Under team president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman the Los Angeles Dodgers have carefully protected their crop of prospects while simultaneously focusing on adding to the farm system.
Such was the case in a three-team trade last December with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox that netted the Dodgers Micah Johnson, Frankie Montas and Trayce Thompson.
Los Angeles sent Jose Peraza and Scott Schebler to the Reds in the prospect-heavy trade.
Given some of the uncertainty the Dodgers faced at second base at the time, it wasn’t beyond reason to believe Johnson could play a role for the club as early as this season.
However, the Dodgers have since re-signed Chase Utley, who with Kiké Hernandez is expected to handle second-base duties.
Where Johnson begins the season is still to be determined, but he’ll do so as the No. 7 Minor-League second baseman, via Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com:
7. Micah Johnson, Dodgers
Don’t use Johnson’s brief trial as the White Sox’s regular second baseman as a measure of who he can be in the big leagues. He may never be more than an adequate defender, but he can hit, he can get on base and he can run, as evidenced by his .301 average, .368 OBP and 153 stolen bases in 385 Minor League games. Perhaps the change of scenery in Los Angeles, courtesy of the three-team trade that brought Todd Frazier from the Reds to Chicago, will help.
Johnson spent 36 games up with the White Sox last season, batting .230/.306/.270 with nine walks and 30 strikeouts in 114 plate appearances. He was ranked the No. 2 overall second baseman in the Minors entering 2015.
Peraza, who appeared in seven games with the Dodgers last season, is ranked No. 2 after being listed as the top player at his position last year. Yoan Moncada of the Boston Red Sox is this year’s No. 1 second baseman in the Minors.
Johnson becomes the latest in a string of prospects to be ranked highly by MLBPipeline.com. Jose De Leon is ranked the fifth-best right-handed prospect, Julio Urias the top left-handed prospect and Cody Bellinger the No. 8 first baseman in the Minors.
Bellinger, De Leon and Urias were among the 16 players extended a non-roster invite to Spring Training on Monday.
