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Dylan Gandy of the Baltimore Orioles is one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. The 19-year-old has looked dominant at the lower levels but needs more time in the minors before he should play in the majors.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter seems to agree, as he won’t be bringing up the phenom this September. Instead, he will be sending him to the instructional league. Showalter was quoted about his decision by MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli:

“Instructional league starts on the 12th [of September],” Showalter said of Bundy’s future. “What did he walk four guys last night? There’s some things, he’s at a level where he’s been challenged with, just like he got challenged more in [High-A] Frederick. He had some outings that weren’t [good]… I think the progression of his development has been great. Couldn’t ask for a better progression.”

That progression should only continue as Bundy learns more about the game and develops his pitches. He started off in Low-A ball and didn’t allow a single earned run in eight starts. He also pitched only 30 innings.

Then, in High-A, he pitched 57.0 innings in 12 games and had an ERA of 2.84. As he continues to rise, so does his ERA. In Double-A, he played just three games but was able to have an ERA of 3.24 in 16.2 innings.

His hot start in the minors tapered off slightly, but he should still be able to contribute on at least the Double-A level in 2013. The instructional league will pay huge dividends to the flamethrowing righty because it should help him develop his curveball into one of the best in the minors.

Combining an improved curveball with his 95-mph fastball, 92-mph cutter and plus changeup will give Bundy four pitches to rely on. He also has a two-seamer that he can show against both righties and lefties. 

The extra year in the minors should allow Bundy to extend his arm out. After pitching just one year in the minors, with just 100 innings, it would be hard for him to transition to the 200-plus-inning workload of a major league stater. 

Despite being just 20 years old next season and being in just his second year in professional baseball, Bundy should be a September call-up in 2013.

And by the time 2016 rolls around, he could be in competition with Stephen Strasburg for the title of best pitcher in the Baltimore-D.C. area.

Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist and Trends and Traffic Writer for Bleacher Report. As a Featured Columnist, he covers the Atlanta Falcons, NFL and NFL draft. He is also the Falcons analyst at Drafttek, runs the NFL Draft Website ScarDraft.com and hosts Kvetching Draftniks Radio.

Follow @scar988

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Carl Crawford was just traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a blockbuster deal. Once he heals from Tommy John surgery, he will return to his All-Star form.

In one of the more shocking moves of the season, Crawford and teammate Adrian Gonzalez now finds themselves in L.A. According to Dayn Perry from CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox have agreed to the following trade:

As anticipated, the Dodgers have acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, right-hander Josh Beckett, outfielder Carl Crawford and infielder Nick Punto from the Red Sox in exchange for first baseman James Loney, outfielder Jerry Sands, infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., right-hander Rubby De La Rosa and frontline pitching prospect prospect Allen Webster.

So while everyone else is saying Gonzalez is the key piece to this deal, the real key will be how Crawford bounces back from Tommy John surgery in 2013 and beyond.

Crawford should be a better player than he was in Boston. The pressure to be great there is too much for some players, and he could really take a liking to playing in left field at Dodgers Stadium. 

The switch to Dodgers stadium for home games in addition to a manager that isn’t a strict disciplinarian should be the biggest reasons why he returns to the all-star form that he showed in Tampa.

Tommy John surgery can lead to a better player than before the surgery

Not that it is guaranteed to do so for everyone, but Tommy John surgery has led other players to become more well-rounded after having to get the surgery.

The year off is something that can be beneficial for the players who have undergone the procedure, as they can study different ways to attack their opponents once they get back.

A notable example of this is Rick Ankiel. Ankiel is one of the few players who wound up having a solid career after he imploded as a pitcher early on.

He came back and was able to make a switch to center field. He has a career batting average of .244, a slugging percentage of .422 and a career OPS of .729 after the switch. All are solid numbers and an improvement from his early batting when he was a pitcher.

Los Angeles should be a better environment than Boston was for success

Bobby Valentine was supposed to be a stabilizing force in the Boston locker room. He was supposed to be the guy who brought out all the talent on the roster that he could.

However, Valentine has been unable to do so, and the Red Sox were sitting at 60-66 before the trade. Valentine’s overly disciplinarian attitude is something that has led to the downfall of a once playoff-caliber team.

Enter Don Mattingly and the Dodgers veteran clubhouse to the mix. Now Crawford truly does have a stabilizing force for his career to get back on track. 

There’s a ton of talent in L.A., and Crawford isn’t going to be relied on to be the top player like he was in Boston. The Dodgers are able to rely on Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier as their marquee bats, and Crawford should be able to return to his more preferred leadoff role.

The bat will return, but he should feel more at home in left field in Los Angeles

Despite having one of the best bats in the majors for a leadoff hitter in Tampa Bay, Crawford fell off in Boston. He should see a nice return to his numbers as a hitter in the more balanced park in Los Angeles. However, the real improvement will be in his fielding.

Fenway Park is notorious for its awkward dimensions. As shown in the graphic above, Dodgers Stadium’s dimensions are extremely similar to Tropicana Field’s. The more rounded field in L.A. will give Crawford one of the easier fields to patrol.

Despite Fenway having the Green Monster out in left field and more drawn-in dimensions, Fenway can be clunky for an outfielder to navigate. In L.A., Crawford also will deal with more friendly bounces, as he never seemed to truly feel comfortable in the confines of Fenway. That alone will be his return to All-Star form.

Scott Carasik is a featured columnist and trends and traffic writer for Bleacher Report. As a featured columnist, he covers the Atlanta Falcons, NFL and NFL draft. Carasik also is the Falcons analyst at Drafttek, runs the NFL draft website ScarDraft.com and hosts Kvetching Draftniks Radio.

Follow him on Twitter.

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