Dodgers Take Heat for Sacrificing Draft Position in Pursuit of Stars
The MLB Draft always comes with surprises, but this year, the absence of the Los Angeles Dodgers from the first round stole a lot of attention—and not in a good way. While other teams were scrambling to grab top amateur talent, the Dodgers sat out the initial frenzy, a consequence of pushing their payroll past Major League Baseball’s luxury tax threshold. That financial decision didn’t just cost them money—it cost them their first-round pick, dropping it down to No. 40 overall.
For a franchise as prominent and successful as the Dodgers, that’s a rare look. Normally, they’re at the center of everything—scouting, analytics, development, and, of course, contention. But Jim Bowden of The Athletic named them, along with the Yankees and Mets, among the biggest losers of the first day of the 2025 MLB Draft. The reason? All three clubs blew past the competitive balance tax last season, which pushed their picks back ten slots. The Dodgers, who were expected to pick in the Top 30, didn’t appear until pick No. 40.
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So, why would a team willingly put themselves in that position? The answer lies in their all-in strategy to build a superteam around Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. They added big-ticket free agents like Blake Snell and Teoscar Hernández in the offseason, knowing full well the cost would extend beyond the checkbook. For them, missing out on a potentially mid-level first-round talent was worth the gamble. It’s a classic “win-now” mindset that doesn’t align with long-term draft capital, especially in a year many scouts considered thin in elite talent.
Still, the optics of it are tough to defend. The Dodgers’ first-round pick, Zach Root, a lefty from Arkansas, is talented—but not considered elite. They followed up by selecting his college teammate, Charles Davalan, immediately after. While these could turn into productive big-leaguers down the road, they’re not the game-changers that fans expect from top-30 selections.
Bowden’s criticism isn’t so much about Root or Davalan, but rather the front office's prioritization of payroll over drafting. He essentially argues that restraint—fiscal and strategic—might’ve positioned the Dodgers better for the future. That’s a tough pill to swallow for fans who remember just how important player development has been to the franchise’s decade-long dominance.
But let’s not forget: this is a team fresh off a World Series win in 2024. They’re not in a rebuild; they’re chasing another ring. When the window is open—and your stars are still in their prime—you do whatever it takes to capitalize. That’s the Dodgers' gamble: trust that proven veterans today are worth more than unproven picks tomorrow. Whether that bet pays off again in October remains to be seen.
In the end, the story of the 2025 MLB Draft isn't just about who got picked—it's about who didn’t. And for the Dodgers, that absence at the top of the board said more about their present priorities than any press conference ever could.
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