The Dodgers did not get to pick until #40 this year after their first round pick was moved back ten spots, but as usual, they pulled together a very interesting class anyways. After going for more "high floor" types with their first two picks, they turned their attention to toolsy, data-driven projects for much of the draft and brought in a ton of upside even if it will require significant development to draw out. The college-heavy class includes plenty of size, with four draftees clocking in at 6'5" or taller and topping out with the 6'8", 235 pound Robby Porco out of West Virginia.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-40: LHP Zach Root, Arkansas.
Slot value: $2.44 million. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: #34. MLB Pipeline: #42. Baseball America: #40.
The Dodgers like to target lanky flamethrowers with nasty stuff, and while they did some of that later in the draft, they broke their tendency here by bringing on Zach Root, who is built more in the Clayton Kershaw mold than the Tyler Glasnow mold (no, I am not projecting Root as a slam dunk first ballot Hall of Famer). It's more of a crafty lefty profile, but one that I really like and I think has become undervalued in today's game. Root began his career at mid major powerhouse East Carolina, then after productive freshman and strong sophomore seasons, transferred to Arkansas where he immediately jumped into one of the best weekend rotations in the country. A strong season, headlined by an incredible performance against then-#1 Texas on May 1st (8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K), made him one of the better college arms available this year. Root does not have an overpowering fastball, sitting in the low 90's most of the time with average movement (though he can reach back for 97), but it plays up because of the rest of his profile. He can really spin the baseball with a big, diving curveball complemented by a tighter slider, while an above average changeup drops off the table when he gets it right. It's a true big league four pitch mix, one that keeps even advanced hitters off balance. The 6'1" lefty is a bit on the stocky side but looks durable and has been, throwing 221.1 innings in his three year college career. There is some Kershaw in his delivery as he reaches his glove over his head during a high leg lift, though he turns in towards second base to create a more rotational drive to the plate rather than driving straight down. It creates some funk that can make his stuff hard to pick up. The Florida native may not have the highest ceiling the Dodgers could have gone after, but he's a high probability back-end starter in the mold of a left handed Landon Knack. I like him.
CBA-41: OF Charles Davalan, Arkansas.
Slot value: $2.39 million. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: #49. MLB Pipeline: #54. Baseball America: #62.
It's weird to think about the Dodgers wielding a competitive balance pick, something created for small market teams get a leg up, but they acquired this one in the Gavin Lux trade over the offseason. And with that, they'll take a second straight first year Arkansas Razorback who transferred into Fayetteville with ties to the Fort Myers area. Strangely specific, but the Dodgers have their type. While Zach Root grew up in Fort Myers, Charles Davalan began his college career at Florida Gulf Coast University just across town before transferring over to Arkansas. Davalan was a bit of a revelation in Fayetteville, far outperforming his smaller stature and even the numbers he put up against weaker competition in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Listed at a modest 5'9", 190 pounds, he plays much bigger. He's an easy plus hitter with exceptional bat to ball skills that helped him strike out just 27 times in 65 games (just an 8.5% rate) while running contact rates around 90%, an elite mark. Not just a bat to ball guy, he smacked 14 home runs in 2025 while showing off solid exit velocities, giving him a chance to post average power numbers in pro ball. The quick hands and sneaky strength in his sturdy frame likely help him knock 10-15 home runs per season while posting high on-base percentages at the major league level. As it stands, the Quebecer's bat is ahead of his glove. He saw time at second base while at FGCU but played mostly left field for Arkansas, where his speed figures to help him show average there. He did see time in center field at Arkansas and the Dodgers would love it if he could stick there, but he should hit enough to provide value in left field as well.
2-65: RHP Cam Leiter, Florida State.
Slot value: $1.35 million. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: #87. MLB Pipeline: #114. Baseball America: #85.
