This time around, the Dodgers protect Jamie Hoffman; add him to 40-man

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Guess they don’t want to go through that again.

Last year, the Dodgers left Jamie Hoffman off their 40-man roster and he was the first player selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Washington Nationals, who immediately dealt the outfielder to the New York Yankees.

Hoffman battled for a roster spot with the Yankees, who ultimately returned him to the Dodgers. He spent all of last season at triple-A Albuquerque.

On Friday, however, the Dodgers added Hoffman to their 40-man roster, so he won’t be exposed in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

He hit .310 with eight home runs, 74 RBI, with 17 stolen bases in 24 attempts and had a .431 slugging percentage with the Isotopes.

At the moment, he apparently will be one of the legion of middling minor leaguers (Xavier Paul, Russ Mitchell, Trent Oeltjen) who will compete with Jay Gibbons for playing time in left field.

Players selected in the Rule 5 draft rarely remain with the club the entire season to become that team’s property, but it happened in reverse last year for the Dodgers when they took right-hander Carlos Monasterios and he remained on their 25-man roster the entire season.

-- Steve Dilbeck