The MLB draft has come and gone, and the draft talent evaluators have opined that the Dodgers had a top 5 draft. This year’s draft pool was not considered very good, but the Dodgers were able to draft for value and need. The Dodgers are getting good at finding value in the low order they pick from. They even picked up a top potential HS draft pick in SS/3B Brennan Milone in the 28th round. They might have enough bonus money to make a legit run at him if they want. Milone is currently committed to South Carolina.
Jim Callis (MLB.com) rated the top seven draft teams to be (in order): Arizona, Tampa Bay, LAD, Miami, Toronto, NYM, and Cincinnati. That is remarkable where the Dodgers were drafting. Billy Gasparino and crew seemingly have done a very good job.
The draft went as planned for the most part. There were some questionable reaches by some teams. Principally the Chicago Cubs drafting RHP Ryan Jensen (Fresno State) as their 1st pick, and the Astros selecting Catcher Korey Lee (Cal) with their 1st pick. Jensen was rated #99 & #109 by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America respectively, while Lee was rated #119 & #173. It may work out, but it sure seems they could have waited to make those picks. Some draft analysts were also scratching their head at the Rockies selecting UCLA 1B Mike Toglia as their 1st pick. While it may work out, it may have been a reach with their 1st round, but not as big of a reach as the Cubs and Astros.
Draft Slot – Player – Pos – School – Yr – Ht. – Wt. – Age Bonus Slot
1 – Kody Hoese – 3B – Tulane – Jr. – 6′ 4″ – 200 – 21 – $2,740,300
1B – Michael Busch – 2B – North Carolina – Jr. – 6′ 0″ – 207 – 21 – $2,312,000
2B – Jimmy Lewis – RHP – HS – HS – 6′ 6″ – 195 – 18 – $793,000
3 – Ryan Pepiot – RHP – Butler – Jr. – 6′ 3″ – 215 – 21 – $571,400
4 – Brandon Lewis – 3B – UC Irvine – Jr. – 6′ 3″ – 215 – 20 – $430,800
5 – Jack Little RHRP – Stanford – Jr. – 6′ 4″ – 190 – 21 – $321,100
6 – Aaron Ochsenbein – RHRP – Eastern Kentucky – 5th Yr Sr. – 6′ 3″ – 225 – 22 – $249,000
7 – Nick Robertson – RHRP – James Madison – Jr. – 6′ 6″ – 265 – 20 – $195,700
8 – Ryan Ward – LF – Bryant University – Jr. – 5′ 11″ – 200 – 21 – $163,400
9 – Alec Gamboa – LHP – Fresno – CC – Soph – 6′ 1″ – 205 – 22 – $150,100
10 – Zac Ching – SS – VCU – Sr. – 5′ 9″ – 180 – 22 – $142,300
11 – Logan Boyer – RHP – San Diego St. – Jr. – 6′ 3″ – 215 – 21
12 – Mitchell Tyranski – LHP – Michigan St. – Jr. – 6′ 2″ – 215 – 21
13 – Jacob Cantleberry – LHP – Missouri – Jr. – 6′ 1″ – 180 – 21
14 – Sean Mellen – LHP – Northeastern – Jr. – 6′ 5″ – 215 – 21
15 – Joe Vranesh – OF – St Mary’s – Jr. – 6′ 2″ – 200 – 21
16 – Andrew Baker – RHP – Chipola JC – Frosh – 6′ 2″ – 185 – 19
17 – Brandon Wulff – RF – Stanford – Sr. – 6′ 1″ – 225 – 22
18 – Jeff Belge – LHP – St John’s – Jr. – 6′ 5″ – 225 – 21
