HOW HAVE THE DODGERS DONE IN THE DRAFT OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS?

As we contemplate who the Dodgers will select in the MLB Players Draft next week – let’s take a journey back and ponder how well they did in the past 30 years.   Looking at each year, I’ve listed the first overall selection, any significant players taken in the lower rounds, and how many players made it to the majors.  In some years, I also list players that were used in a trade to obtain someone who was of help to the Dodgers.  In some cases I also list standout players selected just after the Dodger 1^st round pick. 

1979:   1^st Pick: Steve Howe (16^th pick), Steve Perry (25^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 36 players in the June draft and 11 in the January draft. Of those, five players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.5 players made it to the majors.  The Dodgers lost their first round pick in the June draft to the San Diego Padres because they signed free agent Derrel Thomas but they gained the first round picks of the Pittsburgh Pirates (compensation for Lee Lacy) and New York Yankees (for Tommy John). With those picks they drafted two players from the University of Michigan, left‑handed pitcher Steve Howe and right‑handed pitcher Steve Perry. Howe was the 1980 NL Rookie of the Year, a 1981 World Series Champion and a 1982 All‑Star. He played in 12 seasons and saved 328 games before a drug addiction forced him out of the game. Perry pitched six seasons in the minors, the last two with the AAA Albuquerque Dukes, and finished 28‑40 with a 5.34 ERA before the Dodgers released him.  This years draft class also included pitcher Orel Hershiser from Bowling Green University, who was picked in the 17th round. He pitched 18 seasons (13 with the Dodgers), winning 204 games. He set a Major League record with a 59 consecutive scoreless inning streak in 1988 en route to winning the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP. He was also a three‑time All‑Star.  Greg Brock was also selected.

1980:   1^st Pick: Ross Jones(9^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 36 players in the June draft and 16 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. The Dodgers did not have picks in rounds 2‑4 this season as those picks were awarded to other teams as compensation for their signing of free agents.  The first round pick in the June draft was shortstop Ross Jones of the University of Miami. The Dodgers traded him to the New York Mets in 1983 and he would appear in 67 games in parts of three seasons with the Mets and two other teams, hitting only .221.  This was a fairly weak draft class for the Dodgers, with the most notable player being outfielder R. J. Reynolds, who was drafted in the 2nd round of the January draft and played 8 unremarkable seasons as a backup outfielder before finishing up his career in Japan.

1981:   1^st Pick: Dave Anderson (22^nd pick); The Dodgers drafted 33 players in the June draft and 18 in the January draft. Of those, eight players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. They received an extra pick in the 2nd round from the Houston Astros as compensation for the loss of free agent pitcher Don Sutton.  The most significant players drafted were Sid Bream, Sid Fernandez, John Franco, and Joc’s dad Stu Pederson. 

1982:   1^st Pick: Franklin Stubbs(19^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 32 players in the June draft and 12 in the January draft.  5 players made it to the majors.  Among those drafted were Ken Howell, and Jeff Hamilton.    

1983:   1^st Pick: Erik Sonberg(18^th pick); Sonberg did not make it to the majors.  The Dodgers drafted 35 players in the June draft and 17 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. They received two extra picks in the 2nd round as compensation for losing free agents Steve Garvey and Terry Forster. None of this year’s signings amounted to much of anything in the Majors.  The player selected after Sonberg was Roger Clemens.  Oh, what might have been!    

1984:   1st Pick: Dennis Livingston (23^rd pick); The Dodgers drafted 28 players in the June draft and 13 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.  Livingston didn’t make it out of the minors.  This draft did produce three Major League relief pitchers in Tim Scott (round 2), Darren Holmes (round 16) and Jeff Nelson (round 22) as well as utility player Tracy Woodson (round 3).

1985:   1^st Pick: Chris Gwynn(10^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 37 players in the June draft and 16 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. They received an extra pick in the 2nd round of the June draft as compensation for losing pitcher Burt Hooton as a free agent.  Besides Gwynn, he draft also included outfielder Mike Devereaux (round 5), who was briefly a starter with the Baltimore Orioles in the early 90s but was primarily a reserve, and relief pitcher John Wetteland (2nd round of the January secondary draft) who saved 330 games in 12 seasons (with the Dodgers, Expos, Yankees and Rangers).   

1986:   1^st Pick: Mike White(19^th pick); the Dodgers drafted 39 players in the June draft and 19 in the January draft. Of those, seven players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.  The most notable player was Dave Hanson.  They also selected Paul Quantrill but he didn’t sign with them.      

