Rule 5 Shakeup: Dodgers Pick Up John Rhodes, Wave Goodbye to Four Prospect

The Dodgers lost one player in the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday, with left-handed pitcher Garrett McDaniels getting plucked by the Angels. In the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, the Dodgers added outfielder and first baseman John Rhodes and lost four others.

Unlike the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, players lost in the minor league phase are simply gone, now part of the organization that drafted them with no additional roster requirements.

The Dodgers lost pitchers Hyun-il Choi (to the Nationals), Michael Hobbs (Mets), and Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (Marlins), as well as catcher/outfielder Jefferson Valladres to the Twins.

Rhodes played the last two full seasons plus part of 2022 for Double-A Bowie in the Orioles system, after getting drafted out of Kentucky in the third round in 2021 by Baltimore. Rhodes in 2024 hit .202/.271/.309 with a 69 wRC+, 16 doubles, and eight home runs in 104 games.

He split time between left field, right field, and first base this season. Rhodes’ 23 starts at first base represented his first time at the position since four games in Low-A Delmarva in 2021. Rhodes turned 24 in August.

Choi signed with the Dodgers out of South Korea in 2019 and was a Branch Rickey Award winner as the minor league pitcher of the year in the organization in 2021. But he missed most of 2022 and a big chunk of 2023 after elbow surgery.

This season, the right-hander went back and fourth between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, posting a combined 4.92 ERA with 102 strikeouts and 40 walks in 115⅓ innings. He had a few highlight starts in May in Triple-A, with six hitless innings on May 4 and a career-high seven innings with one run allowed on May 22.

Hobbs was born and raised in Corona and was drafted by the Dodgers in the 10th round in 2021 out of Saint Mary’s College, the same school that produced Corbin Burnes and Tony Gonsolin. He had a 2.97 ERA in 42 relief appearances with Double-A Tulsa this season, with 52 strikeouts and 30 walks in 57⅔ innings.

Ortiz-Mayr was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Puerto Rico in 2021, and led all Dodgers minor leaguers with 135⅔ innings this season. He posted a 4.71 ERA with Double-A Tulsa, with 108 strikeouts and 60 walks. He pitched seven scoreless to beat Wichita on July 5.

Valladres was originally signed by the Dodgers out of Venezuela in 2019, and hit .266/.368/.359 in 22 games this season between Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and the Arizona Complex League before spending the final four months on the injured list.