Dodgers News: Kyle Funkhouser Announces Return To Louisville
Heading into Friday the Los Angeles Dodgers had some work to do as Walker Buehler, Kyle Funkhouser and Edwin Rios, among others, remained unsigned 2015 draft selections. On top of looking to sign the trio of drafted players, the Dodgers also need to work a balancing act of sorts so as not to surpass their bonus pool cap by more than five percent.
If the Dodgers are to pass the threshold, they would incur a 75 percent tax on the overage and lose their first two picks in the 2016 Draft. One player who won’t be cutting into their remaining spending money is Funkhouser, the No. 35 overall pick in the 2015 draft as he announced his to return to Louisville for a senior season:
Wanted to be the first to announce tht I will not be signing, and will return to the University of Louisville for my senior season #L1C4 #??
— Kyle Funkhouser (@k_funk16) July 17, 2015
Although Funkhouser spurned the Dodgers, he thanked them and wished the organization well:
Can't forget to thank the Dodger organization for selecting me in this year's draft. Wishing them the best of luck moving forward
— Kyle Funkhouser (@k_funk16) July 17, 2015
The official deadline to sign draftees is 2 p.m. PT Friday and assuming Funkhouser holds true to announcement, the Dodgers will receive the 36th overall pick in the 2016 Draft as compensation for losing the right-hander.
Funkhouser projected as a higher pick than where the Dodgers were able to nab him, which coupled with being a Scott Boras client, may have factored heavily into his returning to Louisville for another year. As a junior Funkhouser went 8-5 with a 3.20 ERA, 104 strikeouts and 45 walks in 112.1 innings over 17 starts.
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Someone in the scouting department needs to lose their job. An awful job scouting, they should know if a player wants to be a Dodgers, or not. And roughly how much it will take to sign the player. So boo to u Mr. Scout for doing a piss poor job, and embarrassing us like we’re the Astros.
You’re way overreacting. Dodgers get next year’s 36th pick as compensation so we don’t just lose out completely, and I also read that most people expected Funk to go back to school and get drafted higher next year.
His agent is Scott Boras and the Dodgers don’t have the best relationship with him even though most of the bad feelings were with Ned Colletti.