The Dodgers announced that they have selected catching prospect Dalton Rushing to their roster. Fellow catcher Austin Barnes has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported the Rushing promotion prior to the official announcement while Robert Murray of FanSided relayed the Barnes DFA.
Rushing, now 24, was selected by the Dodgers in the 2022 draft. It was technically a second-round pick, 40th overall, though that was the club’s top selection that year. It was moved back ten spots due to the Dodgers going over the third tier of the Competitive Balance Tax in 2021. The club gave him a signing bonus of just under $2MM, right around slot value.
Since then, Rushing has done nothing but mash at the plate. He has stepped to the dish 1,150 times in total, for various minor league clubs. He has been struck out at a reasonable 21.5% pace in that time, while drawing walks at an excellent 15.6% clip. He has 54 home runs and a .277/.412/.519 batting line, which translates to a 154 wRC+.
That production would be excellent from any position but especially for a catcher, a spot that generally comes with lower offensive expectations. He’s also considered a good defender behind the plate, only adding to his prospect stock. The combination makes Rushing a consensus top 50 prospect. Baseball America currently lists him at #31 with MLB Pipeline having him at #15. In the preseason, FanGraphs gave him the #8 spot, ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic both had him at #16.
Despite Rushing’s obvious talents, it was unclear how the Dodgers would fit him in. Will Smith has been the club’s regular catcher for years and is signed through 2033. Teams with two good catchers will sometimes use the designated hitter spot to distribute more at-bats but the Dodgers can’t do that. They have Shohei Ohtani in the DH spot every day and he’s also signed through 2033.
That led the Dodgers to have Rushing dabble at other positions. He has played a bit of first base and left field in the minors, though he’s still been behind the plate more often than he’s been in those spots.
With Barnes being the corresponding move, it seems Rushing will slot into the catching mix alongside Smith. Perhaps his ability to play other positions will help both backstops get into the lineup. Freddie Freeman has first base locked down, but there’s a path for Rushing to get some outfield playing time.
Both Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman are currently on the injured list. That leaves the club with an outfield alignment consisting of Andy Pages, Michael Conforto and James Outman, with utility guys Hyeseong Kim and Chris Taylor contributing on occasion as well. Pages is the only guy in that group currently hitting well, so perhaps Rushing will be able to take some playing time from the others.
It’s too late in the season for Rushing to earn a full year of service time, at least the traditional way. As a top prospect, he technically has a path to earning a full year of service by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, though that will be a challenge. No one is currently running away with the NL ROY race but Rushing is still weeks behind others who have been up all year. Even the best prospects will sometimes struggle when first promoted to the majors, so there’s no guarantee that Rushing can just storm through the rest of the season.
Regardless, it seems the club plans for Rushing to be up for good, since they are moving on from Barnes. If Rushing struggles and they want to send him back down, Hunter Feduccia is also on the 40-man roster. Assuming Rushing finishes 2025 shy of the one-year service line, he’ll be under club control through 2031, so he and Smith can theoretically be the catching duo for years to come.
As for Barnes, he has been serving as a glove-first backup catcher for over a decade now. He has appeared in 612 games for the Dodgers, dating back to his 2015 debut. He has a combined .223/.322/.338 line in that time, which translates to an 85 wRC+. That indicates he’s been about 15% worse than the league average hitter, but catchers are generally about 10% worse than league-wide par, so that’s not bad output for a backup catcher.
Since he also provided good work behind the plate in that time, he has been a fairly solid member of the roster, leading the Dodgers to sign him to a modest extension in 2022. They were satisfied enough with his performance to pick up a $2.5MM club option for the 2025 season.
However, his offense seems to have a hit new low this year. He is striking out at a 31.8% clip, easily the highest of his career, while his 2.3% walk rate is a personal worst by a notable amount. He currently has a .214/.233/.286 slash and 44 wRC+.
Given that Barnes is now 35 years old, the club may not have much hope of a turnaround. The combination of his struggles and Rushing’s ascendance has pushed Barnes off the roster. The Dodgers will now technically have a week of DFA limbo to work out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would have to come together in the next five days.
There’s not likely to be much interest, based on his salary and recent performance. If he clears waivers, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping his entire salary coming to him. If he ends up on the open market, another club could sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Dodgers pay.
