Dodgers add 5 players in Triple-A phase of Rule 5 Draft

LOS ANGELES -- The winter meetings wrapped up on Thursday in Nashville with the 2015 Rule 5 Draft, and the Dodgers were active in the minor league portion, adding five new players to the organization.

The Dodgers in the Triple-A phase of the draft selected right-handed pitcher Felipe Gonzalez from the Marlins, catcher Micah Gibbs from the Royals, right-handed pitcher Logan Bawcom from the Mariners, outfielder Julio Morban from the Mariners and left-handed pitcher Alex Burgos from the Marlins.

The Dodgers did not take anyone in either the major league or Double-A phases of the draft.

The fee for taking players in the Triple-A phase of the draft is $12,000 per player, down from $50,000 in the major league phase, but the bigger difference is that players in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft do not have to be kept on a given roster all year long. They can be moved freely throughout the minors.

Bawcom is the old friend here, drafted by the Dodgers in the 17th round in 2010 then dealt to Seattle in July 2012 as part of the Brandon League trade. Bawcom, now 27, had a 4.64 ERA in 45 games for Triple-A Tacoma in 2015, with 62 strikeouts and 31 walks in 75⅔ innings.

Gonzalez, now 24, was 8-6 with a 3.28 ERA in advanced Class-A Bradenton in the Pirates system in 38 games, including 14 starts, in 2015, with 80 strikeouts and 30 walks in 107 innings.

Gibbs, now 27, is a switch-hitting catcher drafted by the Cubs in the third round in 2010. He hit .236/.327/.382 in 31 games between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha in the Royals system in 2015. He was named by Baseball America is the best defensive catcher in the Midwest League way back in 2011.

Morban, who turns 24 in February, is a left-handed hitting outfielder from the Dominican Republic who hit just .206/.295/.313 between Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma in the Mariners system in 2015. He hit .295/.362/.468 as a 21-year-old in Double-A in 2013, but the past two years has been limited by injuries and has played just 107 total games.

Burgos, now 25, put up a 2.12 ERA in 32 games between Class-A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville in 2015, with 33 strikeouts and 16 walks in 46⅔ innings. He was originally drafted by the Tigers in the fifth round in 2010.

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Old friend Blake Smith, who was traded by the Dodgers to the White Sox in 2015 for pitcher Eric Surkamp, was selected by the Padres from Chicago in the Triple-A phase of the draft. Logan White, who drafted Smith as an outfielder in the second round in 2009 for the Dodgers, is now reunited with Smith — now a pitcher — in San Diego.