On December 10th, the Rule 5 Draft will be held. The simplest way to explain the Rule 5 draft is that it’s a way for teams to add players who are buried on other teams’ rosters, providing them with a more straightforward path to the major leagues. It originated in 1903, when baseball was “organized,” though a previous version dated back to the 1890s. At the time, every team in the majors or minors was its own entity. There was a concern that players would be limited in their ability to move up to higher leagues because minor league teams would hoard their best players.
Rule 5 draft eligibility is determined by a player’s age when they signed and how many seasons they have played. Players signed at age 18 or younger must be on a team’s 40-man roster within five seasons, while those signed at age 19 or older must be on the roster within four seasons. The Dodgers added Ronan Kopp and Ryan Ward to the 40-Man Roster in order not to lose them, butJose Rodriguez, a 24-year-old RHP, will likely get taken. He’s a late bloomer but could stick with an MLB team in 2026. Peter Hueback, Maddux Bruns, and Noah Miller could also get drafted… but it’s not likely.
The Dodgers are unlikely to take a player in the draft… although you never know.
Top Lineups by Position Player WAR (2025 Season)
Rank Team Position Player WAR
1 New York Yankees 26.7
2 New York Mets 25.3
3 Chicago Cubs 23.4
4 Tampa Bay Rays 23.1
5 Los Angeles Dodgers 22.4
Wins Above Replacement (WAR) measures a player’s overall value by calculating how many more wins they are worth than a replacement-level player.
2nd base and left field production hurt the Dodger’s overall WAR.
None of the top 4 made it to the Championship series. Toronto, who made it to the WS, didn’t make the top 5. Two of the top 4 didn’t make the playoffs. It would be interesting to see how these rankings change if you include both pitchers and position players.
The top 10 MLB teams by total team Wins Above Replacement (WAR), including all position players and all pitchers, for the 2025 season were:
Rank Team Total Team WAR (fWAR)
1 Philadelphia Phillies 59.3
2 Milwaukee Brewers 57.7
3 New York Yankees 57.4
4 Chicago Cubs 56.3
5 Boston Red Sox 55.2
6 Toronto Blue Jays 53.5
7 Los Angeles Dodgers 48.6
8 San Diego Padres 47.1
9 New York Mets 46.8
10 Houston Astros 45.4
Thank you AVF.
It’s interesting to see:
A. 4 of the top 10 didn’t make the playoffs.
B. 1 of the top 5 made it to the LCS.
C. Both WS teams were not in the top 5.
Dodgers were 7th. However, their starting pitchers for the last month of the season plus post season were different than the bulk of season. Not sure about Toronto, but in the Dodgers case, it highlights how the team prioritized get ready for the playoffs rather than the regular season.
My pleasure!
Great Stark column on the declining number of doubles and triples and how MLB can address the problem:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6856840/2025/12/03/mlb-vanishing-doubles-triples-rule-change/
“The reason why that’s a problem in the big picture,” Epstein said, “is that fans tell us they love doubles, they love triples and the action that those plays create. And they love great defensive plays.
“The Rockies are set to hire Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes away as their new general manager, per Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Though he’ll have the GM title, Byrnes will be second in command in the new-look Rox front office that’s headed up by recently hired president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta.
Byrnes was one of Andrew Friedman’s first hires after being named president of baseball operations in Los Angeles. He’s spent 11 years as one of Friedman’s top lieutenants, supervising both the scouting and player development departments for the Dodgers. Byrnes’ résumé is an impressive one. He’s spent more than a decade as a key figure in the front office for a Dodgers club that has won three World Series titles in that span. Prior to that, he headed up a pair of other front offices in the NL West and also served as an assistant GM with the 2003-04 Red Sox during their curse-breaking World Series victory”.
Good for the Dodgers, good for the Rockies, good for Byrnes!
That is a smart move by DePodesta.
Say what you want about “Peter Brand” but no one can deny him being one of the key analytical minds that helped revolutionize the way the sport utilizes analytics.
Mark,
Silly question, in which is irrelevant but curious to me.
Why are a lot of young players coming up taking such big uniform numbers? Is a fad?
Reach deep into your vast knowledge and presence and quell this mystery.
Thanks,
John
Simple math.
Retired numbers and existing low numbers.
Can’t buy that. Just in the top 0-30, the Dodgers have 3,8, 9, 10,12, 15, 20, 21, 23, 26, 28, 29 available
Number 12 is taken by Ward.
i saw a college basketball player last night from florida wearing #77. thought it was kinda weird. Maybe the number they want is either taken or retired.
“The Dodgers have opted to receive their 2025 World Series rings July 2nd during their homestead against the Padres, per multiple reports.”