19 – Braidyn Fink – RHP – Oklahoma – Jr. – 6′ 1″ – 216 – 21
20 – Zack Plunkett – RHP – Arkansas – 5th Yr Sr. – 6′ 2″ – 205 – 23
21 – Trey LaFleur – OF – HS – HS – 6′ 3″ – 190 – 18
22 – Jimmy Titus – SS – Bryant University – Jr. – 6′ 1″ – 195 – 21
23 – Cyrillo Watson – RHP – Illinois – Jr. – 6′ 1″ – 195 – 21
24 – Chet Allison – CF – Fresno CC – Soph – 6′ 2″ – 215 – 20
25 – Jonny Deluca – OF – Oregon – Soph – 5′ 11″ – 196 – 20
26 – Mark Mixon – RHP – Miami – Jr. – 6′ 2″ – 180 – 22
27 – Parker Brahms – RHP – Sacramento St. – Jr. – 6′ 3″ – 209 – 21
28 – Brennan Milone – 3B – HS – HS – 6′ 1″ – 180 – 18
29 – Brelyn Jones – SS – HS – HS – 6′ 2″ – 180 – 18
30 – Josh Ibarra – RHP – Golden West JC – Soph – 6′ 2″ – 200 – 20
31 – Kayle Yates – SS – HS – HS – 6′ 0″ – 165 – 18
32 – Danny Sinatro – CF – Washington St. – Jr. – 6′ 0″ – 180 – 21
33 – Julio Carrion – SS – Chipola JC – Soph – 6′ 2″ – 185 – 20
34 – Francisco Martinez – LHP – HS – HS – 6′ 1″ – 180 – 18
35 – Justin Washington – CF – Savannah St. – Jr. – 6’4″ – 190 – 22
36 – Matthew Kanfer – RF – Pepperdine – Sr. – 6′ 2″ – 185 – 21
37 – Tres Gonzalez – CF – HS – HS – 6′ 0″ – 170 – 18
38 – Tyler Ryan – C – University of Pacific – 5th Yr Sr. – 6′ 1″ – 210 – 23
39 – Caden MacDonald – LHP – HS – HS – 6′ 1″ – 175 18
40 – Ty Haselman (Pictured) – C – UCLA – Jr. – 6′ 2″ – 201 – 21
That is 28 players from 4-year programs; 5 from JUCO, and 8 from HS. 20 pitchers – 12 (RHP) and 8 (LHP), 10 OF, 5 SS, 2 3B, 1 2B, and 2 catchers.
Broken Down:
RHP – 4-Year – 9
RHP – JUCO – 2
RHP – HS – 1
LHP – 4-Year – 5
LHP – JUCO – 1
LHP – HS – 2
OF – 4-Year – 7
OF – JUCO – 1
OF – HS – 2
SS – 4 Year – 2
SS – JUCO – 1
SS – HS – 2
3B – 4-Year – 2
3B – HS – 1
2B – 4-Year – 1
C – 4-Year – 2
The Dodgers had 7 selections that were rated as top prospects by both MLB Pipeline (Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo), and by Baseball America:
Kody Hoese – #25 and #29 (overall #25 selection)
Michael Busch – #26 and #24 (overall #31 selection)
Jimmy Lewis – #64 and #56 (overall #78 selection)
Ryan Pepiot – #72 and #99 (3rd Round)
Brandon Lewis – #132 and #215 (4th round)
Jack Little – #180 and #220 (5th round)
Brennan Milone – #94 and #134 (28th round)
They had 11 other selections who were included in the Top 500 prospects from Baseball America but not in the top 200 of MLB Pipeline:
Aaron Ochsenbein – 6th round (#282)
Ryan Ward – 8th round (#434)
Jacob Cantleberry – 13th round (#423)
Sean Mellen – 14th round (#386)
Jeff Belge – 18th round (#325)
Braidyn Fink – 19th round (#358)
Trey Lefleur – 21st round (#370)
Cyrillo Watson – 23rd round (#418)
Jonny Deluca – 25th round (#405)
Josh Ibarra – 30th round (#460)
Tres Gonzalez – 37th round (#245)
The Dodgers went heavy with college players. For their 1st 20 picks, 17 were from 4-year schools, 2 from 2-year schools, and 1 HS pitcher.
