Dodgers silently add pitching prospect to 40-man amidst MLB-wide roster shuffles

Right before 3 PM PST on Tuesday, the rest of baseball was scrambling to add Rule 5 draft-eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters, but the Dodgers were absolutely silent.

They added Triple-A outfielder Ryan Ward to their 40-man on Nov. 6 to keep him from potentially leaving in minor league free agency and had two top-30 prospects who were Rule 5 eligible, but it was fair to assume that they would leave a couple of roster spots open for signings or trades further into the offseason.

But the eagle-eyed reporters over at Dodger Blue noticed before any of the insiders and before the Dodgers announced it themselves: LA's transactions log noted that Rule 5 eligibleprospect Ronan Kopp was added to the 40-man.

Kopp, a lefty pitcher, was promoted to Triple-A in early July after tossing 32 innings for a 2.53 ERA in Double-A. He struggled upon his arrival to Oklahoma City and posted a 6.48 ERA in his first 16 2/3 innings, but he settled in during September and gave up just one run in nine innings.

Maybe the Dodgers think they have another Jack Dreyer on their hands.

Dodgers quietly add pitching prospect Ronan Kopp to 40-man at Rule 5 draft deadline

Kopp was a 12th-round pick for the Dodgers in 2021 and was ranked in the Dodgers' pipeline in 2023 and 2024, but he fell out of the top 30 this season. He peaked at No. 17 last year, with a highly regarded fastball and slider, but he struggled last year in Double-A and posted a 4.17 ERA, which probably led to the slide off of the leaderboard.

But Dreyer wasn't ranked when the Dodgers added him ahead of the Rule 5 deadline last year either, and he was an undrafted free agent signing whose claims to fame were his Shohei Ohtani Rubik's Cube mosaic (yes, that is a real thing) and being the son of former MLB pitcher Steve Dreyer. He became a key bullpen arm during the Dodgers' regular season (even though he sort of fell apart in the later part of the season, just like everyone else) and is expected to take on a larger role next year.

The Dodgers' bullpen desperately needs arms, and even though they're already looking at some of the more expensive options on the free agent market, they could add internally with Kopp as well.