The Reds announced that catcher Ben Rortvedt has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a 40-man spot for infielder Eugenio Suárez, whose signing is now official.
Rortvedt, 28, has never appeared in a game for the Reds. Cincinnati just claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers in November. At the time of that waiver claim, it was reported that Rortvedt and the Dodgers had already signed a deal for 2026 to avoid arbitration. The backstop will make $1.25MM this year.
The Dodgers were likely hoping that figure was high enough that no other club would claim him off waivers. Rortvedt is out of options and therefore can’t be sent to the minors while staying on the 40-man roster. Since he has at least three years of big league service time, Rortvedt has the right to reject outright assignments. But since his service clock is less than five years, he would have to forfeit his salary commitments in electing free agency. Had he cleared waivers, he likely would have stayed with the Dodgers as non-roster catching depth.
Instead, the Reds claimed him and have held him for the past few months. They might now be hoping that they get to keep Rortvedt as non-roster depth instead of the Dodgers. With this DFA, Cincinnati now has Jose Trevino and Tyler Stephenson as the only two catchers on the 40-man roster. Will Banfield is their most experienced non-roster guy at the moment, even though he has just seven big league games on his track record.
Rortvedt’s career has been up and down but he would be a solid depth option. He showed his potential by having a decent showing with the Rays in 2024. He stepped to the plate 328 times and put up a .228/.317/.303 line. That line led to an 87 wRC+, indicating he was 13% below league average. But since catchers are usually about ten points below the rest of the league, that’s not bad for a part-time backstop. Rortvedt’s glovework also got decent reviews, enough for FanGraphs to credit him with 1.4 wins above replacement for the year, even with that so-so offense.
Things backed up with Tampa last year. He hit .095/.186/.111 in his 70 plate appearances before getting outrighted off the roster. He was flipped to the Dodgers at the deadline as part of the three-team trade which saw the Reds gets Zack Littell. The Dodgers called him up in September when Will Smith was injured and Rortvedt bounced back somewhat, with a .224/.309/.327 line in a small sample of 58 plate appearances for the eventual World Series champs.
The Dodgers liked him enough that they seemingly hoped to keep him around as relatively expensive depth behind Smith and Dalton Rushing. The Reds will now have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to work with. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they could field trade interest but will likely place Rortvedt on waivers at some point in the next five days. If another team claims him, the Reds would likely need to add some veteran depth via minor league deals.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
I think he will be picked up and not get outrighted.
Can the Dodgers claim him back?
Hope so they actually need catching depth.
Regardless of his bat, the staff really thrived pitching to him. They stretch of games he called was extremely impressive, even considering the pitchers doing it.
That seems more like a narrative than fact. I believe Yamamoto, Snell, Ohtani call their own pitches, maybe others. Rotation gets Snell and Glasnow back and Ohtani ramps up, Rortvedt gets playing time due to injuries and all of a sudden he’s the savior. The Brent Honeywell of 2025 award goes to Rortvedt.
What happened to Will Smith and Dalton Rushing?
They actually kept Ben longer than they planned because he was doing such a good job.
Whether he called the pitches or not, they were more successful than expected during that run. Which is why they signed him to a $1m+ contract, trying to block other teams from claiming him.
As someone who watches every game and likes both Smith and Rushing, Ben got the most out of the staff with he caught them. Not a narrative. Go look up that stretch when he caught.
They’re both fine. They were hurt last year and Rortvedt filled in nicely. Rortvedt is a stash in AAA type of catcher in case of injuries. Except he is out of options. Dodgers tried to give him an MLB contract and DFA him to eventually get outrighted to AAA but Reds claimed him. I believe that he’d have to go same process now that the Reds DFA’d him.
He’s a #3 catcher who should be at AAA for depth purposes only. Well the Reds just DFA’d him so they don’t think he’s even worth a 40 spot.
No, he didn’t because like I said those elite SPs for the Dodgers call their own pitches. We kept hearing how he calls a great game.
don’t know the rules but if he has to go on the 40 man its not happening. if they can stash him in AAA heck yeah.
Coincidence is not good pitch calling. Staff in much better place when Rortvedt took over. Fans were making up stuff like pitch calling when most of the elite Dodgers SPs were calling their own pitches. If he were that good he would have had much better offers than what the Dodgers offered him.
Exactly. Dodgers wouldn’t have DFA’d him if they thought he was 40 man roster worthy. Same for Ibanez. Dodgers just trying to stash as many depth pieces as possible at AAA.
@WadeBoggs – yes the Dodgers can claim him back. In fact they just did that with Michael Siani, after a brief clam by the Yankees. These claims could go around in circles all spring.
I’m assuming that as the reigning WS winner LAD has last priority on claims.
Was just wondering with the Reds signing Suarez I imagine he will play 3B, what will they do with Ke’Bryan Hayes now? Could there be a trade inquiry from the Red Sox for Hayes?
He is not playing 3rd over Ke’bryan. Suarez gonna get at bats at first and DH and maybe an occasional day at 3rd but I doubt it. Ke’Bryan most likely the best defensive 3rd baseman in the National League. I also don’t see them trading for Hayes and taking over his expensive contract just to sit on the bench. Also I don’t see him as much or an upgrade for the Red Sox, they probably stay in-house to address 3rd base.
The Reds have a couple of young up and coming corners infield guys who would be playing over Hayes first most likely but I don’t see that happening with what they are paying him, which is why this trade never made sense to me. One guy in Collier is a year away and Stewart is here now but played first when he came up. That is not even mentioning Steer and CES but I wonder if Steer plays LF now and Geno DH, allowing Stewart to just stay at first despite Steer being a gold glove finalist at first.
It will be interesting to see where all these infielders play going forward, especially the best defensive shortstop in the system in Arroyo.
