Garrett Gould, drafted 65th overall in June's draft, has signed with the Dodgers.  Gould, considered by many a first-round talent, had committed to Wichita State University but signed with the Dodgers before Monday night's deadline to sign draft picks.

The signing of Gould, first reported by Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts earlier today, indicates a shift from years past, as the Dodgers failed to sign high-talent, lower-picks Alex White in 2006 (5th 14th round pick who went to college instead and was drafted #15 overall in the 2009 draft) and Kyle Blair in 2007.

The Dodgers have now signed each of their first 11 picks from the first ten rounds of the 2009 draft.

UPDATE (7:49pm):  Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has reported that Gould's signing bonus was $900,000 (the same amount as the last player drafted in the first round)

UPDATE (10pm):  Jim Callis of Baseball America reported that Gould's bonus of $900,000 was $337,500 more than the MLB recommended bonus for his draft slot.

Earlier on True Blue LA:  Dodgers Draft - Day One Recap, Garrett Gould Update

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Moose Skowron and Tommy Lasorda were at the MLB Draft in June, when the Dodgers selected pitcher Garrett Gould with their second round pick. #65 overall.

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Dodgers' second round pick -- #65 overall -- Garrett Gould is still negotiating with the Dodgers, and is apparently leaning toward signing, according to a pair of articles in The Wichita Eagle.

Gould, a high-school pitcher out of Maize High School in  Kansas, will go to Wichita State if he doesn't sign with the Dodgers by August 17.  Paul Suellentrop wrote an article about the NCAA scholarship limits and how it affected Wichita State, and he wrote this:

One of those recruits, Maize pitcher Garrett Gould, is expected to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers and bypass college.

In another Wichita Eagle article, Suellentrop and Joanna Chadwick wrote extensively about Gould and his negotiations with the Dodgers:

At the time of the draft, Gould said the Dodgers told him they'd get everything figured out in the next few weeks.

"They said that three or four times now," Gould said. "I'm ready to get it over with. It's like my choosing of a college — I'm ready to know where I'm going to be at next year and what I'll do in the future. I'm ready to see what will happen."

While it is noted that the highest bonus thus far for a second-round draft pick this year has been $705,500, per Baseball America, Gould might be expected to fetch more from the Dodgers:

Should Gould and his adviser consider his talents worthy of first-round money, the bonus range jumps to around $1 million. The final two first-round picks, both college players, signed for $972,000 and $900,000. The 28th pick of the first round, a high school outfielder, signed for $1.1 million.

The deadline for draft picks to sign a contract is Monday, August 17, which is three days before the date classes start at Wichita State University.

Christian Walker, via Power Showcase

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Here's a quick look at some of the second and third-day selections by the Dodgers from the 2009 draft that might take a significant bonus for them to skip college:

25th round - Richard Shaffer, 3B

Here is a rundown of Shaffer from Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com:

Shaffer was creating a lot of early buzz as a high school third baseman with some serious bat speed and power, both now and in the future. Even if he outgrew third and had to move to first, Shaffer had the kind of bat that would play in either spot. But then he got hurt -- a hamate bone injury in his left hand -- forcing him out of action, in a way. He ended up pitching, and up to 93 mph, while letting the hand heal. When he returned to hitting, he didn't have any power to speak of. That's fairly common for people returning from that injury and there are probably still some teams who'd consider taking him based on his past rather than his present.

Shaffer is slated to attend Clemson University.

27th round - Brian (Christopher) Johnson, LHP

Johnson, a two-way player at Cocoa Beach high school in Florida, was named the Brevard County Player of the Year.

Mike Cherry of Florida Today tells us Johnson will not sign with the Dodgers, but will rather become a Florida Gator:

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Johnson said he will not likely be swayed by any proposal from the Dodgers and is expected to leave June 23 for Gainesville. He will soon after begin summer classes there. By going to a four-year college, Johnson cannot again be drafted until after his third year there.

46th round - Stephen Piscotty, SS

Piscotty was a two-way player at Stanford Amador Valley High School in Northern California, and was MVP of his league this season.

He has committed to go to Stanford.  Here is the MLB scouting video of Piscotty.

49th round - Christian Walker, 3B

Walker is a power-hitting third baseman from Norristown, PA, the same hometown as Tommy Lasorda and Mike Piazza.  Leading into the draft, Walker thought he would be picked much higher:

"I’m predicted to go somewhere between the second and the fifth round. I don’t want to get my expectations up."

Walker, who has committed to attend the University of South Carolina, won a home run-hitting contest that featured wunderkind and Sports Illustrated cover boy Bryce Harper earlier this year.

I can't really do better then the recap provided by David Ely of MLB on day two. I'm not being lazy but I've got nothing to add to his simple recaps of these late draft picks, and an excellent write up on the Big 12 player of the year that we nabbed in the middle of the draft.

Thanks to Mark Rogoff of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the table below.

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Aaron Miller, via Baylor

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Here are some notes on the Dodgers' first four picks of the 2009 draft:

36) Aaron Miller, LHP (Baylor)

Rated as the 8th-best left-handed pitcher in the draft by Baseball America, Miller was a two-way player at Baylor.  Said Dodger Assistant General Manager of Scouting Logan White:

Aaron is a physical athlete who has had a limited amount of time on the mound.  With the help of our player development staff, we see a bright future for him as a left-handed pitcher in the Erik Bedard mold.  He is a terrific competitor and a first-class person with great makeup.

Keith Law of ESPN wasn't as high on the pick:

He doesn't have great physical projection and may not have the velocity to work as a starter in pro ball. But as a two-pitch reliever with a good breaking ball, he's a good third-round value.

