Question: What is a first-round number-one overall draft pick worth for the Dodgers?

Answer: Who knows… they’ve never had one.

As strange as it may sound, since the MLB First-Year Player Draft began in 1965, the Dodgers have had exactly zero number-one overall draft picks – not one. In fact, in its 50 years of existence, the Dodgers have had a top-10 first-round draft selection only 11 times and a top-three selection only once – Darren Dreifort in 1993 as the second overall pick.

To borrow a quote from FoxSports.com’s Dave Cameron – “Winning teams don’t get high draft picks.” While Cameron’s quote might suggest that the Dodgers have had a ‘winning team’ almost every year since 1965, they have only three World Series trophies to show for it since then, with the last one coming over a quarter-century ago.

Now this isn’t to say that the Dodgers haven’t done well in the MLB Draft over the years, they most certainly have – especially under former Dodgers vice president of amateur scouting Logan White who, like everybody else in major league baseball (or so it seems) is now with the San Diego Padres as their pro scouting director. Under White, the Dodgers drafted Clayton Kershaw (7th overall in 2006), Chris Reed (16th overall in 2011), Corey Seager (18th overall in 2012) and most recently Grant Holmes (18th overall in 2014) – among others. And although only Kershaw has made to the big leagues from among this group thus far, Seager will probably be joining him soon – perhaps even this season.

So how, then, does a perennial ‘winning team’ overcome low draft picks every year?

Two words: international and money.

It was widely reported on Wednesday afternoon that the Dodgers have officially entered the sweepstakes for 19-year-old prized Cuban infield prospect Yoan Moncada, who is being called a four-tool player (hitting for average, hitting for power, arm strength and speed) with a very good chance of adding the fifth tool (fielding ability) to his résumé.

Yoan Moncada
(Image courtesy of MLB.com)

Where this whole top draft pick thing comes into play is that many baseball experts and scouts are saying that Moncada, even at this very moment, is the equivalent of a first-round number-one overall draft pick – this in spite of the fact that he is ineligible for the draft due to his international free agency status. And though the Abreus, Cuba native cannot sign with a MLB team until he receives approval from the U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to work in the United States, he will cost his eventual team a signing bonus that is expected to be in the $50 million range plus a 100% penalty tax. In other words, Moncada will end up costing his suitor upwards of $100 million.

Did I mention that he’s 19 years old?

So who says that the Dodgers are in on Moncada? That would be the guy who would actually make the deal happen – Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi.

“Moncada, we’ve scouted extensively, we have the checkbook,” Zaidi told MLB Network Radio’s Jim Bowden on Wednesday. “Young elite talent in baseball is the most valuable asset to have. To the extent that our evaluation of him matches or exceeds where the market goes, we’ll definitely be players for him.”

Regardless of who the 6-0, 210-pound switch-hitting infielder signs with, he will be required to sign a minor league contract – this an MLB requirement for international players under the age of 22. And even if he excels on the minor league level, which he probably will, he is, in all likelihood, at least two years away from being MLB-ready. That being said, Moncada has already been called “a potential franchise player” by Baseball America’s Ben Badler.

Just how good is this kid? In his debut season with Cienfuegos of the Serie Nacional, where he was a teammate of White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and Dodgers shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena, Moncada hit .283/.414/.348 in 172 plate appearances with 13 stolen bases in 18 attempts – as a 17-year-old. Moncada followed that up hitting 273/.365/.406 in 195 plate appearances this past season, having spent most of his time at second base but also seeing action at shortstop and center field.

In all likelihood, the Dodgers (and others) are looking at Moncada more as a third baseman than as a shortstop, second baseman or outfielder. And with Dodgers third baseman Juan Uribe signed through the 2015 season and the possibility that the Dodgers might bring him back in 2016 (if he’s willing to accept a one-year deal, that is), the timing of this Moncada thing could work out well. Should all of the planets line up just right, the left side of the Dodgers infield could potentially see a 23-year-old Corey Seager at short and a 21-year-old Yoan Moncada at third on opening day 2017.

Wouldn’t that be something?