Dodgers exercise club option on veteran catcher

The Dodgers have exercised their membership choice on the providers of catcher Austin Barnes for the 2025 season. Barnes will earn $3.5M in 2025.

Barnes, 35 in December, was a ninth-round decide by the Marlins again in 2011 however has spent his whole massive league profession with the Dodgers. The veteran first debuted with the membership again in 2015 and has now spent elements of ten seasons with L.A. within the majors. Whereas he’s by no means been an on a regular basis participant and solely acquired the lion’s share of enjoying time behind the plate in 2019 (when he shared duties with veteran Russell Martin and rookie Will Smith), Barnes has confirmed to be a sturdy and dependable backup catcher for the membership all through his profession and has even turn into one thing of a private catcher for franchise legend Clayton Kershaw in recent times.

With Smith beneath contract for the following decade after signing a ten-year extension again in March, he’s set to stay the membership’s beginning choice behind the plate for the foreseeable future. The Dodgers even have quite a lot of fascinating catching prospects within the higher minors, together with Diego Cartaya and Dalton Dashing. With quite a lot of intriguing inner choices on the place, it could come throughout as one thing of a shock that the membership would pay $3.5M to retain an growing old catcher who has hit simply .217/.289/.270 (61 wRC+) over the previous two seasons. Stunning as that will appear, nonetheless, the veteran stays a reasonably well-regarded defender behind the plate with +2 Defensive Runs Saved in simply 54 video games this yr.

For a Dodgers membership that routinely runs payrolls at or close to the highest of the league, $3.5M is an insignificant value to pay to retain a longtime member of the group who works nicely with a franchise icon and presents a dependable, regular choice in a yr the place the membership might contemplate giving these aforementioned kids some alternatives to catch on the massive league degree. It could’ve been a shock if the Dodgers have been prepared to decide to both Cartaya or Dashing as Smith’s main backup on Opening Day of 2025 when neither has a lot as a single plate look within the majors and retaining Barnes permits the membership to ease these prospects into life on the massive league degree and provides them no matter time they might want at Triple-A to shine their expertise and put together for the massive leagues.

Two extra choice choices will have to be revamped the approaching days involving the Dodgers: the crew might want to resolve whether or not to convey shortstop Miguel Rojas again on a $5M choice ($1M buyout), and Kershaw might want to resolve whether or not he needs to train his $10M participant choice or head again into free company (the place he’s already indicated he would look to re-sign in Los Angeles).