Prospect Pipeline

The Los Angeles Dodgers are up to their old tricks again, making moves trying to improve their chances to make the postseason. 

According to the Dodgers' official Twitter account, they are getting Ricky Nolasco from the Miami Marlins for Steven Ames, Josh Wall and Angel Sanchez. 

Having reached the halfway point of the 2013 minor league season, it’s not surprising that many of the game’s top young hitters have recently received a promotion to a more advanced level.

Selected by the Red Sox with the 39th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Anthony Ranaudo was expected to make a quick ascent to the major leagues. However, the 6’7” right-hander hit a roadblock during his sophomore campaign in 2011, as he battled a groin injury over the first few months of the season prior to being shut down for the season in July with shoulder fatigue.

Due to the amount of attention paid to each organization's top prospects and early-round draft picks, many of the game's underrated prospects are perpetually obscured. Most of the time, these prospects are younger players who are housed in the low minors and still require considerable physical projection. At the same time, there are countless prospects on the older side of the age curve who have dipped off the radar due to injury.

Here's a look at one "hidden gem" from each organization who could make a push for the major leagues in the coming years.

While it’s only been a few days since the conclusion of the 2013 First-Year Player draft, some teams have already announced the signing of their early-round selections.

After 40 rounds and over 1,200 players, it is time to reflect on what happened during the past three days in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. 

Obviously not all these players are going to contribute—some of them won't even make it out of short-season ball—but now is a time to be excited for the future and what could be. 

Mark Appel, the Stanford right-handed pitcher who passed up a $3.8 million bonus from the Pittsburgh Pirates as the No. 8 pick in last year's draft, appears to have made a smart business decision to return to school for his senior season in 2013. 

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in late 2011 and logging only 28.1 innings last season in the minor leagues last year, Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson is on pace to make his major league debut before the All-Star break.

The 22nd overall draft pick in 2009, Gibson has pitched extremely well recently for Triple-A Rochester in the International League and has now thrown a complete game shutout in two of his last three starts.

When it comes to position players in the Major League Baseball draft, the two areas you will see teams reach on a pick are catcher and shortstop. It is so hard to find players who project to be even average at those spots that when a team believes it has found one, it needs to pounce. 

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already reached the one-quarter mark for the 2013 season.

However, with most teams having played around 40 games, league standings and stats are now relevant and based on something other than a small sample size.