They selected 4 sets of teammates:
Fresno CC – Alec Gamboa LHP (#9) and Chet Allison CF (#24)
Chipola JC – Andrew Baker RHP (#16) and Julio Carrion SS (#33)
Stanford – Jack Little RHP (#6) and Brendan Wulff RF (#17) – In fact they were HS teammates as well.
Bryant – Ryan Ward LF (#8) and Jimmy Titus SS (#22)
The Dodgers did draft three players with former Big-League fathers: Brelyn Jones (son of former MLB Pitcher Bobby Jones), Danny Sinatro (son of former MLB Catcher Matt Sinatro), and Ty Haselman (son of former MLB catcher Bill Haselman).
They did draft three 5th year seniors, including one in the top ten (Aaron Ochsenbein #6)) which should help with the signing bonuses. Not to mention a 22-year-old LHP from Fresno CC (Alec Gamboa #9) who should be signed for well below the slot.
I am assuming that some of the picks in the top ten were intended to keep the bonus money down so they can go big and buy out Jimmy Lewis’ commitment to LSU. After JT Ginn last year, I think this gets done. Other HS players and their commitments:
Trey Lafleur (#21) – Ole Miss
Brennan Milone (#28) – South Carolina
Brelyn Jones (#29) – Uncommitted at this time
Kayle Yates (#31) – Utah
Francisco Martinez (#34) – Florida Southwestern State
Tres Gonzalez (#37) – Georgia Tech
Caden MacDonald (#39) – Princeton
Besides Milone, most of the players were selected about where they might have been without commitments. Thus it seems unlikely that many (if any) will sign. Other than Francisco Martinez, all are going to schools with successful baseball programs. Martinez needs college to develop physically and skills wise. Brelyn Jones will undoubtedly find a program so he will also be a tough sign. If not to a 4 year school then to a JUCO where he can be drafted again next year.
In addition, the Dodgers would have to buy out a couple of JC Transfer commitments:
Chet Allison (#24) – Arkansas
Josh Ibarra (#30) – UC Irvine
Those will be difficult to buy out of.
They did not draft anyone from Vanderbilt or Kentucky. In fact they only drafted two players from the highly regarded SEC – Jacob Cantleberry LHP (#13 from Missouri) and Zach Plunkett RHP (#20 from Arkansas).
After Jimmy Lewis, who will be seen as a starter, the Dodgers drafted four more pitchers in the top ten. Three of them, Little, Ochsenbein, and Robertson are all closers. Pepiot will get a chance to continue to start, but he has the makings of a late inning high leverage reliever with his big strikeout numbers. Now he just has to work on that too many walks problem.
The Dodgers selected additional relievers in rounds 11-20. Logan Boyer, Mitchell Tyranski, Andrew Baker, and Braidyn Fink are relievers, while Jeff Belge starts and relieves. Jacob Cantleberry and Sean Mellen are strictly starters at this time.
They selected their annual UCL injured pitcher that will still need rehab – Oklahoma closer Braidyn Fink. Fink had a great sophomore season but sat out all of 2019 with a torn UCL. Logan Boyer, RHRP from SD State, is awfully good when healthy. He just has not been able to stay healthy. Big risk…big reward.
If he signs, my dark horse candidate to watch will be Fresno CC CF Chet Allison. He is committed to Arkansas, and is very much looking forward to competing in the SEC, so he will not be an easy sign, but here is a little portion of a piece on Chet Allison from Sports Reporter, Connor Stevens, of the Fresno CC school newspaper…The Rampage:
“To say that sophomore outfielder Chet Allison has had a good season for the Fresno City College baseball team would be an understatement. Some may even say that a great season doesn’t even put into context of how much of an asset Allison has been to the team in the 40 games he has played in the 2019 season.
To give readers a speck of what Allison has been able to do on the field this year, here is a list of the hitting categories that the Rams’ center fielder leads the team with: Batting Average (.439), Hits (65), Runs (54), Doubles (17), Triples (6), Home Runs (10), RBIs (46), Stolen Bases (17), On-Base Percentage (.538), and Total Bases (124). Looking at a videogame-like stat line that Allison has built, one would think that there were some insane changes in the offseason that led him to play at the high level that he is at today.”