1987:   1^st Pick: Dan Opperman(8^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 51 players in this draft, the largest collection of players they had ever drafted in one draft. Of those, ten of them would eventually play Major League baseball.  Opperman injured his arm before he started pitching professionally.  He never made the majors.  None of the players from this year’s draft would leave much of an impression on the Majors. Pitchers Dennis Springer and Mike James had the longest careers but were just average players at best.  Among those drafted were Ken Howell, and Jeff Hamilton.    

1988:   1^st Pick: William Bene(5^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 62 players in this draft. Of those, 11 of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers lost their second-round pick to the Oakland Athletics as compensation for their signing free agent outfielder Mike Davis.  While Bene never made the majors – this draft did produce 2 Dodger greats, Eric Karros and Mike Piazza.  An interesting tidbit about Bene, in 2012, he was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for operating a counterfeit karaoke business and failing to pay federal taxes.  Who knew there was such a thing as “counterfeit karaoke?”  

1989:   1^st Pick: Kiki Jones(15^th pick), Tim Goodwin(22nd), and Jamie McAndrew(28th); The Dodgers drafted 65 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers had three first round picks this season as they gained the New York Yankees first round pick and a supplemental pick for the loss of free agent Steve Sax. They also gained an extra second round pick from the Cleveland Indians as compensation for the loss of pitcher Jesse Orosco.  The most successful pick was Eric Young drafted in the 43rd round.  They also selected Phil Nevin, but he didn’t sign with them.      

1990:   1^st Pick: Ronnie Walden(9^th pick); The Dodgers drafted 63 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. Walden was not among the 7.  The most notable was Pitcher Todd Williams.   This was a very bad draft.       

1991:   1^st Pick: Todd Hollandsworth(80^th pick); The Dodgers selected 93 players in this draft, the largest draft class in history. Of those, six of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers lost their first round pick to the New York Mets and their second-round pick to the Montreal Expos as a result of their signing free agents Darryl Strawberry and Kevin Gross and gained a third-round pick from the Kansas City Royals as compensation for the loss of free agent Kirk Gibson.  Other than Hollandsworth, not much to see in this year. 

1992:   1^st Pick: Ryan Luzinski(32nd pick), Michael Moore(36th pick);  The Dodgers selected 53 players in this draft. Of those, only one of them would eventually play Major League baseball. 5 players made it to the majors.  The Dodgers lost their first round pick to the Toronto Blue Jays as a result of their signing free agent Tom Candiotti but gained two supplemental first round picks, a second round pick and a third-round pick as compensation for departing free agents Eddie Murray and Mike Morgan.  The only major leaguer was Keith Johnson, who had 4 at-bats for the Angels.   

1993:   1^st Pick: Darren Dreifort(2^nd pick);  The Dodgers selected 57 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers lost their second-round pick as a result of signing free agent pitcher Todd Worrell.  Besides Dreifort, the most notable player selected was Paul Loduca.              

1994:   1^st Pick: Paul Konerko(13^th pick); The Dodgers selected 77 players in this draft. Of those, 13 of them would eventually play Major League baseball.   Other than Konerko, the notables drafted were Brett Tomko and Eric Byrnes.   Konerko, who may be elected to the Hall of Fame, of course, was traded to the Reds for Jeff Shaw.  Which might be compared to trading Bellinger for Realmuto. 

1995:   1^st Pick: David Yocum(20^th pick); The Dodgers selected 85 players in this draft. Of those, six of them would eventually play Major League baseball.  Yocum’s career succumbed to injuries and he never made it to the majors.  He is now a firefighter.  Notables drafted were David Ross and Onan Masaoka

1996:   1^st Pick: Damien Rolls(23^rd pick); The Dodgers selected 79 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. Rolls was lost in the Rule 5 draft and played part-time in the majors for the Rays.  Notables drafted were Alex Cora and Ted Lilly. 

1997:   1^st Pick: Glenn Davis(25^th pick), The Dodgers selected 71 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They received an extra supplemental pick in the second round as a result of losing free agent Delino DeShields..  None of the players signed by the Dodgers in this draft class had a significant major league career, other than Chase Utley, their second-round pick who did not sign and went to UCLA instead. 

1998:   1^st Pick: Bubba Crosby(23^rd pick); The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, only four of them would eventually play Major League baseball.  The notables were Scott Proctor and David Ross (again).   

