The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Monday that they’ve reinstated Mookie Betts from the 60-day injured list and created space in somewhat surprising fashion: infielder/outfielder and trade deadline acquisition Amed Rosario has been designated for assignment. Rosario, 28, was acquired in a trade sending 28-year-old minor league reliever Michael Flynn back to the Rays. It wasn’t a steep price to pay necessarily, but it’s nevertheless unexpected to see Los Angeles move on in such quick fashion.
The versatile Rosario received only 12 plate appearances in his second stint with Los Angeles — the Dodgers also acquired him at the 2023 deadline — and has hit well all season. In 287 plate appearances between Tampa Bay and L.A.
, he’s slashing .305/.331/.
415 — about 14% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+. Dodgers brass was largely choosing among Rosario, Enrique Hernandez and Nick Ahmed when determining who would be the odd man out to clear way for Betts’ return. Hernandez has struggled badly in 2024 overall, but a well-timed hot streak has ostensibly saved his spot on the roster.
He’s hitting .333/.405/.
545 in 37 plate appearances this month. Ahmed has posted an empty .268 batting average in 42 plate appearances (.
268/.286/.341, 77 wRC+), but he’s a high-end defender at shortstop.
With Betts returning to right field, keeping an elite middle infield defender like Ahmed apparently won out over keeping a more productive but less valuable defensive piece in Rosario. The veteran Rosario signed an eminently affordable one-year, $1.5M contract with the Rays over the winter, looking to rebound from a career-worst showing with the Guardians and Dodgers last year.
After spending years as the primary shortstop in Cleveland, he’s moved to a utility role that’s seen him log time at shortstop, second base, third base and in right field this season. He’s drawn poor defensive grades in general and has never been regarded as a high-quality glove at shortstop at the big league level. Rosario has been productive at the plate, however, and that’s particularly true against lefties, who he’s tagged for an impressive .
327/.355/.462 line in 2024.
Between his light contract, offensive production and his growing experience at multiple positions, Rosario stands a far greater chance of being claimed by another team than most veterans who are designated for assignment this time of year. The trade deadline has passed, so the only option the Dodgers will have is to place Rosario on outright waivers or release waivers. It’d be another more modest surprise if he passed through unclaimed.
With that in mind, it’s worth noting that outright waiver order is determined by the reverse order of the MLB-wide standings and is not league-specific. That’s a common misconception, but league-specific waivers pertained to the now-defunct August trade waiver process. (MLBTR has confirmed this with league sources on multiple occasions.
) Since Rosario is a free agent at the end of the year, it’s likely that rebuilding clubs and others whose postseason hopes have faded will allow him to pass through. At the moment, waiver priority among postseason hopefuls (using an admittedly arbitrary criteria of fewer than six games back in either a division race or wild-card chase) would be ranked: Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Rays, Giants, Cardinals, Mets, Braves, Red Sox, Mariners, Astros, Royals, Padres, D-backs, Twins, Brewers, Guardians, Phillies, Yankees and Orioles. As of this writing, Rosario is still owed $387K of this year’s salary.
Any team that claims him would be on the hook for the full sum, whereas the Dodgers would be spared that sum plus the 110% tax as a third-time luxury payor. Overall, waiving Rosario could save the Dodgers about $813K — assuming he’s claimed. As for Betts, he’ll return to his customary right field and add another former MVP to the top of the Dodgers’ lineup, slotting into between fellow former MVPs Shohei Ohtani (leadoff) and Freddie Freeman (No.
3 hitter). Betts gives manager Dave Roberts a right-handed bat to break up that pair of imposing lefties, and Betts of course is among the more feared hitters in the sport when healthy. Prior to the fractured hand that cost him the past eight-plus weeks, Betts was hitting .
304/.405/.488 with 10 homers, 16 doubles, three triples, nine steals (in 10 tries), a 14.
2% walk rate and just a 10.3% strikeout rate. With Betts now back in right field, the Dodgers will play Miguel Rojas regularly at shortstop and Gavin Lux at second base, with the aforementioned Hernandez an option to back up Lux (especially against lefties) and Ahmed providing a glove-first backup at shortstop.
This article first appeared on MLB Trade Rumors and was syndicated with permission..