Allison was the #2 hitter in the State in Batting Average. Other stats not included – 24 BB, 17 HBP, and 34 K in 210 plate appearances. How can you not love a batter with a .538 OBP.
Who will be the first pick to make it to MLB? Ochsenbein, Little, Busch, Hoese? Many talent evaluators believe that Busch is close to being MLB ready, but we all know that he is blocked and that the Dodgers like to take their time with position players. Ochsenbein and Little are players that may fill a need, so I do believe they will be pushed and could be in a position to contend for a bullpen role as early as next year. I do not see another Paco Rodriguez getting to MLB the year he is drafted.
I would expect to see a slew of signings in the next week as both Ogden (June 14) and AZL Dodgers (June 17) start in just a few days. Between now and the end of the season, I am sure that both DC and myself will be previewing many of these prospects. This was a good draft for LAD considering where they drafted and the overall quality of the players in the draft.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT BY DC
Hitter of the Day – Jeter Downs: 5 AB, 1 R, 2H, 4 RBI, 1HR. He is now third in the league in RBI (39) and second in total bases (101).
Pitcher of the Day – Brett de Geus. He had another scoreless inning making it 15 consecutive without a run. During that time he has four saves, 14 strikeouts and one walk.
DSL Dodgers Shoemaker 2 – DSL Cubs 4
The Dodgers for a change were not in a slugfest and lost a close one to the Cubs. Carlos Duran (17) had his second good start with one earned run in four innings. The 6’7”/230-pound right-hander now has tossed eight innings with only that earned run. Stiven Gutierrez (17) took the loss with three earned runs in his 1.2 innings pitched. Carlos De Avila (19) tossed 3.1 innings with only a walk.
At the plate Shoe’s boys had only two hits, one by shortstop Alex De Jesus who has hit safely in five of six games.
DSL Dodgers Bautista 5 – DSL Tampa Bay1 2
Left-hander Igor Avila started for the Dodgers and pitched four innings with three hits and one run. He is a 22-year-old who signed with the Dodgers last July. Christian Suarez (18) followed up with three innings of hitless ball. Danny Gomez (18) surrender one run in his one inning while Wilkin Baez (19) got the save with a scoreless inning.
Catcher Diego Cartaya (17) has a hit in three at bats with two runs batted in. Shortstop Carlos Santiago (17) had two hits and three runs batted in.
Great Lakes Loons 8 – South Bend Cubs 3
Stephen Kolek started for the Loons and was perfect through the first four innings. After a long wait while eight of his teammates went to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, the 6’3”/210-pound right-hander gave up a run in the top of the fifth on what seemed to be seeing eye balls compounded by an error by Kolek. He ran out of gas in the top of seventh inning giving a line hugging double and an unexpected home run. Guillermo Zuniga came on to get the last out of the seventh and for the eighth consecutive outing retired the first batter he faced. He set down the side in order in the eighth inning. Brett de Geus finished up in the ninth inning with his 15th consecutive scoreless inning.
At the plate the Loons scored a run in the bottom of the second on a Niko Hulsizer walk, followed by a Dan Robinson single and a James Outman force out. They scored three in the long bottom of the fourth on two walks, two singles and a James Outman triple. Ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, they tacked on an insurance run when Niko Hulsizer was intentionally walked to load the bases and Dan Robinson drew a bases loaded walk on four pitches. Two more runs came home in the eighth with a Leonel walk, a Miguel Vargas double and a Hunter Feduccia single. Still another scored as Feduccia worked his way around to third base and scored on the third wild pitch of the inning. Feduccia and Hulsizer each had two hits.