“They still haven’t won a championship so we wanted to give them a taste of one,” said Mookie Betts.”
I don’t think Betts said that, but I’d love for it to be true.!
Timing can’t get a coincidence, can it?
News for the Dodgers beat:
https://x.com/katiejwoo/status/1996265768615297069
Feinsand AMA:
https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1pd9rlv/mlbcom_national_writer_mark_feinsand_ama_at_2pm/
On Winter Meetings:
I’m expecting a pretty active Winter Meetings, actually. We’re still at December 3 and we’ve already seen some notable free-agent signings (Dylan Cease, Josh Naylor, Ryan Helsley, Devin Williams and Cody Ponce), as well as three pretty big trades (Nimmo-Semien, Gray to Boston, Ward-GrayRod). It’s difficult to say which players might sign next week, but I could see the starting pitching market begin to move with pitchers like Michael King and Ranger Suarez. The relief market could also be active after Helsley and Williams have already signed. I don’t know if Tucker will get done next week, but the only player I think will wait for Tucker is Cody Bellinger, who is being pursued by many of the same teams. As for the three Japanese players who have been posted (Murakami, Imai and Okamoto), I would think their situations would extend deeper into December and closer to their posting deadlines, though if a team comes in strong, we could see any of them sign during the meetings.
On Bichette/Tucker:
I would say Bichette is the more likely candidate to sign with the Jays, as there is less competition for his services than for Tucker, who is on the radar of a number of big-market clubs. Still, I wouldn’t rule out Tucker at all. Could they sigh both? Toronto certainly has enough money to do it if that’s what ownership wants to do, though that would be a pretty big commitment, especially after signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to his huge extension last year. One way or another, there’s at least one more big move coming for the defending AL champs.
I would think the Yankees would be in on Tucker if they don’t sign Bellinger, though I am also skeptical that Bellinger will sign before Tucker. Once Tucker signs, Bellinger’s leverage grows considerably, not only with the Yankees, but with other teams that are in on Tucker. Plan B, in the event that the Yankees don’t get either of them, would probably be to sign another outfielder (not on the same level as those two) unless they truly believe that Jasson Dominguez and/or Spencer Jones are ready to assume an everyday role.
He’s hearing Harrison Bader or Yaz Jr. to the Royals
I still like Bader for the Dodgers…. but perhaps the front office is more interested in swinging a trade with the Red Sox or ??? to upgrade the outfield.
Talking about WAR:
It’s one metric, but if I had to use one metric, it would be OPS.
Here are the Top 10 teams in OPS in 2025:
1. Yankees
2. Dodgers
3. Blue Jays
4. Phillies
5. D-Backs
6. Mets
7. Cubs
8. A’s
9. Red Sox
10. Seattle
Or WRC+
1. Yanks
2. Dodgers
3. Mariners
4. Blue Jays
5. Mets
6. Cubs
7. Phills
8. D-backs
9. Brewers
10. As
Or this:
BetUS Top 15 Sexiest MLB Mascots:
#1 Baxter – Arizona Diamondbacks
#2 Phillie Phanatic – Philadelphia Phillies
#3 Clark the Cub – Chicago Cubs
#4 Rosie Red – Cincinnati Reds
#5 Mrs. Met – New York Mets
#6 Billy the Marlin – Miami Marlins
#7 Mr. Met – New York Mets
#8 Raymond – Tampa Bay Rays
#9 Orbit – Houston Astros
#10 Oriole Bird – Baltimore Orioles
#11 Blooper – Atlanta Braves
#12 Fredbird – St. Louis Cardinals
#13 PAWS – Detroit Tigers
#14 Slider – Cleveland Guardians
#15 Rangers Captain – Texas Rangers
Phillie Phanatic is the GOAT
None compare to Decoy.
But it was a much different Dodger offense in 2nd half of season and in October. So what to expect in 26?
Per Ardaya:
The Dodgers are bringing back Miguel Rojas for his final season in the big leagues on a one-year, $5.5 million deal, source confirms.
@DanielAlvarezEE was on it.
Rojas is expected to assist the Dodgers front office in player development once his time as a player is done.
Great news
Wow! Well deserved. Miggy Ro is all ❤️ and courage, played hurt and played hard. Will be a good coach/manager sooner than later
Miggy is Da Man…
A year ago, I figured he was heading into his last season and Freeland would take his spot in ’26. Now he’ll always be remembered in Dodger lore–the unlikely hero of the ’25 championship. The Amaya-Rojas deal proved to be one of AF’s greatest deals.
Age catches up to us all. Perhaps an injury or a decline in performance could clear a spot for Freeland and enable Miggy an early exit to move into player development.