The Dodgers have 21 selections in the 20-round MLB Draft this year, four of which will come on Sunday night, which contains every pick through the first three rounds. The remaining picks will come on Monday.
By virtue of winning the World Series last year (remember that?), the Dodgers were slated to pick 30th among 30 teams in the first round. But they, along with the Mets and Yankees, saw their first pick drop 10 slots for having such a high payroll, specifically for surpassing the third competitive balance tax threshold, which in 2024 was at $277 million.
That dropped the Dodgers’ first selection to 40th, a pick at which the team has selected four previous times. Dalton Rushing was their first pick in the 2022 draft and has been in the majors the last two months as the team’s backup catcher. The club also drafted Luke Hochevar 40th in 2005 but did not sign him; coincidentally, Hochevar getting picked first overall by the Royals the following year helped the Dodgers be able to pick a high school left-hander from Texas at No. 7.
Dodgers 2025 draft picks
Round
Pick
Round
Pick
1
40
Comp A
41
2
65
3
104
4
135
5
165
6
195
7
225
8
255
9
285
10
315
11
345
12
375
13
405
14
435
15
465
16
495
17
525
18
555
19
585
20
615
The Dodgers also picked 40th in 1967 (shortstop Thomas Harris) and 1987 (outfielder Don Carroll), but neither made the majors.
The Dodgers got the 41st pick in this draft by trading Gavin Lux to the Reds on January 6. It’s a Competitive Balance Round A selection, in between the first and second rounds. Competitive Balance Round B is between the second and third rounds. Those draft picks are the only ones allowed to be traded, and this year five of those 15 picks have been dealt.
Twice previously, the Dodgers had the 41st pick in the draft. In 1972 they picked first baseman Cleo Smith, and in 1989 they took outfielder Billy Lott with a compensation pick for ageless reliever Jesse Orosco signing as a free agent with Cleveland. Neither Smith nor Lott reached the majors.
The Dodgers having two picks this relatively high gives them a bonus pool of $9.03 million, their second-largest in the 14 years of the current draft slotting system.
In the second round, the Dodgers’ pick is 65th overall, a slot the team has selected four times before. Most recently was in 2016 for Mitch White, who pitched in parts of three seasons for the Dodgers before getting traded to Toronto. The 65th overall pick in 1972 was Bob Detherage, who was traded to the Cardinals along with Joe Ferguson and Freddie Tisdale in June 1976 for Reggie Smith.
Concluding Sunday for the Dodgers is their third-round pick at 104th overall. They’ve picked at this spot three times previously, with pitcher Ricky Stone, a 1994 draftee, the only one to reach the majors, eventually pitching for the Astros, Padres, and Reds.
On Monday, teams will conclude the draft by picking from the fourth round through the 20th. The Dodgers pick 135th overall in the fourth round, 165th in the fifth round, and 30 picks later in every subsequent round, closing out the draft with the 615th pick to end the 20th round.
Thus far none of the Dodgers picks at these Monday slots have played in the majors, though there aren’t too many to choose from. This year mirrors the bulk of the Dodgers’ draft picks from 2022, many of whom are in Double-A Tulsa currently, perhaps most notably pitcher Chris Campos (seventh round, No. 225 overall) and third baseman Kyle Nevin (11th round, 345th).