The Dodgers’ offseason chatter may end up centered on Tarik Skubal, but their first major roster call is already looming. By November 18, Los Angeles has to sort through its minor league crop and decide who gets added to the 40-man roster to stay out of the Rule 5 Draft.
That deadline matters because eligible players who aren’t protected can be plucked away in December. The catch is that any team that selects one has to carry him on its big-league roster all season or send him back.
The price tag is $100,000. Players who signed at 18 or younger reach eligibility after five pro seasons; college signees get there after four.
There’s also a wrinkle this year. The collective bargaining agreement expires December 1, and if a lockout follows, anyone added to the 40-man won’t be able to work out with the organization or use team facilities until it ends.
Players left off the roster would still be able to train and report to minor league camp normally. The Rule 5 Draft itself could even disappear, as it did for the major league phase during the 2021 lockout.
That uncertainty could make the Dodgers’ decisions a little trickier, though the organization appears likely to favor pitching depth.
And there are a few arms that look like obvious candidates to be protected.
Christian Zazueta is the clearest one. Acquired from the Yankees in the Caleb Ferguson trade, he has climbed into the role of the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect.
He spent the year starting at High-A and Double-A, putting up a 3.65 ERA with 144 strikeouts in 103⅔ innings. That kind of production makes him look like a near-lock for the roster, and he could be in line for a big league look down the road in 2027.
Jackson Ferris is another left-hander the Dodgers are likely to keep. He came to the organization with Zyhir Hope in the Michael Busch deal and had an uneven Triple-A season, finishing with a 5.12 ERA in 109 innings as a starter.
But the late-season trend line was better: his velocity ticked up, he led the Pacific Coast League with 119 strikeouts, and he closed with five straight starts allowing one run or fewer. That profile is exactly the kind of upside Los Angeles usually prefers to hold onto.
Adam Serwinowski also has a strong case. The lefty came over in the first Hunter Feduccia trade and threw 25 starts for Double-A Tulsa, leading the staff in innings while also topping the Texas League with 146 strikeouts. With Alex Vesia, Kris Bubic, and Eric Lauer all heading for free agency, and Serwinowski’s fastball grading as one of the best in the system, he’s tough to expose.
Hyun-Seok Jang is another name to watch. The Dodgers signed him out of a Korean high school in 2023 for a $900,000 bonus, and he’s already at 230 strikeouts across 158⅔ career innings at age 22.
His 2026 line at High-A wasn’t clean - a 5.42 ERA over 81⅓ innings in 20 outings, 18 of them starts - but the raw ingredients are hard to ignore. He brings an upper-90s fastball and a deep mix of breaking balls, and another club could certainly take a shot on that upside.
Copen presents a different kind of decision. He lost vision in his right eye after a line drive to the face in 2024 and is still getting on the mound.
His 5.90 ERA over 116 innings in 23 starts at Tulsa won’t draw much attention on its own, but the stuff is eye-catching: Baseball America’s Stuff+ model ranked his curveball third-best in the minors and his cutter among the top five. He may not be protected, but another team could see a reliever with real late-inning potential.
Beyond that group, glove-first shortstop Noah Miller, Double-A slugger Jake Gelof, lefty Luke Fox and righty Tyler Gough are all in the mix to be protected or exposed depending on how the Dodgers and rival evaluators view them. Los Angeles is sitting at roughly 37 players on the 40-man roster, so there’s some breathing room for three or four of those names unless Andrew Friedman makes additional moves before the 18th. If one of them gets added in November, this is why.
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The Brewers finished the job by beating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games to capture the first World Series title in franchise history, with William Contreras taking home World Series MVP honors. For the Dodgers, it is a familiar and frustrating reminder that their exit was not just a shortfall, but the last stop before a team that barely blinked on its way to the title. [Read more 🡒]