Dodgers sign 15 of their 18 draftees, including first-round pick Kellon Lindsey, and ink 3 UDFAs

The Dodgers announced Wednesday that they have signed 15 of their 18 selections from this month’s MLB Draft. Prep shortstop Kellon Lindsey, the 23rd overall pick, is among those that have been signed.

Los Angeles also announced signings of three collegiate undrafted free agents: catcher Gio Cueto from Stetson University, right-hander Logan Tabeling from the University of Illinois and left-hander Myles Caba from the University of Miami.

Three drafted players remain unsigned: 15th round prep shortstop Erik Parker, 19th round prep outfielder Chase Williams and 20th round college southpaw Hunter Elliott. Parker already announced that he would be going to college instead of signing. There has not been word on Williams and Elliott, who both have until the August 1 deadline to sign.

Many of the reported bonus figures that are linked below are thanks to the work of Jim Callis and/or Carlos Collazo.

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The Dodgers signed Lindsey for a reported bonus of $3.3 million, which is roughly $350,000 below slot value for the 23rd pick. That gave them some of the extra money to sign third-round prep third baseman Chase Harlan to a reported over-slot deal of $1,747,500, which is just over $1 million above his slot value.

Going down the list, they signed fourth round college left-hander Jakob Wright for a reported $553,800 bonus right around his slot value. Sixth round college right-hander Brooks Auger reportedly signed for $197,500, giving the Dodgers just north of $100,000 in savings on him. Seventh round college infielder Elijah Hainline reportedly signed for $197,500 of his $247,900 slot value.

Another over-slot prep signing, the Dodgers reportedly inked eighth round outfielder Brendan Tunink for $412,500 while his slot value was just $205,800. The Day 2 signings finished up with two college seniors who signed for far under-slot: outfielder Kole Myers reportedly signed for $2,500 with a $188,800 slot value, and right-hander Seamus Barrett reportedly signed for $5,000 with a $179,000 slot value.

All the Day 3 picks that have been signed were reportedly given bonuses below the allotted $150,000 mark for rounds 11-20. The biggest surprise here is 14th round junior college right-hander Will Gagnon, who had a transfer commitment to UCLA but wound up signing without any extra bonus money.

There doesn’t appear to be much money left over for the 19th and 20th round selections in Williams and Elliott, who both had the potential to be over-slot signings. Williams is just 18 and is committed to Florida State, and Elliott has another year of college eligibility remaining that he may prefer to use to boost his stock for next year’s draft. Since rounds 11-20 have $150,000 bonuses attached to them that do not count against the bonus pool (only bonus money above that mark comes from the pool), theoretically Williams and Elliott could still be in play if they decided to sign for $150,000 or less.

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Now for the undrafted free agents. First, they signed catcher Cueto, who turned 21 years old Wednesday, out of Stetson University. Cueto hit three homers this spring and played two seasons at Wake Forest before transferring.

Cueto didn’t hit the ball particularly hard, but he ran good contact rates while hitting a good amount of line drives. His 16.1% walk rate is a bit misleading alongside a 40th percentile out of zone swing rate, but it appears that chase mostly came against offspeed pitches. His in-zone passivity likely contributed as well.

With Cueto being a catcher, it is likely that his abilities on the defensive side of the ball are a big factor in his signing. Unfortunately, there is not any hard data on that, so we’ll have to wait and see.

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Next, the Dodgers signed 22-year-old right-hander Tabeling out of Illinois. Tabeling appeared in only 18 1/3 innings this spring for Illinois as a senior.

Tabeling’s fastball has good data, sitting at 92 mph while touching 96. His 19.2 inches of induced vertical break is impressive, he gets eight inches of run, he has 6.4 feet of extension and he throws it from a somewhat low -5.32 degree vertical approach angle. If he were to obtain any extra velocity jump with the Dodgers, this could be a pretty nice fastball.

He has two secondaries in a slider and a curveball. The slider has good sweep at 17.1 inches of glove side movement and generated a 40% whiff rate this spring. His curveball is a slow bender with a bunch of movement, sitting at just 75 mph but averaging -18.9 inches of induced vertical break.

Tabeling struggled with walks in college and will have to improve his command, but his pitches offer a conceivable path forward as a relief prospect, if he can reign in the free passes.

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Lastly, at least for now, the Dodgers signed 22-year-old left-hander Caba out of Miami. Caba pitched 27 games in short-stint relief for Miami this spring, posting a 33.3% strikeout rate.

This spring, Caba mostly relied on his fastball for success. It averages 91.3 mph but has a bunch of arm side run at 11 inches despite not having much drop, still turning in 17.7 inches of induced vertical break. He throws it from a low 5.4 foot release height and had a 36.9% called strike plus whiff rate with the heater this spring.

Caba’s breaking balls did not perform as well in terms of both results and data. This looks to me like a player that the Dodgers will make big tweaks on the secondary offerings, and hope that they can create a breaking ball that plays off his fastball. Caba’s curveball had a very low 14.8% whiff rate despite being his main secondary pitch.

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Overall, I think the Dodgers did a nice job signing most of the draft class. Parker was a longshot to be signed from the moment he was drafted, so it was not a big surprise to see him follow his commitment to Georgia. Parker may have only been drafted as a backup plan for if something went wrong in signing another one of their prep draftees. It does not seem extremely likely right now that either of Williams or Elliott end up being signed, although I’d still give Elliott the best chance. Elliott is nearing the end of his Tommy John surgery recovery and would be a senior in college next spring. He would be a good pickup for the Dodgers if they can make it happen.

This draft class turned out to be a pretty solid one. After going with prep bats with their first two picks, the Dodgers went heavy on college arms this year, selecting 10 college pitchers in their last 16 picks and signing nine of them so far.

Here is the full list of signed players to this point:

Round	Name	Position	Age	School	Reported Bonus
1	Kellon Lindsey	SS	18	Hardee HS (FL)	$3.3M
3	Chase Harlan	3B	18	Central Bucks East HS (PA)	$1.7475M
4	Jakob Wright	LHP	21	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo U	$553,800
6	Brooks Auger	RHP	22	Mississippi State U	$197,500
7	Elijah Hainline	INF	21	Oregon State U	$197,500
8	Brendan Tunink	OF	18	Newman Central Catholic HS (IN)	$412,500
9	Kole Myers	OF	23	Troy U	$2,500
10	Seamus Barrett	RHP	23	Loyola Marymount U	$5,000
11	Aidan Foeller	RHP	22	SIU Carbondale	$147,500
12	Cody Morse	LHP	21	Weatherford JC (TX)	$147,500
13	Mike Villani	RHP	21	Long Beach State U	$147,500
14	Will Gagnon	RHP	20	Reedley College JC (CA)	$147,500
16	Evan Shaw	LHP	23	Kansas U	$122,500
17	Jackson Nicklaus	2B/SS	21	U Oklahoma	$147,500
18	Isaac Ayon	RHP	22	U Oregon	$147,500
UDFA	Gio Cueto	C	21	Stetson U	N/A
UDFA	Logan Tabeling	RHP	22	U Illinois	N/A
UDFA	Myles Caba	LHP	22	U Miami	N/A