Dodgers prospects to watch in the Rule 5 Draft

Nov 29, 2022 - 6:48 PM

Oct 22, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; <a href= — Oct 22, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Jose Ramos plays for the Glendale Desert Dogs during an Arizona Fall League baseball game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Rule 5 Draft is next Wednesday at the winter meetings in San Diego, the first time the major league portion of the event will be held since 2020. Let’s look at some Dodgers prospects who might be selected next week.

Teams selecting a player in the Rule 5 Draft must have the requisite space on the 40-man roster, and will pay $100,000 to the player’s former team for the right to do so. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that player is gone for good. Players selected in the Rule 5 Draft must immediately be placed on the 40-man roster, can’t be optioned to the minors during 2023, and need to spend at least 90 days on the active roster in order to be kept going forward.

There’s risk in carrying a minor leaguer on the active major league roster for an entire season, especially in some cases a player who has yet to play above High-A. The Dodgers last year added both Eddys Leonard and Jorbit Vivas to the 40-man roster in November to keep them from Rule 5 eligibility even though both only had limited time at Great Lakes. They spent their entire age-21 season in High-A, having used an option year. The game theory involved in the decision to add them to the roster proved moot after the fact, when the major league portion of the 2021 Rule 5 Draft was canceled due to the MLB lockout.

This year, the Dodgers had similar decisions to make in adding prospects. They added a quartet of hitters to the 40-man roster on November 15 — catcher Diego Cartaya, the club’s top prospect, infielder Michael Busch, and outfielders Andy Pages and Jonny DeLuca.

A handful of prospects were not added, many of whom have major league upside, but if drafted, come with the risk of needing to carry them on the active roster all season just to keep them. Should a player get taken in the Rule 5 Draft and is later returned, the Dodgers would owe $50,000 (half the drafting price) to get them back. The most recent examples of Dodgers drafted in the Rule 5 but then returned are outfielder Connor Joe and infielder Drew Jackson, who were selected in 2018 but returned to Los Angeles in April 2019.

Players eligible for this year’s Rule 5 Draft include those signed at 18 or younger in 2018 and those signed at 19 or older in 2019. Here are a look at some of the Dodgers prospects who might be taken in this year’s Rule 5 Draft.

Jose Ramos

Outfielder
Highest level: High-A
2023 age: 22

Ramos hit .249/.339/.479 with 25 home runs, 22 doubles, six triples, and a 117 wRC+ this season between Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes while splitting time between right field and center field. Ramos, who turns 22 on New Year’s Day, homered in the Arizona Fall League title game on November 12. The Dodgers signed Ramos out of Panama in 2018.

Ryan Noda

First baseman & outfielder
Highest level: Triple-A
2023 age: 27

Noda was one of two players to be named later acquired from Toronto for Ross Stripling at the trade deadline in 2020. He hit .259/.395/.474 with a 120 wRC+, 25 home runs, 23 doubles, and 20 stolen bases this year for Triple-A Oklahoma City. With a 16-percent walk rate, Noda’s 92 walks were second-most in the Dodgers minors in 2022.

Ryan Ward

Outfielder
Highest level: Double-A
2023 age: 25

Ward led Double-A Tulsa with 28 home runs this season, hitting .255/.319/.486 with a 100 wRC+, and has 55 home runs over the last two seasons while playing mostly left field, with some right field and first base mixed in. He was drafted by the Dodgers out of Bryant in the eighth round in 2019.

Carlos Duran

Right-handed pitcher
Highest level: High-A
2023 age: 21

Duran had a 4.25 ERA in 14 games for High-A Great Lakes, including 13 starts in 2022, with 68 strikeouts and 24 walks in 48⅔ innings. The 6’7 right-hander had a 32.2-percent strikeout rate. The Dodgers signed Duran out of the Dominican Republic in 2018.

Drew Avans

Outfielder
Highest level: Triple-A
2023 age: 27

Avans hit .282/.379/.426, a 106 wRC+ with 17 doubles, a Pacific Coast League-leading 12 triples, and seven home runs for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and finished fourth in the PCL with 40 stolen bases, in 47 attempts. The center fielder reached base in 50 straight games before crashing into the center field wall on August 16. Avans was drafted by the Dodgers in the 33rd round in 2018 out of Southeastern Louisiana.

Nick Robertson

Right-handed pitcher
Highest level: Triple-A
2023 age: 24

Robertson had a 4.43 ERA in 67 games across two levels in 2022, pitching 44 games for Double-A Tulsa and nine more for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The 24-year-old right-hander struck out 97 batters (at a 29.3-percent rate) and walked 30. The Dodgers drafted Robertson in the seventh round in 2019 out of James Madison.

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