Now this one feels like a distinctly Dodgers pick, and if they get it right, the rest of the league will be put on notice. Cam Leiter is a nephew of Al and Mark Leiter as well as a younger cousin of Jack and Mark Jr., so if the last name seems familiar, that's because it is. Beginning his career at UCF, he struggled to throw strikes but Florida State saw his explosive stuff and brought him in as a transfer alongside fellow UCF Knight Drew Faurot (now a Marlin). He announced his presence with thirteen strikeouts across five one-hit innings against Butler in his FSU debut, but his shoulder gave out after seven starts and he missed the entire 2025 season. Despite not throwing a competitive pitch since March 2024, the Dodgers are bullish on his upside and for good reason. Pre-injuries, Leiter's fastball sat in the mid 90's and touched 99 at peak, playing up further with good riding and great running life to explode past hitters. He has a hard, tight cutter/slider in the upper 80's that flashed plus when he was healthy, while his sharp 12-6 curveball has also flashed plus at times, albeit a bit less frequently than the slider. Additionally, he showed feel for a changeup that lacked consistency but still missed plenty of bats when he got it right. It's among the loudest four pitch mixes in all of college baseball, looking even louder coming from a huge 6'5", 235 pound frame. To this point, Leiter struggled with strikes during both his freshman and abbreviated sophomore seasons, but he moves well on the mound and his size and athleticism point towards better performance in that regard in the future. The Dodgers likely believe that it's just a matter of getting consistent innings, and if he had been healthy these past three years, he'd probably be closer to average command. The upside is tremendous as a starting pitcher with four above average to plus pitches, but he'll need to stay healthy and improve his command considerably to get there.
3-104: OF Landyn Vidourek, Cincinnati.
Slot value: $737,000. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #419.
Judging by the commentary around this pick, it is very apparent that Landyn Vidourek was a much more highly valued prospect in scouting and MLB circles than he was in mainstream baseball outlets. Traditional scouting might put him somewhere in the fifth to tenth round range at best, but strong underlying data and a loud batting practice at the MLB Draft Combine in June propelled him higher on model and data-driven draft boards, a category we are certain the Dodgers fall into. Despite Cincinnati moving up in competition from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12, Vidourek has seen his numbers improve every year and put up a career year in 2025. He rips the barrel through the zone with incredible force, generating elite exit velocities and creating plus power in games. The local Cincinnati-area product also shows a very patient approach that will play up in pro ball, though he also swings and misses at a very high clip and struck out in 26.7% of his plate appearances in 2025. That, combined with a quiet showing in the Cape Cod League, creates some question over whether he'll make enough contact to produce at the pro level. Still, with his usable game power and plate discipline, he has two of the three attributes that make a great MLB hitter and only needs to make enough contact to make it work. At the same time, Vidourek is a plus-plus runner who stole 39 bases in 40 tries this season. The speed plays better on the base paths than it does in the outfield, but the raw quickness there does give him a shot to play center field. This is a high upside, boom or bust type that could wind up following a Spencer Jones path even if he's a bit smaller.
4-135: SS Aidan West, Long Reach HS [MD]
Slot value: $544,900. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: #139. MLB Pipeline: #123. Baseball America: #169.
For their first of three high school selections, the Dodgers yet again reached across the country and grabbed Maryland prep Aidan West. While he lacks a standout tool at this point, he has impressed evaluators with his broad array of tools, athleticism, and physicality and looks the part of a future big leaguer. He's growing into some power from a strong 6'2" frame, and the ball is jumping off his bat with more and more authority. The bat to ball is very good, too, ensuring he'll get to that power in games once he learns to elevate a little bit more. For now, the Howard County native has a propensity to chase and needs more reps against higher quality pitching before he shores up his approach. The Dodgers may allow him to take it a little slower, but they have had success with these types and he could emerge a very well-rounded offensive threat in a few years. Drafted as a shortstop, he's an above average runner with the actions to stick in the dirt, though he's a little stiff for shortstop and may fit better at third base. They'll run him out at the former for now and see how it goes. West was committed to North Carolina State and figures to command a large bonus.
6-195: OF Mason Ligenza, Tamaqua Area HS [PA]
Slot value: $317,200. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #217. Baseball America: #378.
Two rounds later, the Dodgers will go with an even rawer talent in Mason Ligenza. Hailing from the tiny coal mining town of Brockton, Pennsylvania, he's all tools and upside without much polish. Ligenza stands 6'5" and has space to add two or three dozen pounds on his lanky frame. Already, he produces plus raw power from a violent left handed swing and could get to double plus with additional polish. He beat up on rural northeastern Pennsylvania pitching this spring, but looked overmatched on the showcase circuit with a raw approach and even more raw mechanics. The stride and swing get choppy, and he can get caught out in front of good breaking stuff or late for quality fastballs. As slow as the Dodgers may take it with Aidan West, they'll likely take it even slower with Ligenza. If the advanced development environment in the Dodgers system jumpstarts his career as expected, the physicality here could turn him into a thunderous power hitter in time. The Dodgers are buying his bat, but he also runs well and should be above average in an outfield corner going forward. One of the better commits the University of Pittsburgh has landed in recent years, he'll instead likely sign for a large bonus and head west.