1999:   1^st Pick: Jason Repko(37^th pick); Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They lost their first-round pick to the San Diego Padres and their third round pick to the Baltimore Orioles as a result of their signing free agent pitchers Kevin Brown and Alan Mills. They also gained a supplemental first-round pick and a second-round pick as compensation for losing pitcher Scott Radinsky to free agency and a supplemental second-round pick as compensation for pitcher Brian Bohanon.  Of those, only four of them would eventually play Major League baseball.  The notables were Repko, James Thurston, and Shane Victorino.  

2000:   1^st Pick: Ben Diggens (17^th pick); The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, eight of them would eventually play Major League baseball.  The notables were Joel Hanrahan and Koyie Hill. 

2001:   1^st Pick: Brian Pilkington(68^th pick); The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, eight of them would eventually play Major League baseball.  The only player that made the Majors for more than a cameo appearance was Edwin Jackson, selected in the sixth round as an outfielder out of Shaw High School in Columbus, Georgia.

2002:   1^st Pick: James Loney (19^th pick);  The Dodgers selected 52 players in this draft. Of those, nine of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They gained a supplemental first round pick and an extra second-round pick as compensation for losing pitcher Chan Ho Park to the Texas Rangers as a free agent.  This was a fairly successful draft, after several sub‑par drafts that proceeded it.   Besides Loney, also drafted this season were relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton (second round), starting pitchers James McDonald (11th round, drafted as a first baseman) and Eric Stults (15th round) and catcher Russell Martin (17th round, drafted as a second baseman).

2003:   1^st Pick: Chad Billingsley(24^th pick);   The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, 12 of them would eventually play Major League baseball.   Notables are Matt Kemp, A.J. Ellis and mark’s all-time favorite player, Andy LaRoche. 

2004:   1^st Pick: Scott Elbert(17^th pick), Blake DeWitt (28^th pick); The Dodgers selected 52 players in this draft. Of those, nine of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They gained an extra first round pick and a supplemental first-round pick as compensation for the loss of free agent pitcher Paul Quantrill.   Notables were David Price and Justin Ruggiano.   DeWitt was later traded for Ted Lilly. 

2005:   1^st Pick: Luke Hochevar (40^th pick); The Dodgers selected 51 players in this draft. Of those, 13 of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They lost their first-round draft pick as a result of signing free agent Derek Lowe but gained a supplemental first-round pick and a second-round pick as compensation for the loss of free agent Adrián Beltré.  While several members of this years draft class would make the Majors, none were more than role players.   The notables were Scott Van Slyke and Jordy Mercer.    

2006:   1^st Pick: Clayton Kershaw(7^th pick), Bryan Morris(26^th pick), Preston Mattingly( 31^st); The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers gained an extra first round pick and a supplemental first round pick as a result of losing pitcher Jeff Weaver to the Angels. They also lost their second and third round picks as a result of their signing free agents Rafael Furcal and Bill Mueller.  The only real notable, other than Kershaw, was Paul Goldschmidt.   Morris along with LaRoche was traded for Manny Ramirez.   

2007:   1^st Pick: Chris Withrow (20^th pick); The Dodgers selected 40 players in this draft. Of those, four of them would eventually play Major League baseball. The Dodgers lost their own first-round pick to the San Francisco Giants as a result of signing free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt but gained a first round pick as well as a supplemental first-round pick because of the loss of free agent Julio Lugo.  The only notable player selected was Matt Sczcur. 

2008:   1^st Pick: Ethan Martin (15^th);   The Dodgers selected 45 players in this draft. Of those, eleven of them would eventually play Major League baseball.   The notables were Dee Gordon, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jerry Sands.    

2009:   1^st Pick: Aaron Miller (36^th pick); The Dodgers selected 51 players in this draft. Of those, six of them have played Major League Baseball. They lost their first-round pick as a result of signing free agent Orlando Hudson but gained a supplemental first-round pick and a second-round pick as compensation for losing pitcher Derek Lowe.   The only notables were Stephen Piscotty and Christian Walker.    

2010:   1^st Pick: Zach Lee(28^th pick); The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, eight of them have played Major League Baseball as of the 2018 season.   The notables were Joc Pederson, Scott Schebler and Kevin Gausman (unsigned).   Of course, Zach Lee got us Chris Taylor. 

2011:   1^st Pick: Chris Reed (16^th pick);   The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, six of them have played Major League Baseball as of the 2018 season.  The notables were Scott Barlow and Austin Slater (plays for the Giants).

