It’s the time of year when every minor league lineup is closely monitored for late scratches and signs of a potential trade.
On Saturday night at the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in Tulsa, there were two notable absences that sent sirens off around the industry.
After originally being listed to play for Tulsa on Saturday, highly touted outfield prospects Zyhir Hope and Kendall George were removed from the team’s lineup shortly before first pitch.
For now, however, it appears to be a false alarm.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, there was no known trade in place for either player yet. Instead, the Dodgers were simply believed to be taking a precaution as rival clubs inquire about them ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.
So it goes for a Dodgers team eyeing the top of the trade market.
They are expected to be contenders for Tigers ace and two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. They will, as always, be having other wide-ranging conversations with potential trade partners as Monday’s deadline nears. And they will field plenty of calls about their best young players, prompting them to take no chances over the next couple days.
Hope, 21, was originally an 11th-round draft pick of the Cubs in 2023 whom the Dodgers acquired as part of the Michael Busch trade the following offseason. He has since climbed prospect rankings thanks to a .281 average, 48 home runs and .862 OPS in his minor league career. Now, he is a consensus top-55 talent in the sport.
George, 21, is a homegrown Dodgers prospect, drafted 36th overall back in 2023. A speed-first center fielder who has blossomed at the plate with a career .304 minor league average, he missed time earlier this year after a freak incident in which he injured his patella while avoiding Tulsa’s team bat dog during a game in May, but avoided surgery and returned to action last month.
According to Baseball America, Hope is the Dodgers’ No. 4 ranked prospect (and has been seen as a potentially logical inclusion in any negotiations for Skubal), while George is the No. 11 ranked player in their farm system.
For now, they will remain that way.
Whether that’s still the case come Monday remains to be seen.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