Photos courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Bryan Terry and Matt Marton, Imagn Images
I hope they aren’t rushing him to the majors.
All they say is: D(alt)on'(t) worry.
(I’m so sorry.)
That joke was a real Barnes stormer
No need to rush as there’s eight more years to go on Will Smith’s contract.
If I was Fever Pitch Guy I would probably comment something along the lines of ‘Chaim Bloom made a mistake in not drafting Rushing, it is a stain on the franchise that cannot be undone!”
Ironic, Conforto had a good night in his last game. But I see Rushing playing both backup catcher and platoon LF.
Outman and Taylor are not needed. Conforto is on the fringe. Welcome to Kershaw, Rushing and Kim, the old and the new, the bold and the blue.
Conforto is fine. Everyone has a bad month in the majors. His happened to be in April.
Outman is a Quad-A player and Taylor is washed up.
Not sold on Kim.
Zing!
Does this mean James is out, man?
James is “out” pretty much every single time he comes to the plate.
You just connected pretty good though!
If so, they’re probably trying to work out a trade. That would be the case for any position player on the roster, I believe.
DFA Feyereisen & option Outman….
Barnsy getting the DFA….
I’m surprised they let Barnes go considering he’s Kersh’s personal catcher. But I’m glad. They kept him way too long.
Yeah, but Smith/Rushing will be a good tandem. Theoretically, Smith will be able to get more days off without a drop-off in production at the position. We’ll see….
Rushing plays some LF when he’s not catching?
Definitely….
I thought that experiment was over? I know they had trouble getting him into other positions.
I think it’s pretty early to say that Dalton Rushing is going to produce like Will Smith. He hasn’t even had a single major league at bat. I think he’ll produce and well let’s hope it’s somewhat close to Will Smith that would be awesome.
Yeah, just long enough for Kersh to get healthy.
Kershaw is my favorite player of all time and the GOAT but he’s on his last legs. The Dodgers front office isn’t making moves based off of a 37 year old pitcher who will most likely get hurt again.
It’s business and with how inconsistent the offense has been this season. They need to find a spark somewhere.
Totally agree.
Except, he isn’t anyone’s “personal catcher.” Gawd only knows where those myths get started but they sure are hard to kill.
Barnes started the rumor.
Oh go ahead, prove that one!
Bye Barnes, we had some great times with you on the team.
I’ve always thought that this narrative was played out. Sure, Kershaw may prefer to pitch to Barnes but he’d of course prefer Smith’s bat and arm over Barnes’s. It’s become apparent that opposing teams will run all over Barnes. That and his weak bat was too much even for just a backup catcher spot. Hope that this doesn’t mean that Smith is dealing with something.
A bit surprised that they brought Barnes back this year. Backup catcher is not a very important position as long as your C1 stays healthy. Feduccia could have done the job.
Rushing’s bat may be ready but I know little of his defense. And the worry too is how they’ll find additional ABs to keep him sharp. It may be at LF.
It was all about depth. Barnes has just become expendable now….
Agreed. Remember back when A.J. Ellis was also that guy? When we was not retained, the world was coming to an end as he was Kersh’s personal catcher. I felt more strongly about Ellis than I do Barnes. Had a nice run run and I sure he may be preferred, but Kershaw’s career is clearly outlasting his teammates. I’m sure he’ll adjust.
Thank you Barnes!
This is just wild… Barnes is the team captain too… like why did we even bring him back for 2025 if this was going to happen?
James Outman should have been let go first, bring Rushing up and see what he has and then if you have to figure out something with 3 catchers.
Geez
Barnes ain’t even as good as Feduccia….
Oh I know hes’ bad… its just wild that its happening this way.
Outman sucks, Taylor sucks, Muncy is broken… there are a lot of issues.
Outman shudda been traded last season. Hopefully add him as a throw-in with Muncy and some mid-level prospects for Arenado’s phat contract and Helsley’s expiring at the deadline. Taylor will be released when he reaches his service time in a couple months….
Outman will go back down soon anyway when Edman or Teoscar are back. He has options so no need to cut him. Taylor probably gone soon after… Kim can stay as super utility guy.
