Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers locked down deals with 15 of their 16 picks from this month’s MLB Draft, leaving 18th-round shortstop Max Irving as the only unsigned Dodgers draftee.
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Previous 2026 MLB Draft Coverage
- Dodgers select prep 3B Bo Lowrance with 40th overall pick
- Dodgers select Florida RHP Russell Sandefer with 132nd overall pick
- Dodgers select UConn LHP Charlie West, Oregon LHP Miles Gosztola in Rounds 7 and 8
- Dodgers select Texas Tech OF Kyeler Thompson, Oregon RHP Devin Bell in Rounds 9 and 10
- Dodgers select Cal Baptist LHP Cody New, East Carolina RHP Gavin Van Kempen, Jax State SS Caleb Johnson, Houston LHP Ryne Rodriguez, prep OF Aemed Nasser in Rounds 11-15
- Dodgers select South Florida RHP Ethan Sutton, Campbell RHP Camden Wimbish, prep SS Max Irving, Houston Christian C Luke Bard, Illinois LHP Zach Bates in Rounds 16-20; plus a look at the class in full
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As expected, it took more than the 40th pick’s $2.5M slot value to sign Bo Lowrance, the Dodgers’ top pick in this year’s draft. The South Carolina prep infielder signed for just shy of $3M, taking up almost 75% of Los Angeles’ committed dollars on his own. In total, the Dodgers spent just shy (as in less than $20 shy) of the 5% over their bonus pool threshold where penalties go beyond just additional tax. They reach this threshold every year to maximize their spending.
Fourth round right-hander Russell Sandefer and seventh round left-hander Charlie West, the Dodgers’ second and third selections, both signed under-slot. Together, the team saved just over $200k on those two picks. They had to go roughly $30k over-slot to ink eighth round left-hander Miles Gosztola and got that back by saving $30k on ninth round outfielder Kyeler Thompson.
To close out the first 10 rounds, which are all the picks whose value added together creates the total bonus pool, the Dodgers signed senior right-hander Devin Bell for just $7,500. The slot value for his selection at 313th overall was $191k, but this is an area that teams often draft college seniors like Bell who don’t have much leverage to command higher signing bonuses. The Dodgers followed that playbook to save $183,500 for spending on other players.
In rounds 11-20, the only money that counts against the bonus pool are bonuses that go beyond $150,000. The Dodgers exceeded that number for three players in this section of the draft: 11th round left-hander Cody New got $45,500 extra, and 15th-round outfielder Aemed Nasser and 16th-round right-hander Ethan Sutton each got $25k extra. Those figures add to only about $95,500 counting against the Dodgers’ bonus pool in rounds 11-20.
Signing both Nasser and Sutton in this portion of the draft was good work by the Dodgers. Nasser, another prep bat, was committed to Oklahoma, and it seems at least possible that his NIL offer there would have exceeded the signing bonus he got. The same may go for Sutton, a college hurler who was committed to South Carolina in the transfer portal.
The Dodgers likely would have needed to go over $150k to sign Irving, but they did not have the funds to do so. The 18-year-old is committed to South Florida and, assuming he follows that commitment, will be draft eligible again in 2029 (unless the renegotiated CBA this offseason changes the draft eligibility rules).
Lastly, you may notice that some bonuses throughout the draft look funky and fall $2,500 short of round numbers. That’s because every drafted and signed player in the MLB Draft gets an additional $2,500 beyond whatever their signing bonus ends up being. It’s common practice for teams to essentially fit that additional stipend in with the “total” bonus even though it isn’t included in what goes down on paper.
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Below is the full draft class, along with their signing bonuses and pick values:
| Rnd | Pick | Name | Pos | B/T | Class | Signing Bonus | Pick Value |
| 1 | 40 | Bo Lowrance | 3B/SS | L/R | HS Sr | $2,997,500 | $2.5M |
| 4 | 132 | Russell Sandefer | RHP | R/R | 4YR Jr | $431,475 | $575k |
| 7 | 223 | Charlie West | LHP | L/L | 4YR Jr | $197,500 | $260k |
| 8 | 253 | Miles Gosztola | LHP | L/L | 4YR Jr | $247,500 | $218k |
| 9 | 283 | Kyeler Thompson | OF | R/R | 4YR Jr | $172,500 | $201k |
| 10 | 313 | Devin Bell | RHP | R/R | 4YR Sr | $7,500 | $191k |
| 11 | 343 | Cody New | LHP | L/L | 4YR Jr | $195,500 | $0 |
| 12 | 373 | Gavin Van Kempen | RHP | R/R | 4YR Sr | $147,500 | $0 |
| 13 | 403 | Caleb Johnson | SS | S/R | 4YR Sr | $147,500 | $0 |
| 14 | 433 | Ryne Rodriguez | LHP | L/L | 4YR Sr | $147,500 | $0 |
| 15 | 463 | Aemed Nasser | OF | L/L | HS Sr | $175,000 | $0 |
| 16 | 493 | Ethan Sutton | RHP | R/R | 4YR Jr | $175,000 | $0 |
| 17 | 523 | Camden Wimbish | RHP | S/R | 4YR Jr | $147,500 | $0 |
| 18 | 553 | Max Irving | SS | S/R | HS Sr | Did Not Sign | $0 |
| 19 | 583 | Luke Bard | C | R/R | 4YR Sr | $47,500 | $0 |
| 20 | 613 | Zach Bates | LHP | R/L | 4YR Jr | $147,500 | $0 |
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The Dodgers also signed seven undrafted free agents. Six of them are pitchers, with Hawai’i shortstop Elijah Ickes representing the only position player in this group.
I’ll have another article posted this week with breakdowns and scouting reports on these seven. Also, the midseason prospects list is coming soon. Here’s all the UDFA names:
| UDFAs | Name | Pos | B/T | Class | School |
| | Elijah Ickes | SS | R/R | 4YR Jr | Hawai’i |
| | Jack Giordano | RHP | R/R | 4YR So | Oregon State |
| | Wyatt Halvorson | RHP | R/R | 4YR Jr | Arizona State |
| | Brady Pendley | RHP | R/R | 4YR Sr | Georgia Southern |
| | Ian May | LHP | R/L | 4YR Sr | UCLA |
| | Elijah Coston | LHP | L/L | JuCo So | Florida SouthWestern |
| | Alex Walsh | LHP | L/L | 4YR Sr | Jacksonville |
