After losing six players in the previous four Rule 5 Drafts, no Dodgers minor leaguers were selected in the major league section of the 2025 Rule 5 Draft at the winter meetings in Orlando.
That means pitcher
Jose Rodríguez, shortstop Noah Miller, and others remain in the organization. A total of seven Dodgers were listed as possible Rule 5 selections in Baseball America’s exhaustive list ahead of the draft .
Rodríguez had a 5.50 ERA in 45 games, with 84 strikeouts and 35 walks in 54 innings between Triple-A Oklahoma City (37 games) and Double-A Tulsa (eight games). His 34.1-percent strikeout rate was second-highest in the Dodgers minors among pitchers with at least 50 innings. Rodríguez trailed only Ronan Kopp (36 percent), the left-hander who was added to the 40-man roster on November 18.
You might remember Rodríguez from his three three-inning saves between High-A Great Lakes and Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2024, plus a five-inning save that season for Great Lakes.
Sam Dykstra and Jesse Borek described the 24-year-old right-hander’s repertoire at MLB.com on December 4:
Rodriguez has one of the most unique deliveries in this year’s Rule 5 Draft with his back turned to the batter, followed by pronounced seven-foot extension and a whiplike arm motion. It helps sell his 86-88 mph changeup (also one of the best in this year’s R5 class), since it looks much like his 95-97 mph sinker in movement until it hits the brakes near the plate.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rodríguez pitch his way into the Dodgers bullpen at some point in 2026.
But three Dodgers minor leaguers were selected in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Unlike players taken in the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, there are no roster requirements for the new team for players selected in the minor league phase.
Pitchers Brandon Neeck and Livan Reinoso, each of whom spent most of their 2025 seasons at Double-A Tulsa, were selected, as was outfielder Edwin Sanchez, who played this season in the Dominican Summer League.
Neeck, who was taken by the Pirates, was a ninth-round draft pick of the Dodgers in 2022 out of the University of Virginia. This year he had a 6.56 ERA in 39 games for Tulsa, with 45 strikeouts and 35 walks in 46 2/3 innings. The left-hander turned 26 in October.
Reinoso, a Marlins selection, was an undrafted free agent in 2022. He started 2025 in High-A Great Lakes but pitched 29 of his 38 games for Tulsa, with a combined 4.14 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 48 walks in 54 1/3 innings. Reinoso turned 27 in August.
The Astros took the 21-year-old Sanchez in the Rule 5 Draft. Signed by the Dodgers out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, Sanchez his .234/.486/.438 with 10 doubles, six home runs, and 12 stolen bases in 54 games in the Dominican Sumer League in 2025.
