MLB Draft Deep Dive: Los Angeles Dodgers

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 935 | Signed 553 | Pitchers Signed 275 | Position Players Signed 278
Total WAR 299.5
Total Players to MLB 86

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 3 to MLB | WAR 9.4 | High WAR 10.2, C David Ross, 7th rd
1999 | 5 to MLB | WAR 32.5 | High WAR 31.6, OF Shane Victorino, 6th rd
2000 | 5 to MLB | WAR 1.5 | High WAR 4.6, RHP Joel Hanrahan, 2nd rd
2001 | 1 to MLB | WAR 11.2 | High WAR 11.2, OF Edwin Jackson, 6th rd
2002 | 6 to MLB | WAR 62.3 | High WAR 37.1, 2B Russell Martin, 17th rd
2003 | 9 to MLB | WAR 47.4 | High WAR 22.2, OF Matt Kemp, 6th rd
2004 | 5 to MLB | WAR 10.0 | High WAR 2.6, RHP Javy Guerra, 4th rd
2005 | 8 to MLB | WAR 1.3 | High WAR 4.2, OF Scott Van Slyke, 14th rd
2006 | 2 to MLB | WAR 67.1 | High WAR 64.6, LHP Clayton Kershaw, 1st rd
2007 | 2 to MLB | WAR 1.0 | High WAR 1.5, RHP Chris Winthrow, 1st rd
2008 | 8 to MLB | WAR 17.1 | High WAR 11.4, SS Dee Gordon, 4th rd
2009 | 2 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR 0.0, OF Blake Smith (2nd rd) & RHP Steve Ames (17th rd)
2010 | 6 to MLB | WAR 11.3 | High WAR 7.5, OF Joc Pederson, 11th rd
2011 | 4 to MLB | WAR (0.2) | High WAR 0.1, RHP Scott Barlow, 6th rd
2012 | 8 to MLB | WAR 19.3 | High WAR 13.7, SS Corey Seager, 1st rd
2013 | 5 to MLB | WAR 6.5 | High WAR 8.3, 1B Cody Bellinger, 4th rd
2014 | 5 to MLB | WAR (0.9) | High WAR 0.3, LHP Caleb Ferguson, 38th rd
2015 | 2 to MLB | WAR 2.7 | High WAR 3.3, RHP Walker Buehler, 1st rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The highest WAR to date, both individual and total, is from 2006 with LHP Clayton Kershaw (1st round, 64.6 WAR)  providing the most bang for the buck. The only other signed player from that draft class to make it to the bigs was RHP Bryan Morris (1st round, 2.5 WAR) but Morris was traded to Pittsburgh in a three-team, six-player July 2008 trade prior to making his MLB debut. Kershaw has been with the Dodgers for his entire career (11 seasons to date) and has received seven All-Star nods, one National League MVP (2014) and one NL Gold Glove (2011). In addition, Kershaw has been awarded the NL Cy Young Award three times (2011, 2013, 2014).

2018 DRAFT
40 Drafted | 32 Signed | 13 Pitchers | 19 Position Players
25 College | 25 Signed | 10 Pitchers | 15 Position Players
8 JC/CC | 5 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 4 Position Players
7 HS/NS | 2 Signed | 2 Pitchers | 0 Position Players

Notable: The Dodgers failed to sign three of their top 16 picks, most notably first round pick Mississippi HS RHP J.T. Ginn.

PITCHERS
Of the 13 pitchers signed (8 RHP, 5 LHP), all but two (2nd round college right-hander Michael Grove and junior college lefty Julian Smith, 15th round) logged at least some playing time. Five of these pitchers were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (all to Full Season A). Three of the pitchers debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Dodgers. (Another 2018 draft pick, 2nd rounder RHP Josiah Gray who was obtained from the Reds in a December 2018 trade, also appears on the Dodgers Top 30 prospect list.) One pitcher, 20th round RHP Caleb Sampen, was traded to the Rays in January 2019.

Top Prospects

RHP Michael Grove, 2nd round, West Virginia University, DNP

LHP John Rooney, 3rd round, Hofstra University, A
20 IP | 8 G / 8 GS | 1.80 ERA | 1.100 WHIP | 8 BB : 21 K

RHP Braydon Fisher, 4th round, Clear Falls HS (TX), Rk
22 IP | 11 G / 9 GS | 2.05 ERA | 1.364 WHIP | 9 BB : 19 K

Noteworthy Debut

LHP Austin Drury, 34th round, University of North Florida, A
29.2 IP | 17 G / 0 GS | 1.21 ERA | 0.809 WHIP | 6 BB : 28 K

In total, the Dodgers 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 3.65 ERA and a 1.306 WHIP over 285.2 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All 19 position players signed (2 1B, 2 2B, 3B, SS, 10 OF, 3 C) logged at least some playing time. Seven of the players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (all to Full Season A). None of the position players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Dodgers.

Noteworthy Debut

OF Drew Avans (L/L), 33rd round, Southeastern Louisiana University, A
60 G | .284/.386/.502/.888 | 35 BB : 43 K | 20 SB : 5 CS | 6 2B / 5 3B / 10 HR | 51 RBI

OF Matt Cogen (L/R), 30th round, Belmont University, A
56 G | .313/.403/.550/.953 | 29 BB : 39 K | 11 2B / 6 3B / 9 HR | 53 RBI
(Cogen only played in two games at Full Season A)

1B Dillon Paulson (L/L), 13th round, University of Southern California, Rk
58 G | .272/.385/.522/.908 | 42 BB : 51 K | 20 2B / 3 3B / 10 HR | 61 RBI
(Paulson led the entire 2018 Draft class in RBI)

In total, the Dodgers 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .275/.367/.433/.800 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of late December and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

PREVIOUSLY

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary

NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary

NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies

COMING NEXT
San Diego Padres