But first, rules: Players signed at age 18 or younger need to be added to their club’s 40-Man roster within five seasons (players signed at 19 or older must be protected within four seasons) or they become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, the final act of the Winter Meetings, which will take place at the Hilton Anatole Dec. 9-11.

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers are on the clock. By Tuesday at 6 p.m., they must finalize their 40-man roster to protect eligible prospects from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. But there’s less suspense than usual. Many of the Tigers’ most critical decisions have already been made.

As things stand now, the Dodgers have 37 players on their 40-man roster. That is not including any current free agents, whether they are previous Dodgers expected to return (ahem, Clayton Kershaw) or other players the Dodgers are pursuing. That leaves pretty limited space for prospects to be locked in and remain in the organization.

Discussing the Rule 5 draft and which prospects to protect or not is one of the most fun and anticipating offseason topics. Nothing will beat the 2021 offseason when the Guardians added a whopping 10 prospects to their 40 man roster to protect them from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.