I don’t really follow the reds that much but I don’t really see them singing Geno Suarez and then pivot by playing younger prospects even if they are up and coming. I don’t know Steers profile but he most likely getting at bats in left and maybe 2nd idk if he has that profile. The only way I can see Suarez playing 3rd is if they trade Hayes but that’s easier said than done. It would be a complete salary dump, I don’t think any other team would trade for him unless he starts producing more with the bat.
THE BEST DEFENSIVE THIRD BASEMAN IN THE NL IS
MATT CHAPMAN OF THE
S F GIANTS
Yeah that’s why I said most likely not most definitely. The two are at the top of the food chain when it comes to defensive 3rd basemen that’s for sure.
I LOVE LAMP!
No need to shout
talking baseball?
More like YELLING BASEBALL.
Back to LA
I think it would be a good idea if the Dodgers picked him up. Trade Rushing or at least give him the majority of at-bats in the minors. He’s wasted as the back-up in the majors. And then Ben could be the primary back-up to Smith.
I don’t think he makes it through waivers to the Dodgers unfortunately.
They’ll likely be able to make a trade with him.
If nothing else, this signals that Stephenson will stay around at least this season.
I don’t see how a DFA of Ben Rortvedt effects any transactional move of Tyler Stephenson. Stephenson is the starting catcher of the team, and besides he’s a free agent starting next year.
The Reds extended Trevino instead, despite Stephenson being the starter. Knowing how they operate, I wouldn’t have put it past them to make an unadvised move out of desperation, like their ill advised trade for Lux last year, their signing of Candelario, overpaying for Benson, etc. Getting Geno to sign seemed to take more crazy trade ideas to add offense out of the equation.
Rortvedt was claimed as injury insurance for their two catchers. When they needed the spot they DFAd him.
And how in the world can you say that they overpaid for Benson?
He has had a big up his you know what about the Benson trade. Look at what they gave up for him. Nothing.
And Lux trade? As soon as the prospect became a Dodger he shot up as a prospect. Even with his good year he became overrated once he became a Dodger prospect.
I agree that Benson is not underpaid but I don’t understand why we needed Bledey since we have Benson. We also signed the relief pitcher Thompson for $1.5 million then DFA’d him when we got Bledey. Then claiming a 3rd catcher without options when they had other needs specifically a power hitter. If nobody claims him & Thompson we will be on the hook for an extra $2.5 million + salary. Dodgers can afford that but the Reds can’t so they say.
I thought the same exact thing, looks like Stephenson is staying. Love him as a player but his injury history paired with him playing on a one year deal… I thought the reds would and still might trade him. If the Reds can upgrade the outfield with someone that has a couple of years of control they would have to be open to that idea. Though having Hayes and Trevino hitting 8 and 9 is not ideal. Maybe the plan is keeping him around for this year and Duno will be close to big league ready by next year?
I believe Duno only was in A ball last year so if he goes to AA, he’s still a couple years away in the most optimistic view.
that’s *World Champion* Ben Rortvedt to you.
How can we forget?! Of course!
Did you ever get your wallet and briefcase back?
Dodgers!!
Please don’t claim him. Salazar is better.
Krall is like a woman who finally wakes up and dumps the guy who’s been using her. It took him robbing us of a top prospect and a comp pick for nothing, but I guess we’ll get that back when we trade them Elly and Hunter..
IMO, as a dumbarse Reds fan, we should have waived Blake Dunn. What if one of our top-2 catchers get hurt during spring? Which is something TySteve does on the regular. Then we’re opening the season with Will Banfield as the backup?
Should have just held on to Rortvedt until it was crystal clear he wasn’t needed to begin the season. No one would have claimed Blake Dunn. But this guy will get claimed for sure IMO.
Could be that the savings from offloading Rortvedt’s $1.25M salary was part of the plan for funding Suarez’s salary.
It’s slightly possible, but not probable. $1.25 is not far removed from the minimum salary. Can’t imagine that played a role here. Although, I could be wrong. And I know that because I’m wrong a lot.
I was actually expecting them to DFA Benson but for some reason they decided to keep his low average and strikeouts half the time around. They are just postponing the inevitable and yes, three catchers in case of injury is a good thing to have around.
As far as the cash, I can’t help but think a purge of someone’s contract is coming, like Singer maybe.
3rd string catcher doesn’t need to be on the 26 man roster. He was out of options and Reds FO had to know that at the time. A deal should have been made for a 3rd string catcher with options or do what they ended up doing anyway and sign Banfield to a minor league deal.
As for Benson he is not an everyday player but he does hit right handed pitching better than average, has speed on the bases in close late inning games and is good defensively. With him on the team as a left handed bench bat not sure why we needed Bledey who we DFA’d Keegan Thompson and his $1.5 million salary to make room for. If nobody claims either that seems like $2.5 million wasted for a poor team. At least we had enough to spend on the power bat we needed all along.
Looks like after 72 or so hours of Krall basking in the glory of a Suarez signing, he’s found his way back into the doghouse by DFAing a 3rd string catcher. Laughable!
So will our lineups look like this against right handed starters & left handed starters to give EDLC some time off SS and Stephenson day off behind the plate against lefties since RHP is about 70% of the starters:
Against right handed pitchers
1. Friedl CF
2. Steer 1B
3. EDLC SS
4. Benson RF
5. Suarez DH
6. Bledey LF
7. Marte 3B
8. Calihan 2B
9. Stephenson Catcher
Against left handed starters
1. Friedl CF
2. Steer LF
3. EDLC DH
4. Suarez 1B
5. Marte RF
6. Stewart 2B
7. Mclain SS
8. Trevino Catcher
9. Hayes 3B