Daily Distractions: Predicting the Dodgers’ plan at the draft table.

Corey Seager

Infielder Corey Seager (left, with Matt Kemp) was the Dodgers’ first-round draft pick last year. (Associated Press photo)

Aaaaand, stop. Put down your pencils.

Time to turn in your mock drafts. The real First-Year Player Draft begins with the first round sometime after 4 p.m. this afternoon and picks up tomorrow with the second round. The Dodgers hold the 18th pick.

SportsIllustrated.com broke down what each draft pick has yielded from 1990 to 2010. The 18th pick has yielded, um, not a lot:

… (R.A.) Dickey’s prominence is just further proof that this has been the worst pick among the top 25 over the last two decades. Beyond Dickey, the only No. 18 picks in the majors are Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma (2007) and Mets first baseman Ike Davis (2008). Aside from Dickey and Davis, no other No. 18 pick from 1990 to 2010 has produced as much as two wins above replacement. The only No. 18 pick with a career bWAR greater than Dickey’s is Willie Wilson (CF, Royals, 1974)

The Dodgers have drafted pitchers with their first pick in seven of the last 11 years. Corey Seager, a shortstop-expected-to-be-turned-third-baseman was an exception in 2012. MLB.com thinks the Dodgers will buck the trend again and draft juco shortstop Tim Anderson. ESPN, SBNation.com and BaseballAmerica.com believe the trend will continue with (respectively) University of Arkansas right-hander Ryne Stanek, prep left-hander Rob Kaminsky or right-hander Hunter Harvey.

Click on those links and there seems to be a consensus of, say, five or six names that will be available to the Dodgers at 18. Remember, unlike most drafts there are no trades in baseball, so the Dodgers have no choice but to make the accursed pick. I’m told that whoever he is might be speaking to the media tonight or tomorrow.

Some bullet points for a Thursday morning:


• The best name in the 2013 Draft is the first listed alphabetically in the media guide: Willie Abreu. Could Willie Abreu be anything other than a baseball player?

• Trivia question: The first number-one pick in baseball history will be at Dodger Stadium tonight. Who is he?

• Who will go first this year? No one knows for sure.

• Yasiel Puig went 0 for 4 last night. If you’re looking to reminisce on better times, take a trip down memory lane to Puig’s arrival in California last August.

• Didn’t have time to run quotes after the game, but if I did, I would have quoted Clayton Kershaw saying he doesn’t “give a toot” about his individual record. (It’s 5-4 now.)

Grantland.com’s Jay Caspian Kang has an interesting take on Puig’s debut.

• In a clash of the Titans and Bruins, there’s an NCAA Super Regional between UCLA and Cal State Fullerton this weekend.

• The Mets need outfielders. If Andre Ethier needs a new home, he “could be a solid gamble,” writes Matthew Cerrone.

• Fenway Park is hosting its first-ever Pride Night tonight and Jason Collins is throwing out the first pitch.

• Trivia answer: Dodgers broadcaster Rick Monday was drafted first overall by the Oakland A’s in 1965.

• The highlight of every Dodgers loss since I’ve been covering the team was the ending, when “Mystic Brew” by Ronnie Foster blared over the PA. I’m not sure what song I heard last night, but it wasn’t this:

For fans of A Tribe Called Quest, you might recognize it as the sample used in “Electric Relaxation”:

This entry was posted in JP on the Dodgers and tagged , , , , , , by J.P. Hoornstra. Bookmark the permalink.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.