Of interest, Hunter Feduccia receives the ball with one leg in a traditional crouch position and the other
knee on the ground. For a right-handed hitter his right knee is on the ground on an outside pitch and his left knee is on the ground for an inside pitch.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7 – Inland Empire 66ers 4 (LAA)
Wills Montgomerie started for the Quakes and had an interesting second inning filling the bases with two walks and a HPB and getting the next three outs including a strikeout of Justin Upton. He did not escape the third inning giving up three runs on a home run, a walk and three singles plus an additional tun in the fifth inning. Austin Hamilton and Sven Schueller then held the 66ers scoreless over 4.2 innings with seven strikeouts.
The Quakes opened the scoring in the top of the second inning on a Donovan Casey solo home run which was followed up later in the inning by a Jeter Downs three-run home run. They took the game away with a three-run inning in the top of the sixth on singles by Jeter Downs, Starling Heredia and a SF by Jeren Kendall. Downs, Casey and Procyshen each had two hits.
Tulsa Drillers 0 – Arkansas Travelers 6 (Seattle)
J.D. Martin got the call for the Drillers and coughed up four runs in the top of the fifth inning which included three walks, a wild pitch and a two-run home run. Yordy Cabrera and Chris Nunn finished up the last 4.1 innings with a single run allowed by Nunn.
The score sheet showed only five hits for the Drillers with Zach McKinstry’s double the only extra base hit.
OKC Dodgers 4 – Fresno Grizzlies 9 (Washington)
Justin De Fratus made his tenth start of the season and pitched well over six giving up three runs with three walks and seven strikeouts. Stetson Allie’s struggles continued as he gave up two runs in his one inning. Justin Grimm got through his inning, but Jamie Schultz gave up four runs in the ninth, all unearned.
Offensively the Dodgers picked up two runs in the bottom of the third on three consecutive hits, a Zach Reks home run, an Edwin Rios double and a Will Smith single. Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning the Dodgers picked up an additional two runs on a Connor Joe double, a Jake Peter triple and a Zach Reks sacrifice fly. That ended their scoring.
Discussion (57)
Disagree, not disagreeable
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mlb.com/amp/news/yordan-alvarez-astros-callup.html
Oh well!
I was fearful Muncy was going to have a down year, ala Chris Taylor last year coming off his big year in 2017. Spring training it sure looked like he might go that path, but not so. In some ways Muncy is playing even better this year. Unsung hero and every championship teams needs a couple.
Well it’s an issue when lefties like Pomeranz also shuts you down! And his 7+ ERA!
Love how Muncy refused to back down to Madbum chirping at him. He seemed pretty mild mannered but he showed some intensity and competitiveness. Last year was not a fluke – Muncy is the real deal.
A lot of contending teams were keenly watching the game today to see how well Madbum would do against the Dodgers. NL teams know the road to the WS goes through LA. Aside from the Muncy bomb, Madbum did pretty well. Zaidi should have a bevy of suiters to trade for him before the deadline.
AC, how does one know when drafted players sign?
Agreed 2demeter. Like him or not, that was classic MadBum. He can still bring it, as he showed today. Some contender is going dig having him for the play-offs, just not us. Plus, he always pitches us tough.
Another lefty and another poor offensive day. Some things never change!
Muncy: Bumgarner said ‘don’t watch the ball, run’, and I just told him if he doesn’t want me to watch the ball, go get it out of the ocean.”
AC – I still think High School Players should announce if they are available to be drafted and have to commit to the team that drafts them if they do commit. I hate that teams waste picks on players who play the field and see the best option. Either commit one way or the other.
Didn’t like the lineup and they didn’t score much. If Muncy hadn’t hit one in the Cove and pissed off Bum they would still be playing. Ferris gets a lift from his bullpen and Jansen looked filthy throwing sliders. It’s only the Giants but maybe the bullpen has turned a corner. 4 out of 6 on this road trip so far and a mini trip down the Fwy to play the Angels for 2 coming up. Still the best team in baseball, and the team will get better. Was Smith auditioning for a trade to the Blue or what? 11 straight series wins, they are playing tough right now against everyone.
Do the mash the muncy mash lol Bumgarner is such a baby! If he don’t like being shown up quit throwing the homerun ball. I don’t think muncy did anything wrong bumloser just is such a crybaby. Sorry, I should be more adult. Bumgarner and the giants just tick me off.