2012:   1^st Pick: Corey Seager (18^th pick); The Dodgers selected 41 players in this draft. Of those, eight of them have played Major League Baseball. The Dodgers received a supplemental first-round pick as compensation for the loss of free agent Rod Barajas.  The notables are Seager, Paco Rodriguez, Ross Stripling, and Jharel Cotten, who was used to acquire Rich Hill. 

2013:   1^st Pick: Chris Anderson (22^nd pick); The Dodgers selected 40 players in this draft. Of those, five of them have played Major League Baseball. The notables are Cody Bellinger and Kyle Farmer.    

2014:   1^st Pick: Grant Holmes (22^nd pick); The Dodgers selected 40 players in this draft. Of those, five of them have played Major League Baseball.   The notables are Alex Verdugo, Caleb Ferguson, and Brock Stewart.  Holmes was also part of the Rich Hill trade.  3^rd round pick John Richy was traded for Chase Utley.  6^th round pick Trevor Oaks was traded for Scott Alexander.  I still weep over this trade.   

2015:   1^st Pick: Walker Buehler (24^th pick), Kyle Funkhouser (35^th pick);The Dodgers selected 42 players in this draft. Of those, four of them have played Major League Baseball. They received a supplementary first round pick as a result of losing shortstop Hanley Ramírez to free agency and acquired a competitive balance pick from the Baltimore Orioles as part of the Ryan Webb trade.  The notables were Walker, of course, Willie Calhoun, Matt Beatty, and the immortal Kyle Garlick.  Calhoun was traded for Yu Darvish.  Andrew Sopko was used to acquire Russ Martin. 

2016:   1^st Pick: Gavin Lux(20^th), Will Smith(32^nd pick), Jordan Sheffield(35^th pick); The Dodgers selected 42 players in this draft. They received a supplementary first round pick as a result of losing pitcher Zack Greinke to free agency and acquired a compensation competitive balance pick for failing to sign pitcher Kyle Funkhouser in the 2017 Draft.  Two have already made it to the majors, Will Smith and Devin Smelzer.   Other notables are Mitch White, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin.   

2017:   1^st Pick: Jeren Kendall(23^rd pick);  The Dodgers selected 40 players in this draft.  None have made it to the majors yet.   It remains to be seen which players become notable selections.  

2018:   1^st Pick: J.T. Ginn (25^th pick); The Dodgers selected 40 players in this draft.  None have made it to the majors yet.   It remains to be seen which players become notable selections. 

Rants & Raves by MT

• How many tuned off the TV by the 9th inning? That’s a No-No with this guys.
• 5-run comeback! When you can hit like that, who needs a bullpen?
• Alex Verdugo is a guy who is almost always going to drive in a run with a RISP and he’s a freakin’ rookie! He has more RBI than JT in fewer AB’s. He just stays within himself – the walk-off sac fly was all that was needed and he just stayed within himself.
• Matt Beaty looks to be a professional hitter…. and doesn’t act like a rookie.
• Don’t look now…. but here comes Corey – he’s starting to get his mojo back. As good as the Dodgers offense has been. it’s likely to get even better.
• I always did love that Joc Pederson guy! 😉 Who is that guy?
• I think that in the next two weeks, Julio Urias will go back to the rotation. Just my opinion.
• Let’s trade for Diaz – he would be right at home in the Dodger pen.

Minor League Report by MT

Great Lakes Loons – The Loons beat the Bowling Green Hot Rods 8-5, even with 3 errors. They scored 5 runs in the 9th to seal the deal. Vargas went 2-4 with 2 RBI and a walk, Amaya scored 2 runs, Paulson hit a 3-run HR and drove in 4 on the night. Hulsizer was 2-4 with a walk and is still OPS’ing over 1.000. Andre Jackson went 6 innings, allowing 3 ER and striking out 8 for his 2nd win. His ERA sits at a crisp 2.23.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes – The Quakes Stormed Lake Elsinore 5-1. Marcus Chiu went 2-4, but no one else had more than 1 hit. Jeter Downs, playing SS had 2 errors (10 on the year). Josiah Gray got his first win at RC by going six innings and allowing 2 hits with no ER. He tacked on 8 strikeouts. Watch this kid!

Tulsa Drillers – The games with Springfield was rained out and they will play two today.

Oklahoma City Dodgers – OKC may be the saddest team in AAA, but they beat the Omaha Storm Chasers 12-3 last night. Peter, Perkins and Rios all homered. Jake Peter also had a triple and drove in 3 runs. Gale, Rios, Perkins, Garlick and Joe all had 2 hits each. Justin DeFractus went 7 innings and allowed just 2 ER. The best thing I can say about this team is that Tony Gonsolin starts tonight.