The Los Angeles Dodgers will be represented in New York for the 2017 MLB Draft by famed third baseman Ron Cey and longtime scout Lon Joyce. The first day of the draft is Monday, June 12.
This year marks the first time Cey represents the Dodgers at the draft, while Joyce was in attendance last year with Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda. He had represented the Dodgers every year since 2013.
Lasorda presumably is skipping this year because of a recent surgery to replace his pacemaker. Lasorda was also scheduled to attend the 2012 Draft, but had to leave because of health issues.
Cey was a third-round draft pick of the Dodgers in 1968 out of Washington State University. He played the first 12 of his 17 big league seasons with Los Angeles, and was named an All-Star six straight years from 1974-79.
Cey was part of the 1981 World Series team in which he was named World Series MVP. Joyce began serving as a scout for the Dodgers in 1992, and has remained with the organization since that point. He was inducted into the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame in 2008.
Among their several other selections, the Dodgers own the No. 23 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. The team has $5,517,800 available in bonus pool money, which is down from the excess of $9 million they had in 2016. That’s simply due to the lack of compensatory picks in this year’s draft.
That $5.5 million will be distributed among the organization’s picks within the top 10 rounds, which this year totals 10 picks, one in each round.
Last year, the Dodgers spent their first-round draft pick on high school shortstop Gavin Lux, while the year before they took right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler out of Vanderbilt with their first-round selection. Both players are viewed in high regard within the organization.
