill among his top 15, while Rodriguez came in at No. 14. Ryu was also not ranked on the list; while some debate the merits of a Korean League veteran being a prospect, other sites include him because under Major League rules he is technically a rookie. Lee, Reed and Seager topped the FanGraphs list.
Minor League Ball's John Sickels named Puig as the top Dodger prospect on his top 20, with Ryu coming in fifth. He also pegged Magill at No. 7 and Rodriguez at No. 13. Federowicz checked in at No. 11, while fellow Isotope Alex Castellanos was No. 14.
Feelin' Kinda Blue's Dustin Nosler went with Lee, Puig, Seager and Ryu atop his list, which goes 50 players deep. Magill is No. 6, Rodriguez No. 10 and Castellanos is No. 12. Other possible Isotopes include right-hander Stephen Ames (No. 16), Federowicz (25), infielder Rafael Ynoa (41) and outfielder Scott Van Slyke (44).
More signings
The Dodgers added a few more players on minor-league contracts, including two who are certainly in the mix for Isotopes' roster spots.
Right-hander Mario Santiago is a former Royals farmhand who pitched in Korea last year. He was 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 18 starts for the SK Wyverns (Incheon), who were the runners-up in the Korean Series.
Santiago, 28, was a 16th-round pick out of Baton Rouge Community College back in 2005. He was 3-3 with a 5.70 ERA and two saves in 19 games (four starts) for Omaha back in 2011, his only Triple-A experience.
Based on the lack of potential starters for the Isotopes — currently only Magill, holdover Stephen Fife and free-agent signees Fabio Castro and Matt Palmer project as starters — there is a good chance Santiago could be in Albuquerque's rotation this year.
Lefty reliever Victor Garate, 28, pitched in the Dodgers' system before in 2008-09, but he never appeared at Albuquerque. Last season he started out at Nashville (Brewers), going 3-5 with an ugly 7.78 ERA in 29 games before he was released. He appeared in one game with York of the independent Atlantic League.
Garate was signed out of Venezuela by the Astros in 2001, but his only big-league time came in 2009 with the Nationals when he gave up five runs on five hits and three walks in two innings of work spread over four appearances.
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