Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Even with the pending lockout, the Dodgers (and all teams) will have to make their Rule 5 Draft protections via selection to the 40-man roster, and that’s true even if there is no Rule 5 Draft in 2026.
What?
Yeah, the draft is scheduled during the Winter Meetings, which are held after the assumed lockout date, and last time there was a similar situation they just cancelled the thing altogether. It’s also something that could potentially get an overhaul in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement anyway, whenever they agree on that. Still, teams will likely protect players from said draft as if it is happening, and the deadline for that is November 18.
Here’s a quick refresher as to how the Rule 5 eligiblity and protections work:
“Players who were signed when they were 19 or older and have played in professional baseball for four years are eligible, as are players who were signed at 18 and have played for five years. All players on a Major League Baseball team’s 40-man roster, regardless of other eligibility factors, are ‘protected’ and ineligible for the Rule 5 Draft.”
For the purposes of this year, that means college players selected in the 2023 MLB Draft and high school players drafted/international amateur free agents signed in 2022 are eligible for the Rule 5. Also, everyone else previously eligible for the Rule 5 Draft who is still in the organization and not on the 40-man roster are eligible.
Now let’s look at some candidates from the Dodgers who need to be protected.
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Position Players
- IF/OF Jake Gelof
- IF Mairo Martinus
- IF Noah Miller
- IF Sam Mongelli
- OF Samuel Munoz
- IF Nico Perez
- 3B Logan Wagner
Pitchers
- RHP Patrick Copen
- LHP Jackson Ferris
- LHP Luke Fox
- RHP Tyler Gough
- RHP Hyun-Seok Jang
- RHP Payton Martin
- LHP Adam Serwinowski
- RHP Christian Zazueta
There are some interesting names from this year’s pool of players, but let’s start with two ironclad locks to be added to the 40-man roster: Ferris and Zazueta.
Ferris, acquired with Zyhir Hope in the Michael Busch trade, finished the season on an absolute heater. In his final seven starts, he posted a 2.08 ERA and struck out 31.4% of the batters he faced — and that includes an abbreviated 3-ining start in his final outing of the season that saw him allow six runs and strike out only one. He has a lively left-handed arm, can start and is going to be 23 years old. He’s an easy protect.
Zazueta might be even easier. Acquired from the Yankees in the Caleb Ferguson trade, the 22-year-old had a 3.65 ERA and a 30.4 K-BB% between High-A and Double-A. He walked just 20 batters in 103 2/3 innings en route to being named the Dodgers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
After that, the protections get a little trickier. The Dodgers currently have 37 players on the 40-man roster after you remove the free agents and assume everyone who is arbitration-eligible gets tendered a deal. The Dodgers can protect players and trade them, trade tendered players or either outright, designate for assignment, trade or release other players currently on the 40-man roster, should they want to protect more than three players.
The top candidates to be protected out of the remaining players are Jake Gelof and Adam Serwinowski.
Gelof, 24 and the brother of Zack Gelof, was the Dodgers’ 2nd-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Virginia. He played the entire 2026 with Double-A Tulsa and posted a .271/.385/.565 batting line with 34 home runs and 23 doubles while playing first, second and third base. Even with the juiced ball in Double-A and below, Gelof would be a worthwhile protect because of his right-handed pop and infield versatility. Also, Josh noted Gelof’s improved Z-Contact% from earlier in the season to later in the season.
That’s a marked improvement in-season.
Serwinowski, acquired in the first Hunter Feduccia trade, had an up-and-down 2026 season. He had one really good month, two solid months and three forgettable months. Still, the 22-year-old southpaw checked in at No. 11 on Bruce’s Midseason Top 50 prospects list, so the arm talent is still there. He’s refining his repertoire to be more successful against righties, but he’ll ultimately need to get better at throwing strikes, consistently, to have an MLB future. Also, the Dodgers protected Ronan Kopp last year, and Serwinowski is a better prospect than he is.
As for the rest of the lot, they all have their pros and cons. Copen (32nd on Midseason Top 50), Fox (21), Miller (35) and Perez (40) all have interesting cases, but the roster crunch is real. I could see a guy like Fox or Miller getting popped if there’s a Rule 5 Draft, but they might be safe for another year if there isn’t one.
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So there are two surefire locks to be protected, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Dodgers shield four players. They could make room for the fourth with a fringe 40-man roster move, or a more significant move before Nov. 18. Either way, there are a lot of solid options for this year’s Rule 5 protections.
One additional note: There was no Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft in 2021 due to the labor dispute, but the Minor League portion was still held. I’d assume the same would be true this year.
