The Los Angeles Dodgers had 42 picks in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft and chose to utilize over half of their selections on pitchers. Over the past three days, Los Angeles has announced the signing of several picks from the draft.
This year the team has a bonus pool of $9,336,500 to spend, which is the most the Dodgers have since 2012. However, they can exceed that total by 4.99 percent or less, and only face a tax penalty on the overage.
Exceeding the allotted bonus by five percent or more comes with the tax penalty and forfeiting of future draft picks, with penalty and total number of picks lost broken into tiers.
The Dodgers’ top pick, shortstop Gavin Lux taken at No. 20 overall, reportedly received a $2.317 signing bonus; that’s only $700 more than slot value for the pick.
According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, third-rounder Will Smith signed for below slot:
1st-rder Will Smith signs w/@Dodgers for $1,775,000 (pick 32 = $1,940,700). Athletic Louisville C, good arm & rec, line-drive bat. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 18, 2016
Smith led Louisville in batting this year with a .382 average. He added seven home runs and 43 RBIs. Los Angeles’ fourth round selection, D.J. Peters from Western Nevada College, also signed for below slot, per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com:
.@Dodgers sign 4th-rder DJ Peters for $247,500 (Pick 131 value=$442,400). JUCO OF w/power and strong arm @MLBDraft
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) June 18, 2016
In 2016, Peters hit .419/.510/.734 with 14 doubles and 16 home runs. Meanwhile, USC right-hander Jeff Paschke, who was among the Dodgers’ announced signings, reportedly received $100,000:
22nd-rder Jeff Paschke signs w/@Dodgers for $100k. Southern California RHP, reliever, up to 95 on Cape last summer. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 18, 2016
Paschke went 3-2 this season with a 4.25 ERA in 25 games with 28 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .243 batting average.
While Mayo’s tweet mistakingly read Angels, he reported details of Dean Kremer’s signing:
.@Angels give 14th-rder Dean Kremer $147,500. 47.5 K of UNLV RHP's bonus counts toward bonus pool. @MLBDraft
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) June 20, 2016
Dodgers reportedly went above slot to sign Brayan Morales, though as with Kremer, only a portion of it counts toward their bonus pool:
.@Dodgers go over 100K again in 15th to sign Brayan Morales ($122,500). 22.5 K counts against bonus pool.
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) June 20, 2016
The Dodgers reportedly saw a savings with Anthony Gonsolin and Kevin Lachance:
To help offset those costs, @Dodgers sign seniors Anthony Gonsolin in 9th, Kevin Lachance in 10th, both for 2.5 K each. @MLBDraft
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) June 20, 2016
The Dodgers recently announced the signing of 18 of their selections. Among the reported bonuses above, only Smith and Kremer have not been formally announced.
Compensation pick (No. 36 overall) Jordan Sheffield, a right-handed pitcher out of Vanderbilt, and fifth-rounder Devin Smeltzer, an outfielder out of San Jacinto College North, are the lone selections from the Dodgers’ top 10 picks who have not yet signed.
