The Dodgers announced this morning that they have designated outfielder Eddie Rosario for assignment. The move comes in order to create a roster spot for Shohei Ohtani, who is returning to the club from the paternity list after he and his wife announced the birth of their daughter yesterday on social media.
Rosario, 33, always figured to be a temporary addition to the Dodgers roster. Now a veteran of 11 MLB seasons, Rosario spent the first portion of his MLB career as an effective and reliable corner bat for the Twins. He slashed .277/.310/.478 across 697 games in a Twins uniform, good for a 106 wRC+ that jumped up to 112 when looking only at his final four seasons with the team. During that stretch from 2017 to 2020, Rosario showed consistent 25-homer power and paired it with an impressively low 16.5% strikeout rate. That allowed him to offer a valuable blend of power and contact.
In the years since then, however, Rosario’s been an at times solid but largely inconsistent hitter. Playing for Cleveland, Atlanta, and D.C. from 2021 to 2024, Rosario slashed just .231/.278/.396 (82 wRC+) overall as his strikeout rate climbed to 21.6% while his power declined noticeably. The 2021 and ’23 seasons saw Rosario play at a roughly league average level overall with a 100 wRC+ in both seasons, with flashes of 20-homer pop making him a capable hitter despite the increased strikeout rate. 2022 saw him struggle badly at the plate (63 wRC+) due to vision problems that were ultimately corrected, while his problems at the dish (45 wRC+) in 2024 came in spite of him being generally healthy.
That lackluster performance was enough to force Rosario to take a minor league deal with the Dodgers this winter, and he didn’t make the roster out of camp due to Teoscar Hernandez, Michael Conforto, and Ohtani blocking him in the outfield corners and at DH. Rosario was selected to the roster earlier this week to replace Ohtani in the lineup while he went on the paternity list. His brief stay in the majors this year saw him hit just .250/.250/.250 with a 41 wRC+, but it should be noted that he didn’t record a single strikeout and made several loud outs during his extremely brief, two-game trip back up to the majors. Going forward, the Dodgers will have one week to either trade Rosario or place him on waivers, where he could be claimed by any club. If he goes unclaimed, Rosario will have the choice to either accept an outright assignment back to Triple-A with the Dodgers or else head to free agency and look for a better opportunity elsewhere.
As for Ohtani, the reigning NL MVP rejoins a Dodgers club that suffered a frustrating walk-off loss to the Rangers last night. Prior to his trip to the paternity list, Ohtani was excellent as ever with a .288/.380/.550 slash line across 20 games and 92 plate appearances this year, with six home runs and five stolen bases. Needless to say, the superstar figures to reclaim his spot atop the Dodgers’ lineup as their everyday DH now that he’s back with the club.
The birth was on social media? Damn, I missed the livestream!!!
Congrats to the happy couple :O)
Fever it was broadcasted behind a paywall on his Only Fans account. Sho had to make diaper dollars somehow seeing his baseball salary is only about $2 million this season ($100m in endorsements notwithstanding).
sug – What was the line on whether it would be a girl?
I heard Fan Duel had a parlay going involving the gender, the weight and the eye color ;O)
Selling tickets to the birth of your child…
(psst! It was a joke)
The man is practically broke. He only making 2 million a year and his interpreter stole millions from him. Of course he needs to charge for it.
just to be clear i am being sarcastic 🙂
Yeah was kidding about Only Fans but I did hear about the betting line too,Fever.
sug – I was kidding about Fan Duel, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there really was a line on it. LOL
Forget gender what was the over under on what sport Baby Ohtani chose to become the next MJ in? Who got the million-dollar red rose???
The dodgers bench players would be important starters on some teams
Maybe they need to be important starters on the Dodgers. They have a lot of wholes in that lineup.
Said the fan of the 21st ranked offense.
I’m not acting like the Mets bench is better than everyone else starting lineup. Is the Dodgers offense performing much better than the Mets? At least the Mets have an excuse playing 90% games in cold weather.
lol. Whatever floats your boat.
Well Lindor just hit a bomb so It will probably be all right.
#251 I believe
21st ranked offense that is only a game back from being the best record in baseball with a pitching staff that was supposed to be pretty bad.
Dont yall have like 4 or 5 cy youngs on your staff with this amazing offense. Shouldnt yall be running away with the league and not only 1/2 game above the mets? Actually arent you like 20 runs behind the mets in run differential?
We all know how it ends in October.
you mean usually hyped up and favorites to win and more times than not come up short in the playoffs. If you add flops sounds like yall are Lebron James. Hey he playing for LA too.
Apparently your short term memory is non existent. I suggest you review the most recent NLCS. There is hype and then there is talent.
I suggest you refer to the last few full seasons (unless you think the likes of luke voit and dominic smith are some of the best hitters in the league). 9 seasons in the playoffs and 1 world series win while being the favorites in majority of them. Also Mets were in a “rebuild year” and was expected to not even make the playoffs and they were right there with yall.
I also refer you to the last few world series winners that are one and dones with majority of them not even making the world series let alone winning it.
Perhaps Mets could actually get to a WS before you speak again.
perhaps the dodgers can sign a player without deferring their salary before you speak again. Might be a few decades before we hear from you though.
Ooh. What an important comeback. That’s all you’ve got?
Padres-Mariners World Series?
Most unlikely World Series ever
Kikè Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Austin Barnes, and Miguel Rojas. I don’t think any of them would be as important on any other team, as they are to the Dodgers. Those four guys have logged a lot of innings in a Dodgers uniform.
This Ohtani guy is probably an upgrade over Rosario.
Future Twin
So, all star break last year?
Gonna be more cribs in his crib soon enough.
Fast Eddie, we hardly knew ye.
Fandom should have been given the opportunity to bet on the gender of the baby prior to birth
lol Daily Mail ran the headline a couple days ago “Shohei Ohtani axed from Dodgers lineup over personal drama”
I guess welcoming your first child is now considered personal drama
Well the entire point of journalism these days is to induce clicks, looks like Daily Mail is trying extra hard.
Technically, it was personal, and for Shohei and wife, it was dramatic.
Rosario come to the Cardinals!!
Hell no
Eddie would be better on the white sox than in the cardinals red. Thats an insult
Yeah better in a city with cultural and culinary attractions than Sling blade land
From playoff guy to beer caddy
The Dodgers can’t hit and it’s frustrating to watch.
Rosario getting fitted for his ring….
Despite Eddie Rosario only playing 2 games, he had zero strikeouts! Elite!