As the 2025 MLB Draft quickly approaches, the Prospects Live team wants to make your life as easy as possible. In this series of articles, I'll be providing team-by-team analysis of their recent draft trends, their available draft capital for 2025, any areas of the draft they've heavily targeted, as well as a few names in this year's class that might fit into their historically preferred archetype.
Max Ellingsen
This analysis isn't sourced for the upcoming year, nor is it a guarantee the organization won't pivot from what they've done in the past. Simply put, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at teams and their recent draft classes to try and decipher trends that could help uncover players your favorite team might be targeting. It's far from a perfect science, but I've done my job if it makes things easier to follow on draft day.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- 2025 Bonus Pool Value - $9,031,300 (24th)
- Top 100 selections - 40, 41, 65
As the Dodgers enter the 2025 draft, their first-round pick has been pushed back ten spots due to their spending habits exceeding the luxury tax threshold. Los Angeles now has just three picks in the top 100. Having acquired the 41st pick in the Gavin Lux deal this year, the Dodgers want to take advantage of this year’s depth and have positioned themselves well despite their lackluster bonus pool.
2024 Draft Overview
The 2024 iteration of the draft for Los Angeles featured two large splashes at the top, with Florida prep shortstop Kellon Lindsey in the first round ($380,000 under slot) and slugging prep third baseman Chase Harlan ($1,005,000 over slot). This aggressive strategy, combined with grabbing high school outfielder Brendan Tunink ($207,300 over slot) in the eighth round and forfeiting their second and fifth-round selections (for signing Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract during the 2023-2024 offseason), made for a top-heavy class prioritizing premium traits in projectable frames. Lindsey was among the fastest players in the class, while Harlan has excellent raw power and the talent to stay on the infield. Tunink is the biggest wildcard of this class as a later-round prep player, but he, too, possesses plenty of room to add impact to his profile and already has a smooth, repeatable stroke at the plate with at least above-average foot speed.
2023 Draft Overview
The Dodgers took a broader approach to the 2023 draft than in 2024, selecting speedster Kendall George in the first round for a $500,000 under slot. After slotting in the second and third rounds on Jake Gelof and Brady Smith, respectively, they opted to spread their savings across various players. College lefty Wyatt Crowell had some buzz to go earlier but had been dealing with injuries, and prepsters Joe Vetrano, Jaron Elkins, and Sterling Patrick all commanded bonuses a few hundred thousand above their respective slot. This strategy gave the Dodgers plenty of chances to get one of their young guys to hit, and though it’s not amongst the most elite classes from that year, there’s still plenty of time for this group of players to put things together.
2022 Draft Overview
Despite not having a first-rounder, the Dodgers killed it in their 2022 draft class (In the 2022 MLB Draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers did not have a first-round pick because their original selection was moved down 10 spots as a penalty for exceeding the highest tier of the competitive balance tax threshold during the 2021 season).
With the 40th overall selection with their first pick, they selected Dalton Rushing ($10,000 over slot) in the second round and UCF shortstop Alex Freeland (slot) in the third; the Dodgers nabbed two Top 100 prospects without depleting their limited bonus pool. Sixth-rounder Logan Wagner ($346,600 over slot), a prep shortstop they’ve since converted to be a primary third baseman, has hit the cover off the ball in the low minors and received the third-largest bonus in this class.
The Dodgers know how to build a successful team, focusing on college players with proven performance records and impressive contact statistics. By acquiring these players at reasonable costs, they were able to secure a promising young infielder, even though there are some concerns about his hitting ability.
Early Round Demographics
As of late, the Dodgers have seemingly put an emphasis on players that have a strong carrying tool and have worried much less about how “well rounded” their players are. Both Kendall George and Kellon Lindsey carried legitimate concerns about their power ability and each lacked a tremendous amount of polish offensively, yet they both had elite speed and enough athleticism for Los Angeles to dream on the profile. Chase Harlan and Dalton Rushing had some hit tool concerns coming into professional ball and aren’t necessarily the best defensively, however they both have enough raw power where the Dodgers were less concerned with the profile than other teams were. Additionally, Los Angeles typically prioritizes position players early over pitchers, with most of their early round pitchers coming outside the first one hundred selections (Brady Smith went 95th). I’d expect raw, toolsy position players to be very much in play for the Dodgers early, especially considering the nature of this draft.
Late Round Demographics
Most of the time, Los Angeles prioritizes pitching in the later rounds to fill out its system; however, if it isn’t taking an arm, it’s typically a player with up-the-middle defensive utility.
Additionally, the Dodgers take more risk within the high school player demographic that signs for a few hundred thousand in the later rounds more than most other clubs. They don’t have an exceptional hit rate with this strategy, but it’s clearly a demographic they believe can thrive in the development program. Look for arms late that already possess a “metrically” carrying pitch and shortstop defenders as the draft transpires.
Names to Know
Slater de Brun, HS OF - A smaller framed outfielder with great speed and twitch. Sound familiar?
Daniel Pierce, HS SS - A toolsy prep shortstop with an unrefined game but plenty of physicality to dream on.
Andrew Fischer, Tennessee 3B/1B - When they’ve gone to the college ranks early, it’s for impact at the plate with less regard for positional versatility. If they think they can keep him at third, this would be a slam dunk pick.
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