With only six players in their 2020 MLB Draft class due to it being shortened from 40 to five rounds, the Los Angeles Dodgers have wasted no time getting their new young crop of talent signed.
They were reportedly able to get a handful of them signed for below their slot values, agreeing to terms with first-rounder Bobby Miller, second-rounder Landon Knack, fourth-rounder Carson Taylor and fifth-rounder Gavin Stone.
That left them plenty of money remaining for their final two draft picks — Compensation Round B pick Clayton Beeter and third-rounder Jake Vogel — both of which were expected to require signing bonuses above their respective slot values.
It was recently reported that the Dodgers agreed to terms with Vogel, keeping him away from UCLA and leaving Beeter as the lone draft pick yet to sign.
The Dodgers still had around $1.2 million in bonus pool remaining for Beeter though, which is higher than his $1,003,300 slot value. It appears that was enough to get him signed, according to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline:
Supplemental 2nd-rder Clayton Beeter signs with @Dodgers for $1,196,500 (slot 66 value = $1,003,300). Texas Tech RHP, not much track record but great stuff, 93-98 mph fastball, wipeout curveball & slider, TJ surgery in December 2017. @MLBDraft #WearAMask
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 6, 2020
Beeter, who played his college ball at Texas Tech, went into the draft with a ton of upside and could end up being one of the biggest steals for L.A. He is fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2017 and was off to a strong start to the 2020 season before it got shut down.
The right-hander has experience both starting and relieving, but Dodgers director of amateur scouting Billy Gasparino anticipates him being a starter at the big league level.
“Yes, we’re going to try and develop him as a starter,” Gasparino said. “That’s the current plan. He did it for four starts at Texas Tech and he performed really well. We think he took to it well from all of our research.”
Now that the Dodgers have all of their 2020 draft class signed, they can shift their focus to adding more talented undrafted free agents to the organization.
The Dodgers have been able to maintain one of the best farm systems in baseball in recent years, and a big reason for that is their ability to draft and develop players, so hopefully that continues with this crop of new players.
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