2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso:

NBA fans may remember the insane hype around New York high school basketball legend, Sebastian Telfair. He may not have fully reached his potential in the pros, but with the likes of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, he was the talk of basketball throughout the early 2000s.

Those same fans may also remember hearing that Telfair had a cousin who was in fact, another star point guard who goes by the name of Stephon Marbury.

So, what does any of this have to do with baseball prospects?

Well, there’s another extremely talented teenager in the family. Sebastian and Stephon’s second-cousin, and Los Angeles Dodgers international signee, Josue De Paula.

Look at that swing. De Paula is an 18-year-old, left-handed outfielder. He was grabbed by the Dodgers in the winter of 2022 out of the Dominican Republic. What has he been doing ever since? It’s very simple, he’s hit everywhere he’s been. In a quick 53-game stint at the Rookie-ball level in 2022, he hit .349/.448/.970. It became fairly obvious that he was ready for better competition.

In 2023, he played in Single-A, where he continued to impress at the plate (.284/.396.768). The power dropped a tad, but he still managed to drive in 40 RBI and steal 16 bags across 74 games. Remember, he’s also still 18 years-old and weighs only 185-pounds. By the time he makes his major league debut, I expect the Dodgers would have already put him on a full bulking program. He also kept his strikeout-rate below 20 percent, along with a 13 percent walk-rate, which is very rare to see in the minors, especially for players of Josue’s age.

De Paula’s name has come up recently, and not just because of his impressive play. A team like the Dodgers is always in win-now mode.

After a disappointing early playoff exit in 2023, fans expect the team to make a move to improve the major league roster. Tyler Glasnow seems to be the most mentioned name right now. With the thought of adding a front-end rotation pitcher like Glasnow, of course the highest potential prospect in the organization would come up as a trade piece.

Although it’s a smaller market, ending up in Tampa could be a nice scenario for De Paula. The Rays develop. Period. Josue can be the next of the big Rays prospects after Junior Caminero, and the other No. 1 prospect that came through the system before him, who will not be named.

But even if he stays in Los Angeles, expect De Paula to move upwards fairly quickly. The jump to Double-A will be the real challenge, but if Josue can keep the strikeouts down and the OBP up, the power should come along as well. A 2024 season in which he finishes at Double-A, followed by a 2025 season where he could fight for that September call-up as an early-20-year-old is not out of the question. Actually, I’ll say it’s more probable than possible. But only time will tell.

For now, go scoop up De Paula in your dynasty leagues and keep an eye on his 1^st bowman autos. He comes out of the 2023 Bowman set, but he also comes at a price. He is one-of-the-more valued and chased prospects out of that set. But as I’m writing this profile: its November, baseball season is over, and macro-economic conditions have put a damper on the card market (and all other markets). You can grab a green refractor (/99) for $110, I suggest you do that if you have the budget. Or throw his card on your Christmas list and let a significant other or family member grab you an asset that should see much higher-valued days in the future.