Twitter was abuzz on Tuesday night, as Dodgers' fringe prospect Brandon Trinkwon was removed from his game at Double-A Tulsa after just one inning. True Blue LA's David Hood reported that Tulsa's manager, Razor Shines, was handed a note notifying him that a change should be made, leading to speculation that Trinkwon could be involved in some sort of trade.
Again, to clarify, Brandon Trinkwon lifted for Drillers in the first inning. Did not see injury, and Shines was notified during inning.
— David Hood (@davidchood) July 29, 2015
This does not appear to be the case. According to industry sources, Trinkwon's removal was the result of positional shifting designed to showcase prospect (and trade candidate) Kyle Farmer at third base, instead of catcher, where he started the game.
One source noted that "someone" (likely a rival scout) wanted to see Farmer at third base, with another speculating that the Dodgers were moving him from behind the plate in order to avoid injury. Both of those possibilities point to Farmer being a serious trade candidate over the next two days, as the major-league team appeared to be intervening in order to specifically showcase and/or protect him.
Farmer, 24, was the Dodgers' eighth-round pick in the 2013 draft and is currently ranked as their 25th-best prospect by MLB.com.
Let's call this one a #dominoeffecthugwatch.