The Roger Dorn Baseball League Trade Deadline is just three days away as Front Offices across the league continue to engage in last minute conversations. The race for the six Playoff spots is currently eight deep as the surprising Maltese Falcons continue to stay within arm's reach of the Las Vegas Aristocrats for the final Wild Card spot.
Here is the latest 3 Up, 3 Down.
Grapes Prospects
The Athletic and Baseball America refreshed their Top 100 Prospect Lists and a pair of Grapes pitching prospects immediately stood out. Hunter Greene (#3 Overall in The Athletic Top 100) and Shane Baz (#4 Overall in The Athletic Top 100) have seen dramatic rises to their stock while Bobby Witt, Jr. has made the jump to Triple-A and stands as a potential Opening Day activation for 2022. Keith Law also slotted Grapes shortstop Jordan Lawlar at 21st overall, giving the Grapes four of the Top 21 overall prospects in baseball according to The Athletic.
Devils 2022 Pitching Depth
The moves by GM Jason Watson this week along with six scoreless innings from Luis Patiño highlighted the depth the Devils should have entering 2022. The club has Yusei Kikuchi (2R/$3), Luis Garcia (1FA/$5) and a resurgent Adam Wainwright (1/$4) but couples that with strong depth in their Farm System. Patiño is joined by James Kaprielian (3.23 ERA) and Cal Quantrill (3.66 ERA) as assets already performing at the big league level while new addition Nick Lodolo is knocking on the door.
Clovers Offense
The Cloverdale Clovers continue to look around the league for pitching help, but their offense is doing everything they can to stay in the race. Juan Soto (.375/.514/.786) and Joey Votto (.345/.466/.845) rank 1st and 2nd in hitting over the last 21 days while Jorge Polanco (.350/.409/.650) isn't far behind with the 9th highest production over that span.
Ducks Leverage on Bogaerts
The Burlingame Blue Ducks put out a high asking price for shortstop Xander Bogaerts last week and have seen the most aggressive buyers across the RDBL sail right by the ask and fill their offensive needs with other deals. That has left GM Ryan Walsh in a tough spot as they try and generate a bidding war between the Asti Grape Stompers, Las Vegas Aristocrats and Cloverdale Clovers before Sunday's Trade Deadline. The Lake Merced Goutfish remain another possibility with Bogaerts potentially filling a utility slot in their lineup. GM Ryan Atkinson still has Yordan Alvarez waiting in the wings for that spot which could cool their interest.
The Ducks inability to add a dependable starting pitcher makes the ask for a pair of top assets a difficult bar to reach.
Taijuan Walker
The Stacks felt confident in their addition of Taijuan Walker to boost the back-end of their rotation, but the right-hander has been a disaster thus far since his acquisition from the Meinert Hops. Walker hadn't posted a negative start for the entire first half but now has posted three consecutive starts for a total of -52.0 with 16 ER in 9 1/3 innings. Only Mike Foltynewicz has been worse over that span.
Carlos Rodon
The Heads have plenty of pitching depth but there are slight concerns with Rodon as he heads into uncharted territory for his usage. Rodon passed 100 innings for the first time in his career and has posted back to back subpar outings, far below the pace and production the Heads have come to expect from the left-hander. While it's not a major concern currently, it's certainly something to watch down the stretch as the Chicago White Sox, a safe Playoff club, could look to monitor his innings down the stretch of the MLB Regular Season.