Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The 2019 MLB Draft signing deadline is four days away, and the Dodgers locked up their second 1st-rounder on the Fourth of July and their 5th-rounder a couple weeks ago. There remains only one player from the first 10 rounds who is unsigned.
| Round | Player | Slot | Bonus | Savings |
| 1 | Kody Hoese | $2,740,300 | $2,740,300 | $0 |
| 1c | Michael Busch | $2,312,000 | $2,312,000 | $0 |
| 2c | Jimmy Lewis | $793,000 | unsigned | ? |
| 3 | Ryan Pepiot | $571,400 | $547,500 | $23,900 |
| 4 | Brandon Lewis | $430,800 | $372,500 | $58,300 |
| 5 | Jack Little | $321,100 | $318,600 | $2,500 |
| 6 | Aaron Ochsenbein | $249,000 | $72,500 | $176,500 |
| 7 | Nick Robertson | $195,700 | $177,500 | $18,200 |
| 8 | Ryan Ward | $163,400 | $160,900 | $2,500 |
| 9 | Alec Gamboa | $150,100 | $17,500 | $132,600 |
| 10 | Zac Ching | $142,300 | $2,500 | $139,800 |
| 11 | Logan Boyer | $125,000* | $297,500 | ($172,500) |
| Total | $8,069,100 | $6,894,300 | $381,800 |
The Dodgers didn’t save any money on Busch’s signing, which is fine. They also didn’t save any money on the Little signing, which also happened since the last update. To come up with the total counted against the pool thus far, you have to subtract $125,000 from the total as only $172,500 of Boyer’s bonus counts.
I’ve long since thought it would take about $1-1.25 million to get Lewis to sign, ala Dustin May a few years ago. The Dodgers should have more than enough money to ink him. Without hitting the 105 percent overage (less $1), the Dodgers can offer Lewis up to $1,578,254 — roughly the equivalent of the 47th pick in the draft. If Lewis doesn’t sign, the Dodgers lose the $793,000 toward their overall pool. That would leave them with $745,604 to offer the likes of 21st-rounder Trey LaFleur or 28th-rounder Brennan Milone. Both seem like they’re going to get to campus, so if the Dodgers don’t spend the overage on them, maybe they make a late run at 16th-rounder Andrew Baker, 19th-rounder Braydin Fink, 24th-rounder Chet Allison or 30th-rounder Josh Ibarra. But I wouldn’t expect them just to pocket that money.
——
The signing deadline is Friday at 2 p.m. Pacific time. The Dodgers should have Lewis locked up by then. If not him, then maybe one of the other players mentioned above.
