It is easy to get blinded by the star power. When you have Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and now Roki Sasaki sharing a clubhouse, the narrative naturally drifts toward Tokyo. But the Los Angeles Dodgers did not become the “Death Star” of baseball solely by writing massive checks to established professionals. They did it by building an international scouting operation that often feels more like a global intelligence network than a traditional sports front office.
While the baseball world is rightfully obsessed with the “Big Three” from Japan, the Dodgers have quietly assembled a secondary wave of prospects in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) and Arizona Complex League (ACL) that evaluators believe could stack up with the better systems in the game. The front office also understands a basic reality of the modern game: if you are going to carry a payroll north of $300 million, you need a steady pipeline of pre-arbitration contributors who can provide star-level or near-star-level impact at a fraction of the cost. For this organization, much of that future help is expected to come not from the domestic draft but from the international signing period, where the Dodgers have aggressively targeted upside for years.
A Global Game, A Global Market
The modern baseball economy is increasingly borderless, and the Dodgers treat the globe as a single, unified talent pool. That international outlook is mirrored by the fanbase, which now stretches well beyond the 213 area code and into baseball pockets across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Interest in the Dodgers’ farm system has become a worldwide phenomenon, fueled by a 24/7 information cycle that allows fans to track teenage prospects in real-time from thousands of miles away.
Being a Dodger fan in the Netherlands or Venezuela is less a casual pastime and more a test of stamina. You are not chasing foul balls at Dodger Stadium; you are staring at a tablet in Rotterdam at 4:10 a.m., following pitch-by-pitch updates while the rest of the city sleeps. That level of commitment often comes with a different set of tools. Instead of relying solely on American broadcasts and U.S.-based sportsbooks, international diehards dig into localized resources, tracking stat,s and scanning the latest odds to win the 2026 World Series on platforms that actually cater to their region. Sites like bettingzondercruks.com explain how Dutch players can access foreign-licensed betting operators outside the CRUKS system, with higher bonuses, broader markets, and more flexible payment options, but also with less protection and oversight than domestically regulated sites. The team scours the globe for talent; the fans scour the globe for information and access. It is the same hustle, just on different sides of the foul line.
The Next Great Shortstop: Joendry Vargas
If you want to understand why rival front offices are wary of dealing with the Dodgers, start with Joendry Vargas. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2023 for a bonus reported in the low seven figures, he has quickly moved from “intriguing projection play” to one of the more talked-about young infielders in the system.
Listed around 6-foot-3, Vargas does not fit the classic compact shortstop mold, yet his present actions give evaluators reason to believe he has a chance to remain on the left side of the infield, even as some still project an eventual move to third base. Public scouting reports credit him with a plus arm in the 55–60 range on the 20–80 scale and highlight a max exit velocity around 109–110 mph—big-league quality raw power for a teenager that points to significant offensive upside as he matures.
Vargas reflects a core tenet of the Dodgers’ international approach: sign high-upside athletes at premium defensive positions (shortstop, center field, catcher) and let a strong player-development infrastructure refine the skills. Reports already indicate progress in his approach, with improved swing decisions and the ability to drive the ball with authority to all fields. Even though the finer details of his chase rates and zone control will continue to evolve as he advances, his overall performance is already notable.
The “Tool Shed”: Eduardo Quintero
Where Vargas offers a growing level of polish, Eduardo Quintero brings volatility in the best possible sense. Signed out of Venezuela in the same general international window, he debuted as a bat-first catcher before shifting to the outfield, where his athleticism has really started to pop. Some outlets now rank him among the very top prospects in the organization, a testament to how quickly his tools have translated against pro competition.
Quintero’s profile reads like a scouting director’s wish list: above-average speed, real power potential, the ability to handle center field, and an arm that plays as a weapon from the grass. His early professional stat lines already show a blend of home runs and stolen bases that matches the power-speed narrative, even if exact future totals are still a matter of projection rather than certainty.
The move to center field has been encouraging, with evaluators noting that his athleticism allows him to close on balls in the gaps and convert potential extra-base hits into outs, though he is understandably still refining his reads and routes as he gains experience. The combination of impact tools and developmental runway makes him the kind of high-variance, game-breaking talent who can swing a postseason series if it all comes together.
The Prospect Well is Deep
The 2026 Dodgers will be defined by the stars on the marquee, but the organization’s staying power will depend on the teenagers and early-20s prospects grinding away in complex leagues and A-ball parks far from the spotlight. The international pipeline has already produced waves of contributors and trade chips, giving the front office flexibility to chase elite major-league talent without completely emptying the cupboard.
Whether these prospects ultimately break through in Dodger Blue or headline the next blockbuster deal, they represent the most valuable currency in the sport: affordable, high-upside depth that can be deployed in multiple ways. While much of the league has been focused on matching the Dodgers at the top of the roster, Los Angeles has quietly been building the next version of that roster, one international signing period at a time, in places like Santo Domingo and Venezuela.
