2020 Draft: Why Dodgers might select Ed Howard in first round

Who will the Los Angeles Dodgers select with the 29th overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft? Could it be prep shortstop Ed Howard?

After drafting Gavin Lux and Corey Seager, the Dodgers might select another young shortstop in the 2020 draft. Set to pick 29th overall whenever the draft is held, perhaps sometime in July, the Dodgers will look to add to a loaded farm system that has had great success churning out talent over the past several seasons.

Baseball America released their latest mock of the 2020 amateur draft earlier this week, and while there is limited information available to tie players with particular teams since scouts have been grounded for the past month, the leading prospect magazine predicts the Dodgers will select high school shortstop Ed Howard.

Who is Ed Howard?

Ed Howard is a tall, lanky middle infielder from Lynwood, Illinois who is committed to Oklahoma next Fall, but will obviously reserve his final decision against the draft outcome.

Known for his defensive prowess, the 6-foot-2 infielder projects as a gap-to-gap hitter with power potential, as described in multiple scouting reports.

Howard burst onto the baseball scene as a kid in 2014 when he led Jackie Robinson West to a U.S. championship at the Little League World Series. He was on the mound for the clinching save, ironically, forced to field his position for the final out.

Howard ranks 20th on Keith Law’s Top 30 prospect list for the 2020 draft. While predicting slot position is an inexact science, especially this year, the Dodgers would be lucky if he is still available at the end of the first found.

One evaluator told The Athletic he has “a cathedral ceiling.”

As Carlos Collazo from Baseball America describes him, “He’s a no-doubt shortstop at the next level as a solid athlete with reliable hands and a strong, accurate throwing arm.”

The question mark is on the offensive side of the diamond, where scouts need to see him more to determine if he can put his skills together to become a plus hitter. The Dodgers, like all teams, will have to make a draft choice without their typical detailed reports due to the scouting restrictions created by the coronavirus.

In a recent interview, Howard revealed some interesting personal notes. He is a diehard White Sox fan, having grown up going to games on the south side of Chicago. And the player he likes to model his game after most is Manny Machado.

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If the draft is held amid the coronavirus pandemic, it will be shortened to five to ten rounds, instead of the traditional forty, according to ESPN, and to preserve cash, signing bonuses will be spread out over multiple years.