Sad if this is the end of Barnes’ run in LA, but he had a great tenure. Strong 2017 season, filled in for a struggling Grandal during the 2018 postseason run, and had some big moments in the 2020 World Series (never appeared in the 2024 Series). Was never great, but always reliable behind the plate. The definition of a role player. Someone seeking a knowledgable veteran backup catcher to manage their pitching staff will pick him up.
He is good at game-calling. This is a catcher’s most important skill, and oddly the one nobody ever wants to mention or discuss.
Outman still has options, but I don’t see him with the org after the trade deadline if not before. And I agree they need to address the Muncy situation because there’s no way they pick up that option for ‘26 even if it’s only $10 million. Should’ve moved him for Arenado in ST.
Getting rid of Barnes just in time for Kershaw’s return?
Interestingly, with a minimum off 200 innings caught Kershaw’s ERA is more than half a run higher with Smith behind the plate than Barnes (granted Barnes has caught twice as many of Kershaw’s starts.
Kersh prolly comfortable with Rushing during his rehab starts….
Could be. Good point
Barnes had prime Kershaw, Smith has had injury plagued Kershaw. Big difference unless you are a conspiracy nut implying that Smith’s catching injures more pitchers than Barnes…
This surprised me a little, or I assumed if they replaced Barnes this year it would be for Feduccia, who is a solid catcher and has some experience already in the bigs. But doesn’t nearly have the hit tool ceiling of Rushing either. And maybe it’s less surprising now because even tho he’s actually hit okay this season, Barnes reputation as a backup was around his work with pitchers and defense, and that’s really taken a step back – especially that he can’t throw out any runners. They would like to give Smith more time off too I bet. On top of all that, Rushing can also play a little OF now and they are still missing Edman and Hernandez for at least another week. So now that I’ve said all that, it’s less surprising!
But fare thee well to Austin barnes as a Dodger, as he had some really key moments for their title teams, both on defense and some surprising clutch moments at the plate. Dodger fans should wish him the best.
Part of the franchise turn-around. The best of times. Surely his next team won’t be as fun….
Talyor needs to go next, it is about time. I have to expect it is his spot that Kershaw takes when he is activated, or obviously some of the pitching they brought in for the week or so with their other pitchers hitting the DL.
I think Muncy will pull back together but Taylor and Barnes have been broken for a few years. Great clubhouse presence people but outside of that they will have to take a seat next to Joe Kelly.
His days are numbered for sure. Either way this is Taylor’s last season in LA but they have a number of outfielders in the system who will bang on the door within 1-2 years in addition to having invested in utility guy Kim from Korea. CT has hit a little bit more lately but still doesn’t do much average to above avg anymore. And when Edman comes back, it may be harder to keep him. He’s mostly just a sub anyway so not a role you want a prospect to sit around for but still…
Love this.
I wonder if maybe this is an audition for a potential trade.
If so, better be good….
Barnes has been with the Dodgers, at least for parts of seasons, since 2015…but that wasn’t mentioned in the article.
Like Tim “Fedex” Federowicz before him, everything must eventually come to an end.
That’s two time World Series champion Austin “Sam” Barnes. Great run with the Dodgers, and if he doesn’t get claimed I wouldn’t be surprised to see him accept an outright assignment. Or join the Dodgers in some non-player capacity now or in the near future.
It’s about time.
Feduccia is even or better than Barnes now. Hard to beat Barnes defensively. But he’s a captain-like figure and a team first guy. They clearly feel confident about team chemistry to make this move. And may be signaling performance matters most. There are three guys to DFA before Barnes: Outman, Berroa, Ruiz. But none of that clears playing time
for Rushing. Outman does not because once Edman and Teo are back, no real outfield time for Rushing. Sucks but right baseball move.
I also think they are going to want to give Smith a little more time off. He always starts the season amazing but fades.
And, the Dodgers for sure want him learning at the big league level. Like they first did with Smith when he was brought up
Or taxi squaded to play but to learn.
They should have had Rushing taking reps at 3B, he’d have Muncy’s spot in a heartbeat as far as I’m concerned
Please explain the attraction of having Rushing play 3B. I hope you realize that he hasn’t played this position professionally, ever.
I wonder if Smith’s ankle is getting worse so they want to give him more days off.
Barnes has almost 9 seasons of service time. Here’s hoping he can hang on 1 more year for the 10-year pension.
As much as a like Rushing call up, I ate to see Barnes go, he is too valuable to the team. Put him on the 60 dl.