Since Andrew Friedman took over the Los Angeles Dodgers' baseball operations, he has fended off repeated trade requests for Corey Seager, Julio Urias, Cody Bellinger and Yadier Alvarez. L.A. probably could've landed Cole Hamels, Chris Sale or other established stars, but the Dodgers have kept the best of their prospects. And they enjoyed the first extraordinary benefit of that approach last season.

Seager was an MVP candidate in his first full season, and Urias demonstrated a steely, determined approach to pitching. Evaluators rave about Bellinger, who more than held his own in Double-A and Triple-A last season and is likely the heir apparent to Adrian Gonzalez, and Alvarez, a 20-year-old who allowed one homer in 59 1/3 innings in the minors last season, while striking out 81.

But officials and scouts with other teams are not as glowing in their assessment of Jose De Leon, the Dodgers prospect who was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for second baseman Logan Forsythe on Monday night to plug L.A.'s hole at second base.

De Leon will be 25 in August, the age at which the perception of prospects can begin to turn, and the Dodgers' handling of him last season raised questions in the eyes of some rivals. L.A. scrambled for starting pitching in 2016, with 15 different players taking turns in the rotation. De Leon -- who had reached the top of the Dodgers' farm system, at the end of his theoretical development -- got just four starts, all in September. And he did not get good results in those, mustering 17 innings and a 6.35 ERA. He might have been in line for promotion earlier in the year if not for a shoulder issue, a red flag in itself to some teams.