Ken Gurnick noted Miller is a FOK (Friend of Kershaw):

Miller, a friend of Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw from their Texas high-school days, worked out for the club at Dodger Stadium on Monday to seal the deal and indicated he will be a quick sign because he wants to "get innings under my belt."

56) Blake Smith, OF (Cal)

Another two-way player, the Dodgers tabbed Smith as an outfielder.  From Jonathan Okanes of InsideBayArea.com:

Smith was considered a prospect both as a pitcher and outfielder. When it was announced the Dodgers had selected him, he was labeled as a pitcher on the broadcast by the MLB Network. Smith said he received a phone call from the team's area scout a few minutes later informing him they wanted him as an outfielder.

"This is higher than I thought I would go as a hitter," Smith said. "I was not expecting it at all. You never know what's going to happen. If it doesn't work out for me hitting, at least I have the possibility of getting back on the mound. I have a backup plan, which a lot of people can't really say."

65) Garrett Gould, RHP (Maize HS, Kansas)

Gould was considered a first-round talent, but slipped in part because he has committed to play next season for Wichita State.  Law noted Gould has a good fastball with a downhill plane and a power curve, although he also has some delivery issues.  Gould told Bryan Holmgren of KWCH-TV in Kansas:

"It's always been my dream growing up. I think it's every kid who's played baseball's dream to play in the Major Leagues." he said. "Now that it's here it's definitely exciting to finally get to see all of my hard work pay off."

It has been rumored that Gould is seeking $1.1 million bonus to sign with the Dodgers, even though Gould has said those reports were inaccurate.  Whatever the figure is, the Dodgers have avoided such a bonus in the last few years, with Alex White in 2006 and Kyle Blair in 2007, so a Gould signing could indicate a philosophical shift in the organization.

96) Brett Wallach, RHP (Orange Coast College)

Wallach, the son of former Dodger third baseman and current Albuquerque manager Tim Wallach, was analyzed thusly by Tot Holmes of Scout.com:

Brett possesses a near-perfect frame for a pitcher; at 6-foot-3 he's lanky and very projectable. His fastball ranges from 88-89 mph, and his solid body promises more velocity in the future.

Wallach features a slurve with a late break. His changeup is his best pitch, showing remarkable drop while thrown with the same arm speed as his fastball.

He has a smooth delivery and most scouts feel he is a complete package. He combines a big league lineage, projectable frame, smooth delivery, and an excellent feel for three pitches.

The MLB draft resumes Wednesday at 8:30am, with round four.  Click here to listen.

The Major League Draft kicks off today at 03:00 PCT but the Dodgers won't be involved for quite a while as they gave up their number one pick to sign Orlando Hudson and didn't get one back when the Braves signed D Lowe. The first few picks of the Dodgers will go like this thanks to SilverWidow:

#36 Supplemental 1st round pick (for Derek Lowe)
#56 Braves' 2nd round pick (for Lowe)
#65 Dodgers' 2nd round pick
#96 Dodgers' 3rd round pick

Here are some excellent links to whet your appetite for the draft.

Baseball Analysts are covering every aspect of the draft, not just the Dodgers.

Andy Seiler did a fan post on SB Nations Minor League Baseball which  has a review of the Logan White drafts, this is a great read from a different perspective. I wish he went into more detail on all the picks but this is a great read and one I recommend for anyone interested in how Logan White handles his drafts.

Brendan found this review of prior Dodger drafts by Fangraphs

To really make you appreciate how much Logan White means to the organization I did a review of the 1999 - 2001 draft pre - Logan White back in Sept of 2007.

Also back in Sept of 2007 and it needs to be updated I did a review of the 2002/2003 drafts

The current Dodger roster has the following players drafted by Logan White

1st James Loney - 1st round, 2002, 19th pick, High School

2nd Blake DeWitt - 1st round, 2004, 28th pick, High School

C    Russell Martin - 17th round, 2002, 511th pick, Chipola College

CF  Matt Kemp       -  6th round, 2003, 181st pick, High School

SP Chad Billingsley - 1st round, 2003, 24th pick, High School

SP Clayton Kershaw - 1st round, 2006, 7th Pick, High School

SP Eric Stults        - 15th round, 2002, 451st pick, Bethel College

SP James McDonald - 11th round, 2002, 311rd pick, Golden West College

RP - Jonathan Broxton - 2nd round, 2002, 60th pick, High School

RP - Corey Wade -  10th round, 2004, 298th pick, Kentucky Wesleyan College

RP - Brent Leach -  6th round, 2005, 196th pick,  University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State

Complete Dodger Draft provided by Baseball Reference from 2002 - 2008

2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002

With the signing of Manny Ramirez, we now have a near-complete idea of the compensatory picks in the 2009 MLB Draft.  Details of the first two rounds are after the jump.  Here is a summary:

Two rounds plus the supplemental round yields a total of 82 picks.  Here's a look at the picks of the NL West:

Arizona especially looks like it has a chance to restock it's farm system, with a robust seven of the first 66 draft picks.  The last time a team had seven picks so soon in the draft, a book was written about it!  Both Arizona and Colorado pick three times each before the Dodgers have their first pick, at #36.

Why do these early picks matter?  Let's take a look at the 40-man rosters of the NL West and see how many were drafted in the first two rounds of the draft (not necessarily by the current club):

That's 54 of a possible 200 roster spots (27%) filled with players drafted in the first two rounds of the MLB draft.  These picks are indeed important.  It should be interesting on June 9.

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