Dodgers sign fifth round pick Gavin Stone

The Los Angeles Dodgers have secured one of their picks from the 2020 MLB Draft.

The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t waste any time in signing 5th round pick Gavin Stone this weekend. The right-hander from Central Arkansas posted a picture of himself wearing a Dodger hat and signing the paperwork.

“Super excited and grateful for the opportunity to play for a great organization and great city,” Stone wrote on Instagram. “It wouldn’t have been possible without amazing friends and family who have supported this dream of mine. I can’t wait to get started.”

Stone is coming off an impressive spring when he went 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA before the season was shutdown due to the pandemic. Most noteworthy was his 31:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a statistic it seemed the scouting department seemed to prioritize in this year’s draft.

Gavin Stone caught the Dodgers attention in a short spring season.

The 6-foot-1 junior made headlines when he threw a no-hitter against Southeastern Louisiana, coming one walk short of a perfect game. During a shortened season, it was a key performance in front of many MLB scouts.

The Dodgers were able to sign Stone for $100,000, which is well below the slot value for the 159th pick of $327.200. That savings should help the team secure their picks higher up on the draft board. Los Angeles has a bonus pool of $5.9 million to work with.

Stone said the Dodgers were one of the first teams to contact him in the fall, and they gave him a tip at the beginning of the fifth round that they might select him.

“The Dodgers called me at the beginning of the fifth round so I knew there was a possibility,” Stone told THV11 in Little Rock. “They were one of the first teams to contact me in the fall, so there was some history there. So I wasn’t too stressed about it. Because either way, if I got drafted or I didn’t get drafted, I was still in a great situation. I wasn’t too worried about it, but I was lucky to get my named called. That felt good.’

Dodgers president Andrew Friedman will now focus his attention on signing the remaining five picks selected in the 2020 MLB Draft. The team was able to secure an undrafted free agent this weekend when they inked college starter Robbie Peto from Stenton University.

Dodgers 2020 MLB Draft grades: What you need to know about each pick

Catching you up on the players selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2020 MLB Draft.

It is a tough season for securing players beyond those selected in the first five rounds of the draft as teams are limited in the amount they can spend to sign undrafted players.