Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
It’s draft day! It’s not as exciting as in years past because the Dodgers don’t have a 1st-round pick and they have the smallest bonus pool of any team. Despite that, I’m interested to see what Andrew Friedman and Billy Gasparino do this year.
Bonus Pool
Overall, the Dodgers have $4,221,400 to sign 2022 draftees. Here’s how it breaks down in the first 10 (nine) rounds.
| Round (overall) | Slot |
| 2 (40) | $1,950,900 |
| 3 (105) | $582,400 |
| 4 (135) | $435,000 |
| 5 (165) | $325,200 |
| 6 (195) | $253,200 |
| 7 (225) | $199,700 |
| 8 (255) | $169,000 |
| 9 (285) | $156,500 |
| 10 (315) | $149,500 |
If a player in the Top 10 rounds doesn’t sign, that amount is deducted from the team’s bonus pool. Conversely, teams can spend up to 5% (less $1) and not forfeit any future draft picks. They would have to pay a 75% tax on the overage. So, the Dodgers can spend $210,069 over their allotment, or $4,432,470 total. After the 10th round, any player who signs for more than $125,000 will have his bonus count against the pool. Undrafted players can sign for up to $20,000.
Mock Draft Roundup
Before we get to the final board, here’s the mock draft roundup. With the Dodgers selecting at No. 40, many mock drafts — especially early on — only went through the first round and competitive balance round … which ended at pick 39. So, there aren’t a ton of mock selections here to examine, but here they are.
| Publication | Selection |
| Baseball America Staff 2.0 | Cayden Wallace |
| Baseball America Staff 3.0 | Dylan Beavers |
| Baseball America 5.0 | Dalton Rushing |
| Baseball America 6.0 | Dalton Rushing |
| Baseball America 6.1 | Dalton Rushing |
| ESPN 1.0 | Malcolm Moore |
| ESPN 2.0 | Eric Brown |
| ESPN 3.0 | Eric Brown |
| FanGraphs 1.0 | Jacob Misiorowski |
| Prospects Live 2.0 | Landon Sims |
| Prospects Live 3.0 | J.R. Ritchie |
| Prospects Live 4.0 | Jacob Misiorowski |
| Prospects Live 5.0 | J.R. Ritchie |
Wallace and Beavers have been on previous iterations of the board, but Beavers is off because I don’t think he makes it to the 40th spot and Wallace was bested by prep players with higher upside. All the other names should look familiar (and appear below).
And while MLB Pipeline teased us with 39-pick mock drafts, I got Jim Callis to give us a couple names.
Go me!
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Previous Boards
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As mentioned earlier, Beavers and Wallace have dropped. I wouldn’t be upset if either were the selection at No. 40, but I opted for some higher upside guys at the end of the board.
Big Board 5.0
RHP Cade Horton, Oklahoma [Profile]No. 7 to Chicago (NL)RHP Peyton Pallette, Arkansas [Profile]No. 62 to Chicago (AL)OF Ryan Cermak, Illinois State [Profile]No. 71 to Tampa BayRHP Landon Sims, Mississippi State [Profile]No. 34 to ArizonaRHP Jacob Misioroski, Crowder JC [Profile]No. 63 to MilwaukeeRHP Walter Ford, Pace HS (Fla.) [Profile]No. 74 to SeattleSS/3B Peyton Graham, Oklahoma [Profile]No. 51 to DetroitSS Eric Brown, Coastal Carolina [Profile]No. 27 to MilwaukeeOF Henry Bolte, Palo Alto HS (Calif.) [Profile]No. 56 to OaklandRHP/3B Owen Murphy, Riverside-Brookfield HS (Ill.) [Profile]No. 20 to AtlantaOF/1B Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt [Profile]No. 25 to New York (AL)- C Malcolm Moore, McClatchy HS (Calif.) [Profile] – UNDRAFTED
OF Jud Fabian, Florida [Profile from 2021]No. 67 to BaltimoreRHP Thomas Harrington, Campbell [Profile]No. 36 to PittsburghOF Gavin Turley, Hamilton HS (Ariz.) [Profile]No. 558 to ArizonaRHP J.R. Ritchie, Bainbridge HS (Wash.) [Profile]No. 35 to AtlantaOF Brock Jones, StanfordNo. 65 to Tampa BayLHP/1B/DH Reggie Crawford, ConnecticutNo. 30 to San FranciscoRHP Jackson Cox, Toutle Lake HS (Wash.)No. 50 to ColoradoRHP Caden Dana, Don Bosco Prep HS (N.J.)No. 328 to Anaheim
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The Top 4 remain unchanged from the last board. I’m very aware that Horton probably won’t make it to the 40th selection, but a guy can dream, right?
Pallette and Sims offer big upside, even if it comes in different packages. And I’m still probably the high guy on Cermak. Maybe he slips to the Dodgers’ pick in the third round? That seems as likely as Horton falling to 40.
Misiorowski makes a significant jump, as the link between him and the Dodgers is legitimate. And the arm talent is tough to beat. Ford has a ton of upside and his age is a big factor in that.
Graham could go anywhere from the mid-1st to mid-2nd round, so he’d be fine pick at 40. Brown is the safer of the two, and maybe the safest player on the board, despite the incoming swing change.
Bolte leaps into the Top 10, while Murphy’s 2-way ability nabs him the No. 10 spot. Both would be high-upside prospects.
Spencer Jones has big power, but he’s probably not going to be there at 40. Fabian has a better chance to to be there, but also has higher risk. Brock Jones is the safest of the college outfielder trio.
Harrington is the safest pitcher here, and he could easily go in the 20s.
Moore might not be a catcher, but the bat is legit. Turley is the toolsiest guy on the board, but comes with a lot of questions. Ritchie is pretty polished for a prep pitcher.
Crawford, who recently transferred to Tennessee (surely as a leverage play), offers incredible upside on the mound and legitimate power at the plate. But he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and has very little track record — eight innings pitched and 290 plate appearances from 2020-21. Otherwise, he could have been a Top 10-15 prospect.
Cox is back after appearing on v 2.0, while Dana is making his board debut (call it a hunch).
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One name to watch is Blade Tidwell. He appeared in earlier versions of the board, but was removed because it didn’t look like he would get out of the 20s despite a shoulder injury. However, he’s been slipping in mock drafts (for what it’s worth) and would be just the kind injury-risk SEC pitcher the Dodgers covet. But as a draft-eligible sophomore, he has more leverage than juniors. He could go back to Tennessee, have a healthy season and be a Top 10 selection next year. If I ranked him above, he’d be in the No. 2 spot, just slightly ahead of Pallette.
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The draft begins at 4 p.m. with the first two rounds. Monday will be Rounds 3-10, with Rounds 11-20 concluding on Tuesday.
