By Cary Osborne

The Dodgers’ minor league system is at a place where it hasn’t been in De Jon Watson’s eight seasons.

That’s the view of Watson, the Vice President of Player Development who oversees the annual Winter Development Camp and is responsible for developing and evaluating all players in the organization. The resources are available to infuse young talent into the system, and because of that, a number of young players have been brought into the organization and have flourished.

Some of the Dodgers’ top prospects spent last week getting their feet wet at Dodger Stadium for the annual Winter Development Camp — but not all. There was a large number of Dodger prospects who opened eyes in 2013 who weren’t at the camp. Watson talked to Dodger Insider about some of them.

Julio Urias made his professional debut with the Single-A Great Lakes Loons last season at just 16 years old. The left-hander from Mexico went 2-0 with a 2.48 ERA, striking out 67 batters in 54.1 innings.

“Really talented young kid,” Watson said. “The kid will pitch this year at 17. He went to the Midwest League last year at 16 and he showed the poise of a 27-year-old coming out of a 16-year-old-body. Nothing about the game flustered him. The competition wasn’t a problem. His fastball was anywhere from 90 to 97. … He was really exciting to watch as a young player. To be able to handle himself, it was pretty impressive.”

The Dodgers top two picks from last season’s First-Year Player Draft were high school rivals in Minnesota before going off to college. First-rounder Chris Anderson went 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 12 starts for Great Lakes. Second-rounder Tom Windle went 5-1 with a 2.68 ERA in 12 starts for the Loons.

“Chris Anderson has an aggressive power arm,” Watson said of the 21-year-old right-hander. “He’s going to get better as he continues to mature and work with our coaches. He also has an above-average slider and the makings of a solid-average change-up. He could be a quick mover in our system if needed.”

On the 21-year-old left-hander Windle: “We’re really excited. Really looking forward to him coming to camp. He features four pitches with solid-average command of all his pitches. He seems to have an innate ability to read swings and make adjustments.”

The ceiling is high for 2012 first-rounder Corey Seager, who saw a late-season promotion from Great Lakes to High-A Rancho Cucamonga. In Great Lakes, the 19-year-old shortstop batted .309 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI. In Rancho, he batted .160 with four home runs and 15 RBI in 100 at-bats. Seager played for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the prestigious Arizona Fall League and was selected to play in the league’s Fall Stars Game.

“Corey swung the bat well, played a solid shortstop, the range continues to improve. His feel for the game continues to improve,” Watson said. “We pushed him up to the Cal League and he ran into a little snag, but he’ll make the adjustment to dominate in that league and go higher. The one thing that’s really neat about the kid is his poise. He never seems to get flustered. His internal clock on defense is really amazing — to watch such a young player understand the flow and pace of the game. He never panics. He handles himself like a pro.”

Watson threw out some other names of guys who took some significant steps in 2013.

• First baseman Justin Chigbogu, 19, hit .268 with 14 home runs and 50 RBI in 60 Rookie League games last year.
• Outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo, 20, hit .307 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in 63 games at Rookie League Ogden.
• Puerto Rican outfielder Jon Garcia, 22, hit 17 home runs with 44 RBI in 68 games with Rancho last season before a promotion to Double-A Chattanooga, where his power dipped.
• Right fielder Joey Curletta, 19, batted .326 with five home runs and 42 RBI last season in Ogden.
• Puerto Rican outfielder Noel Cuevas, 22, batted .284 with 12 home runs, 66 RBI and 38 stolen bases for Rancho in 2013.
• Middle infielder Darnell Sweeney, 22, batted .275 with 11 home runs, 77 RBI, 16 triples and 48 stolen bases last season for Rancho.