Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The MLB Draft signing deadline is in six hours (2 p.m. Pacific time), and the Dodgers were dealt a big blow last night when 1st-rounder J.T. Ginn announced he was going to honor his commitment to Mississippi State.
The Dodgers lose his money toward their pool and toward the overage they have allotted (5 percent, less $1). Unless something miraculous happens over the course of the day, it seems things for this draft are pretty settled.
Here’s how it all breaks down at present.
| Round | Player | Slot | Bonus | Savings |
| 1 | J.T. Ginn | $2,275,800 | unsigned | N/A |
| 2 | Michael Grove | $917,000 | $1,229,500 | $312,500 |
| 3 | John Rooney | $538,800 | $563,240 | $24,440 |
| 4 | Braydon Fisher | $402,300 | $497,500 | $95,200 |
| 5 | Devin Mann | $300,600 | $272,500 | $28,100 |
| 6 | Bryan Warzek | $233,800 | $202,500 | $31,300 |
| 7 | James Outman | $184,200 | $157,500 | $26,700 |
| 8 | Luke Heyer | $155,300 | $47,500 | $107,800 |
| 9 | Josh McLain | $143,600 | $7,500 | $136,100 |
| 10 | Deacon Liput | $136,800 | $134,300 | $2,500 |
| 15 | Julian Smith | $125,000* | $152,500 | $27,500 |
| 17 | Aldrich DeJongh | $125,000* | $150,000 | $25,000 |
| Total | $3,012,400 | $3,414,540 | $152,140 |
*-Slot amount isn’t actually $125,000, but every dollar over counts toward the bonus pool.
With Ginn’s money coming out of the pool, the Dodgers’ new 5 percent (less $1) is $150,619, down from $264,409. They lost more than $100,000 in overage spending with Ginn choosing to go to school.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk3rcAmHlLu/
In the last update, I mentioned Grove was expected to get about $300,000 over the $917,000 slot amount. He ended up getting $312,500 over, which means I did some bad math somewhere. Either that or the Dodgers are using that $2,500 accounting trick and some of these bonuses don’t reflect that. I’m going to go with that because there’s no way they’re going to forfeit a 2019 1st-rounder, especially since their 1st-rounder this year didn’t sign. By my math, they were $308,479 short of going over 5 percent before Grove’s bonus was reported, so I’m sure there was a miscalculation somewhere.
Not only are the Dodgers losing Ginn, they’re losing some of the interesting post-10th-round selections, like 16th-rounder RHP Trey Dillard.
RHP Trey Dillard (@trey_dillard7) says he will be joining #Mizzou's baseball team this year. He was drafted in the 16th round by the #Dodgers but will come to Mizzou, where he committed in May.
Dillard attended San Jacinto College (@sanjacgator43) and has touched 96 mph.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) July 5, 2018
Expect more of these announcements later today.
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For the final time (this year), here’s how the signing rules work.
| Overage (percentage) | Penalty (taxed amount) |
|---|---|
| 0-4.99 | 75 percent tax on overage |
| 5-9.99 | 75 percent tax on overage Loss of 2019 1st-round pick |
| 10-14.99 | 100 percent tax on overage Loss of 2019 1st- & 2nd-round picks |
| 15-plus | 100 percent tax Loss of 1st-round picks in 2019 & 2020 |
The Dodgers can go up to $150,619 (5 percent, less $1) over their allotted slot amount of $3,012,400 without losing a draft pick. No team has ever exceeded this bonus pool since this system was implemented in 2012, and it isn’t going to happen now.
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That’s a wrap on this year’s draft. It went from potentially solid to not that great. This stings more than 2015 because the Dodgers had an extra 1st-rounder. Here’s hoping the Dodgers don’t make it a habit of not signing 1st-rounders in the future. They will have the No. 31 pick (in addition to their original 1st-rounder) in 2019, but that doesn’t do anything to help this year’s class.
