This coming Monday, June 4th, is the 2012 first year player draft.  The Dodgers will be selecting in the following positions during the first ten rounds.

18th (1st round)

51st (as compensation round between 1 and 2, for losing Rod Barajas)

82nd (2nd round)

113th (3rd round)

146th (4th round)

176th (5th round)

206th (6th round)

236th (7th round)

266th (8th round)

296th (9th round)

326th (10th round)

Dodgers assistant GM Logan White will be heavily involved in the first year player draft again this year. White has a pretty good track record at the draft, including selecting some guy named Clayton Kershaw in the first round of the 2006 draft. (Photo by Jon SooHoo)

Draft rules have changed significantly due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed last year that will make this draft a bit different.  Each team has been given a monetary cap to follow when signing their draftees.  Each slot in the first 10 rounds is assigned a non-negotiable bonus value by MLB.  A team that exceeds the slotted bonus amount will be penalized monetarily and possibly lose future draft picks.

This will stop teams from signing prep or college stars with no MLB experience to exceedingly large contracts that in the past have had some disastrous results for some organizations.  The first pick of the draft can receive up to 7.2 million dollars but from there on the numbers decrease based on a  percentage of that top pick’s bonus figure.  By the time the Dodgers pick at # 18, the bonus slotted for that pick is $1,950,000.  Their second pick, the 51st player to be taken is slotted for $984,700.

There is a signing deadline for drafted players that is much earlier than before.  By July 18th, drafted players must be signed.  For the first ten rounds, teams have that fixed accumulated amount of money that they can used to sign their drafted players.  It is called the signing bonus pool.  If, for example, a team wants to spend their entire budget on two or three players, they can do so.  If they exceed their signing bonus pool amount in the first ten rounds, their penalties are as follows:

0-5 % over = 75% tax on overage

5-10% over = 75% tax on overage and loss of 1st round pick in next draft.

10-15% over = 100% tax on overage and loss of 1st and 2nd round picks in next draft.

15%+ over = 100% tax and loss of 1st and 2nd round picks in the next two drafts.

There are other changes that I won’t get into that have to do with compensation picks for small market teams, the elimination of compensation picks for type A and B free agents and more.

The organizations that have an opportunity to make a big splash this draft is Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s who will have 5 selections out of the first 74 picks and the World Champion Cardinals with three selections of the first 36 picks and 5 for the first 60.

I have always found it fruitless to predict who will be chosen by the Dodgers.  There are simply too many players and so many variables when it comes to the draft.  Plus, Logan White always seems to surprise us with selections that come out of nowhere.  Based on his track record of such players as Billingsley, Kemp, Martin, Kershaw, Elbert,  Loney, Gordon, DeJesus, Broxton and others.  He seems to always find a few gems each draft.  I’m sure he’ll find a few players with Major League bloodlines though. He always does.

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With the recent events of the slumping and injury plagued Dodgers.  It’s important to put some things in perspective.  In 2004 and again in 2008, those Western Division Champion Dodger teams each had eight game losing streaks during the season.  The 1974 and 1978 pennant winners each lost 6 straight.  The 1983, 1995 and 2009 Division champs lost five straight.  The 1981 World Championship team also lost five in a row during a difficult stretch in September.

Last years World Series Champion Cardinals lost seven straight at one time and never had a winning streak that exceeded five games.  Heck, even the ’27 Yankees lost four in a row during their historic season.

My point is that winning teams go through bad stretches.  Was it really realistic for us to expect this club to go through all of 2012 without some rough patches?

Injuries have arrived and the offense is hitting into a preponderance of double plays.  The Dodgers faced a Milwaukee club that has started a red hot spell.  The starting pitching is beset by injury and some lackluster performances.  It’s a tough time to go on this difficult road trip.  It’s also a time for these young guys to show the character they have and to step up and win.

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes it’s good for a team to go on the road.  Home complacency takes root and players lose focus.  I’m not saying that this happened, but it is an observation.  Perhaps a long road trip will do them some good.  The shock of losing Kemp on Wednesday night definitely hit this team hard.  It’s time to snap out of this funk and Chris Capuano may be the man to do that tonight in Colorado.