Per the transaction wire, the Los Angeles Dodgers have added 2020 draftee Jake Vogel to their 60-man player pool.
The Dodgers selected Vogel, a high school outfielder out of Huntington Beach, in the third round. He was committed to going to school locally at UCLA, but the Dodgers were able to get Vogel to forgo his college commitment by giving him a $1,622,500 signing bonus, which was well above the slot value.
Vogel is one of the fastest players in the draft and still has tons of developing to do, which could make for a future star in the Dodgers organization. L.A. has had success drafting high schoolers in the early rounds in recent years, with Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and Gavin Lux just a few examples.
Just because Vogel was added to the player pool does not mean he will be making an appearance at the big league level in 2020. What it does allow is for him to get instruction from some of the coaches in the organization at the team’s alternate training site at USC while also getting to face some of the Dodgers’ other prospects in intrasquad games.
The Dodgers have made a handful of adjustments to their player pool throughout the course of the season. Most-recently, infield prospect Jacob Amaya was added, as was Kendall Williams, who was acquired in the Ross Stripling trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Miller impressing at alternate site
The Dodgers’ first-round pick in 2020, right-handed pitcher Bobby Miller, is also in the player pool and has been garnering some rave reviews. Lux was asked who has impressed him most in intrasquad games, and Miller was one of the players he named.
“Bobby Miller came in and was like 95, 98 (mph), with a hard slider, good breaking ball, good changeup. Pretty much all the new draft guys — all the pitchers — were all 95, 96, with pretty good breaking balls,” Lux said.
“Shout out to our scouting staff, because those guys were pretty impressive. Especially coming right out of the draft.”
Under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers have historically drafted and developed players extremely well, and it seems that Miller and Vogel will be in that next wave of young talent.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events and more!
