Dodgers lose Shawn Tolleson to Rangers, plus 40-man & Rule 5 Draft

This was surprising: the Dodgers lost reliever Shawn Tolleson via waivers on Tuesday to the Texas Rangers.

Tolleson, 25, appeared in one game for the Dodgers this season and 40 in 2012. The reliever with great minor-league numbers struggled with injuries in 2013 (a back and hip, primarily). He's also a Tommy John surgery survivor (senior year of college).

In 127 2/3 career minor-league innings, Tolleson has an eye-popping 1.34 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 13.0 K/9. In his limited time with the Dodgers, he didn't show quite the same potential.

Affordable relievers with great swing-and-miss potential don't usually hit waivers, so it was surprising he was available. The Dodgers were probably trying to sneak him through on this day of many roster moves, as teams must choose to add players to their 40-man rosters by 9 p.m. tonight. If some minor-leaguers aren't added, they'll be eligible for the Dec. 12 Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings.

The only way this move makes sense is if the Dodgers think Tolleson's injury history is too much for him to overcome. Otherwise, I can't make sense of the move. The Dodgers already had eight open spots on the 40-man roster and have expendable players like Mike Baxter, Javy Guerra and Justin Sellers who could easily be outrighted before losing a reliever of Tolleson's potential.

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In seemingly unrelated news, the Dodgers should be adding reliever Yimi Garcia to the 40-man roster sometime in the next few hours. He's the only Dodger minor-leaguer eligible for the Rule 5 Draft I'd add to the roster.

Garica, 23, had a 2.54 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 12.7 K/9 with in Double-A this season. He posts great numbers thanks to a low-90s fastball with some movement and a legitimate wipeout slider. He doesn't throw exceptionally hard, but he has better-than-average control and command, but he got bit by the home run bug a bit in 2013 -- (1.3 HR/9, nine home runs in 60 1/3 IP. That appears to be an anomaly, as he gave up just five home runs in his first 189 1/3 innings minor-league innings.

Some other notable prospects who are Rule 5-eligible this year are as follows:

Pedro Baez

Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Jon Garcia

Garrett Gould

Jarret Martin

Aaron Miller

Red Patterson

Scott Schebler

Blake Smith

Of all the players listed, I'd give Patterson the best chance of being nabbed. The 26-year-old is a versatile reliever who doesn't light up the radar gun, but gets outs. I could see a team taking a flyer on Baez, but I'm not confident in that. The only other guy who could get popped is Martin, who has a mid-90s fastball and sometimes-wipeout breaking ball from the left side. Other than them, none of these guys will get chosen.

If a player is chosen, he has to remain on the active roster (25-man) for the entire season, or the drafting team would have to offer the player back to the original team at half the $50,000 price tag.

I'll do a post previewing players the Dodgers could choose in the Rule 5 Draft when it gets closer.

Photo credits
Tolleson: Epic Memories by Ron, Flickr
Patterson: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue