Dodgers: 2016 Draft – One Year Later

The Dodgers are just weeks away from the 2017 draft, and it is easy to be excited about adding more talent to this farm system. As fans start to see the players emerge from previous draft classes at the major league level, it is key to replenish this youth on a yearly basis.

It can be hard for Dodgers fans to really get a good grasp of what to look for in the draft. It’s 40 rounds long, spanning multiple days, and no major media outlet really covers it – MLB Network will broadcast it live as usual with a webcast on MLB.com.

If there is anything to look at right off the bat, it would be fair to say that the first ten rounds will produce the majority of the players who make it to the big leagues one day. There will always be that exception, the most notable being Mike Piazza who was drafted in the 62nd round by the Dodgers and will now forever be the lowest drafted player ever in the Hall of Fame.

The round a player is selected in also has a lot to say about the chances they get. Players get paid more getting drafted early, and on top of that, they get more chances. Talent aside, that is another big reason why the first ten rounds usually have the most significant impact. Teams want to give their largest investment a chance to grow, even if a kid drafted 20 rounds later is outplaying him. Money talks here.

So before it’s time to dig deeper into the 2017 draft, let’s take a look back at how some of the Dodgers’ draft picks from last season have been doing after almost a full year playing pro ball, specifically the first five rounds.