Monday was the deadline for major league teams to sign their 2026 MLB Draft picks, and the Dodgers signed 15 of their 16 selections, in their most pared-down draft in recent memory.
The signings of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz stripped the Dodgers of draft picks in the second, third, fifth, and sixth rounds, which dramatically lowered their total draft bonus pool to $3.95 million, the lowest for the Dodgers in the 15 years of the current draft slotting system.
First-round pick Bo Lowrance, a shortstop
and third baseman from Christ Church Episcopal High School in South Carolina, signed for a reported $3 million, per Kiley McDaniel at ESPN, which accounted for 75.9 percent of the Dodgers’ bonus pool, and above the $2,504,200 slot value for the 40th overall pick.
The next-largest bonus went to fourth-round selection Russell Sandefer, a right-handed pitcher from Florida. He signed for $431,475, per Carlos Collazo of Baseball America, which was actually below the recommended slot value of the 132nd overall pick of $575,300. The other big savings relative to slot value came from 10th-rounder Devin Bell, a senior pitcher at Oregon who signed for $7,500, well under the $191,900 slot value for the 313th pick.
For any players drafted after the 10th round, or for any undrafted free agents, any signing bonus above $150,000 also counts against the draft bonus pool. Per both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, the Dodgers gave larger bonuses to 11th-round pick Cody New out of Cal Baptist ($195,500), 15th-round high school outfielder Aemed Nasser ($175,000) and 16th-round pitcher Ethan Sutton out of South Florida ($175,000).
The only player the Dodgers did not sign was high school shortstop Max Irving out of Monteverde Baseball Academy Florida. Irving will instead begin his college career at South Florida.
In all, it looks like the Dodgers spent $175,075 over their allotted bonus pool, or 4.43 percent, so they will just have to pay a 75-percent overage tax on that amount. Anything at least five percent over starts including harsher penalties, including the loss of future draft picks, and to date no MLB team has spent that much over their pool.
One of the staples of draft season is the various social media pictures of players signing their first professional contracts. Here are a few Dodgers picks from this year inking their new deals.
OF Kyeler Thompson (9th round)
RHP Gavin Van Kempen (12th round)
SS Caleb Johnson (13th round)
LHP Ryne Rodriguez (14th round)
RHP Camden Wimbish (17th round)
C Luke Bard (19th round)
In addition to the drafted players, the Dodgers announced they signed these undrafted free agents:
- LHP Elijah Coston (Florida Southwestern State)
- LHP Ian May (UCLA)
- LHP Alex Walsh (Jacksonville University)
- RHP Wyatt Halvorson (Arizona State)
- RHP Jack Giordano (Oregon State)
- RHP Brad Pendley (Georgia Southern)
- SS Elijah Ickes (University of Hawaii)
