Dodgers acquire three prospects in three-team deal with Reds and White Sox

The Los Angeles Dodgers' front office has made no bones about trying to upgrade their farm system, and consistent with those plans, the team has announced the completion of a three-team trade with the Reds and White Sox, in which the Dodgers will receive three prospects: Right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas, outfielder Trayce Thompson, and second baseman Micah Johnson.

The Reds will receive infielder Jose Peraza, outfielder Scott Schebler, and minor league infielder Brandon Dixon, while the White Sox will receive third baseman Todd Frazier.

The real question for Los Angeles is now that the free agent pitching market has dried up, are any of these prospects going to be moved in another deal to upgrade the Major League roster immediately in 2016?

Thompson, 24, is an athletic outfielder who saw his first big league action last season with the White Sox, batting .295 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 44 games.

Thompson, a local California product who attended Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, has been selected as an All-Star at nearly every level during his seven-year minor league career, while batting a combined .241 with 94 steals, 101 home runs and 395 RBI in 734 games.

The son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson and brother of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, was originally selected by the White Sox in the second round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Montas, 22, appeared in seven games (two starts) with Chicago last year, going 0-2 with a 4.80 ERA, and has posted a 16-25 record with a 3.86 ERA in 92 games (80 starts) in six minor league seasons in the White Sox organization. Montas has a live arm and has limited opponents to a .232 batting average during the course of his minor league career, while averaging more than a strikeout per inning with 390 strikeouts in 382.2 innings.

He entered the 2015 season rated as the White Sox’s No. 5 prospect by Baseball America and was honored as a Double-A Southern League All-Star last season, registering a 5-5 record with a 2.97 ERA, a .219 opponents’ batting average and 108 strikeouts in 23 starts with Birmingham.

Johnson, 24, is a second baseman who has excellent speed and has appeared in 36 big league games with the White Sox last year after making the club’s Opening Day roster and has a .301 career batting average with 153 stolen bases, 24 home runs, and 163 RBI in 385 games in four minor league seasons.

He entered the 2015 season rated as the White Sox’s No. 4 prospect by Baseball America and combined to hit .316 with 28 steals, eight home runs and 36 RBI in 83 minor league games last year with Triple-A Charlotte and the Rookie-level AZL White Sox.

Of course, Dodger fans can remember what it was like to have a young, speedy second baseman, as just two years ago the team had Dee Gordon starting at the position.  In what now has turned out to be a bad deal, the team traded away Gordon to the Marlins, as Gordon went on to enjoy a breakout season, earning a Gold Glove and leading the NL in batting average and stolen bases.

Schebler, 25, saw his first big league action with the Dodgers last season, batting .250 with three home runs and four RBI in 19 games, and has a .272 career batting average with 87 home runs and 340 RBI in 593 minor league games in six professional seasons after being selected by Los Angeles in the 26th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.

Peraza, who was acquired by the Dodgers from Atlanta on July 30, made his Major League debut on Aug. 10 and went 4-for-22 in seven games with Los Angeles last year. The 21-year-old has a .302 career batting average with 210 steals, nine home runs and 183 RBI in 461 minor league games in five professional seasons in the Braves (2011-15) and Dodgers (2015) organizations after signing with Atlanta as an amateur free agent in 2011 out of Venezuela.

Dixon, 23, combined to hit .263 with 19 home runs and 68 RBI in 128 games last season with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa in his third professional season after being selected by the Dodgers in the third round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services