(Photo Credit: Rich Crimi/Tulsa Drillers)
The Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher Chase De Jong, catcher Kyle Farmer and right-handed pitcher Jacob Rhame, giving the club 40 players on its 40-man roster.
Friday was the deadline for MLB clubs to make last minute additions to their 40-man rosters or else risk losing qualified players to the Rule 5 draft, which will be held during the Winter Meetings early next month in Maryland.
Players first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons. Clubs pay $50,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. If that player doesn’t stay on the 25-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $25,000.
De Jong, 22, was selected as the Double-A Texas League Pitcher of the Year, honored by the league as a mid and post-season All-Star, and was named by Baseball America as a Double-A Classification All-Star this year after combining to go 15-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 26 starts with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. He limited opponents to a .210 batting average with a 1.03 WHIP, while striking out 133 against just 40 walks in 147.0 combined innings. The Long Beach native was acquired by the Dodgers on July 2, 2015 in a trade with the Blue Jays and was originally selected by Toronto in the second round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft.
Farmer, 26, earned an All-Star selection with Double-A Tulsa this year, hitting .256 with five home runs and 31 RBI in 74 games. The University of Georgia product has a .291 career batting average, while throwing out 100 of 284 basestealers in four professional seasons after being selected by the Dodgers in the eighth round of the 2013 draft.
Rhame, 23, spent the 2016 campaign with Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 1-7 with seven saves, a 3.29 ERA and a .231 opponents’ batting average in 54 relief appearances. In 169 games during four professional seasons, Rhame has a 10-16 record with 27 saves, a 2.83 ERA, a .209 opponents’ batting average and a 1.10 WHIP after being selected by Los Angeles in the sixth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Grayson Junior College.
Jacob Scavuzzo was the fourth player in the Dodgers’ system to fit the Rule 5 criteria, but was not moved to the team’s 40-man roster. There’s still a chance for him to remain in the organization, however, if he’s passed over by the other clubs across the league in next month’s draft.
(Jon Chapper provided some information furnished within this report)