Baez got out of it although he was behind every hitter and walked 1. I don’t blame doc for taking buehler out if he had a better option. Baez does not have the command to be the 8th inning guy. You cannot pitch from behind on mlb hitters. The giants don’t have any mlb hitters. Thank God they didn’t bring up our castoff solano he might have hit a homerun.
For Doc’s sake, the bullpen better hold on to this 1-0 lead, or many on this board (me included) will rant and rave about why Buehler was taken out after only 90 dominant pitches!
Cody definitely nursing something.
He didn’t even try to beat the DP, and he’s the fastest in Baseball from home to 1st.
Just wondering, is this the last time Bum faces the Dodgers as a SF Giant? I’m guessing we see him in October, somehow, somewhere
Ex Dodger Yordan Alvarez promoted by Astros and expected to start today.
Rated by MLB.com as the #23 Prospect in Baseball, we traded him for Josh Fields.
He has played Left Field and 1st Base in the Minors, but is expected to DH
mainly. I guess he’s more of an AL type.
Still, probably not one of our best trades.
Shame, because of all the Cubans we have signed, he could turn out to be the best.
Today’s lineup has Kike batting leadoff, fine he has owned Bum. CT3 batting 5th?! He has done nothing off Bum, ever. Drop Corey to 6th and put Freese on the bench? Freese has hit Bum well. Garlic in LF?! Why? Oh well, some things will just remain the same, surprise lineups and batting orders that make me say WTF? I hope it all works out today because Buehler deserves some run support. Hard to complain when the team has the best record in baseball but I really can’t explain today’s choices. Maybe I am just a checkers player or too old school but this is not 3 dimensional chess being played, more like throwing darts at a wall. 59 said a few days back ‘a yahtzee lineup’, good analogy.
What about Trading for With Merrefield and Reliever Dierkman from KC ??? What do you think it could cost in terms of prospects ? Maybe we can get bad contract from then in terms of Kennedy as he is pitching better as reliever ?? Include Kike in deal and some prospects
Ryan Pepiot signed pending physical for slightly below slot of $550K.
Question: What do you think it would take to get Ken Giles or Sean Doolittle?
I’d trade some prospects. #6 Dodger prospect Santana, #7 Dodger prospect Downs, #9 Dodger prospect Cartaya for 1 of the above. Maybe add an outfield prospect Rios/Kendall/Peters.
I’m not saying the Dodgers should do it or shouldn’t, just wondering what it would take.
Kike’ absolutely owns Bumgarner. 45 AB, .511 ave, 4 HR, 9 RBI
Maybe not noticed by fans but Corey Seager has had a red hot last 30 games. I predict he will continue to be hot. Hope opposing teams keep walking Belli to get to the current best hitter on the dodgers. Works for me.
Great article. It looks like our scouting is strong. It also looks like they had a draft plan. They drafted college players in the first 10 to allow them some money to sign H S players. College juniors do not have as much bargaining power as a HS player. If a college junior does not sign, he goes back to college for his senior year and then has no bargaining power the next year. A HS player can say no and go to college for three years, unless he is given a lot of money.
It looks like the Dodger bull pen is changing. They are becoming pitchers instead of power pitchers. Watching Jansen, Kelly, Baez, and Garcia pitch in the last few days, tells me they are changing. They are all throwing more breaking pitches. Kelly really looked good throwing breaking pitches. If this continues, our bull pen could really be strong the second half.
AC.. thank you for the very detailed draft report. Amazing. I do not know where you find the time. Lucky us to have you, Mark, and DC to keep us informed. Others also. Ps, loved the picture of Tyler Haselman.
Excellent summary of draft week AC. Will be looking forward to signings. Also watching for any non-drafted players the Dodgers might sign.
Is there video or commentary on Feduccia’s defensive posture?
Do you have thoughts if it is coached or player comfort?
Thank you AC.
Any info on Chet Allison’s defense?