Headlines

  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft
  • 2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results
  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Amateur Signing Bonuses: Dodgers

By Mike Axisa | October 27, 2010 at 6:47pm CDT

Time to head to Hollywood for our amateur signing bonus series. Here come the Dodgers…

  1. Zach Lee, $5.25MM (2010)
  2. Clayton Kershaw, $2.3MM (2006)
  3. Joel Guzman, $2.255MM (2001)
  4. Ben Diggins, $2.2MM (2000)
  5. Ethan Martin, $1.7325MM (2008)

With the McCourt's divorce still ongoing and the team facing an uncertain financial situation, many assumed that the Dodgers were punting the 28th overall pick in this year's draft by selecting Lee. The talented righthander was considered extremely tough to sign, using a scholarship to LSU as one of the nation's best quarterbacks recruits as leverage. The Dodgers could have claimed to have made Lee a fair offer, then taken the 29th overall pick in the 2011 draft as compensation if they didn't sign him. Except they did sign him, so give them credit. Lee didn't pitch after signing and will start his career next season.

Kershaw was the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft, the first high school player selected in a class dominated by college arms (and Evan Longoria). After just 44 minor league starts (and four relief appearances), Kershaw was pitching in the the big leagues as a 20-year-old. Two-plus seasons into his career, the lefty owns a 3.17 ERA, 9.3 K/9, and 4.2 BB/9, as well as the top spot in Los Angeles' rotation.

The Dodgers signed Guzman out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old and allowed him to steadily climb the minor league ladder. He made his major league debut in June 2006, and his first career start came as a cleanup hitter. Unfortunately Guzman didn't live up to the bonus or hype, hitting .211/.348/.211 in just 23 plate appearances before being sent back down. The Dodgers dealt Guzman to the then-Devil Rays a few weeks later for Julio Lugo. He hasn't appeared in a big league game since 2007, but is still toiling away in the minors.

Diggins, drafted out of the University of Arizona with the 17th overall pick in 2000, made his pro debut in 2001 and had was solid: 3.58 ERA, 6.7 K/9, 4.1 BB/9. He was better the next year (3.20 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9), but the Dodgers traded him and another minor leaguer to Milwaukee for Tyler Houston and a player to be named a week before the 2002 trade deadline. Diggins appeared in five games with the Brewers that season, but was out of baseball a few years later after having Tommy John surgery and subsequent setbacks.

Martin was the team's first round pick in 2008 (15th overall), but he didn't make a good first impression. He suffered a season ending knee injury almost immediately after signing, and didn't debut until 2009. Martin's currently working his way up through the system; in 213.1 career innings, he's posted a 9.5 K/9, 6.0 BB/9 and 6.35 ERA.

We're not counting Japanese veterans in this series even though they have zero MLB experience when signing, but Hiroki Kuroda's $7.3MM bonus would easily top the list. Hideo Nomo received $2MM when he came stateside.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Amateur Signing Bonuses Los Angeles Dodgers

Rangers Rumors: Daniels, Lee, Guerrero
Main
Odds & Ends: Daniels, Takahashi, Byrnes, Lee, Gray
View Comments (1)
Post a Comment

1 Comment

  1. Johnny

    15 years ago

    i miss the sushi they use to sell when he pitched

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Recent

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Adolis Garcia Drawing Trade Interest

    Poll: Who Will Win The 2025 Home Run Derby?

    Royals Place Michael Lorenzen On Injured List

    Yankees Claim Rico Garcia

    Blue Jays, Joe Mantiply Agree To Minor League Deal

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    D-backs Have Listened To Offers On Outfield Depth

    Vinny Nittoli To Opt Out Of Brewers Deal

    The Opener: Home Run Derby, Draft Day 2, Rodriguez

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version