8-255: RHP Jack O'Connor, Virginia.
Slot value: $211,700. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #246.
The Dodgers are buying low – really low – on a big time arm talent in Jack O'Connor. A blue chip recruit out of Bishop O'Connell High School in Northern Virginia, he immediately seized the spotlight as a freshman at UVA with an impressive freshman season that shot him near the top of way-too-early 2025 draft prospect lists. However, nagging lat issues limited him to just 28.1 ineffective innings (7.62 ERA) between his sophomore and junior seasons, and he underwent internal brace surgery on his UCL this spring that will continue to keep him off the mound in the near future. When healthy, the fastball sits low 90's as a starter and touches 98 in relief, while his hard cutter-slider gives him a real bat misser at the pro level. He also throws a curveball and changeup, which took steps forward during that strong freshman season. The 6'5" righty has a very short arm action that helps hide the ball, relying on his excellent arm strength to power baseballs into the zone. While he threw strikes at an advanced clip for a freshman back in 2023 and in a smaller sample in 2024, he struggled to get into a rhythm in that regard in 2025 as he instead focused on blowing the ball past hitters in his relief role. Given his lack of health over the past two seasons, he finds himself in a similar position to Cam Leiter in that he just hasn't been on the mound enough to build it up. He'll have a lot of work to do to become a big league starter, especially in a system as deep as this one, and may fit as a fastball/slider reliever depending on how he returns from surgery.
12-375: RHP Logan Lunceford, Wake Forest
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #145.
Logan Lunceford has seen his stock rise and fall a bit. Beginning his career at Missouri, he spent two full seasons in the Tigers' rotation and pitched to middling results, but Wake Forest saw the arm talent and coaxed him halfway across the country to Winston-Salem. As is the case with many pitchers in that program, his stuff took a leap forward and after five dazzling starts to begin the season (4-0, 1.33 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, 51/9 K/BB in 27 IP) he found himself creeping into the top 100 conversation. However, he faded from there and finds himself here in the twelfth round. Lunceford is undersized at 5'10", putting everything he has into an extreme drop and drive delivery that produces low 90's fastballs topping out around 94. The pitch plays up due to its excellent riding life and missed a lot of bats, especially early in the season. He spins a curveball and slider that both show good depth, but they lack the power and finish to be true strikeout pitches at the major league level. His best pitch is perhaps its changeup, which takes a right turn before it reaches the plate and falls off the table, leaving hitters flailing. The OKC-area native shows decent command, but may have to choose between sharpening that command or reaching back for more velocity in pro ball given his slight frame and loud delivery. The Dodgers could choose to develop him as a back-end starter, especially if they can sharpen up one or both of those breaking balls, or he could see a velocity uptick in the bullpen and live closer to the mid 90's while dicing hitters up with that changeup in short stints.
17-525: RHP Sam Horn, Missouri.
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: has not yet signed.
My rank: #107. MLB Pipeline: #128. Baseball America: #221.
This is not a run of the mill seventeenth round pick – Sam Horn is a frontrunner to become the starting quarterback for the University of Missouri this fall. At any school that is impressive, but this is an SEC football program coming off a 10-3 season. Horn has been well known since his high school days in the Atlanta area, where he led powerhouse Collins Hill High School on both the baseball and football fields and was teammates with 2024 Heisman winner and 2025 second overall pick Travis Hunter. Unfortunately, Horn has barely seen either the football or baseball fields in Columbia as he's worked back from Tommy John surgery with just eight pass attempts and fifteen innings pitched to show in three years. Still, the talent is immense. His fastball sits low to mid 90's and has reached 98 with running action, while he has worked to tighten up a slider that is now looking above average. Given that he has barely been on the mound, he doesn't have much of a changeup and his command is very much a work in progress. The Dodgers are instead dreaming on his projectable 6'4" frame, supreme athleticism, and lack of experience that is likely holding back his production on the mound. It's unlikely that he signs here, and even if he does, he'll likely still go out for that QB1 role, but once (if ever) he gives up football, he could leap forward as a potential rotation stalwart. Of course, the A's thought the same thing with Kyler Murray and that didn't quite work out.
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