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The Chris Taylor era in Los Angeles is over.
On Sunday, Taylor was released by the Dodgers, making him the second longtime team veteran, along with former backup catcher Austin Barnes, to be cut loose by the team in the last week.
In corresponding roster moves, the Dodgers activated Tommy Edman from the injured list and added pitcher Lou Trivino to the 40-man roster. Trivino was in Los Angeles on Sunday — occupying the same locker stall Taylor used to — after fellow reliever Kirby Yates was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain he suffered Saturday night.
“This has been a very emotional week for all of us,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “Barnsey and CT have been in the middle of some huge moments for this organization. Both guys have left an indelible mark on our culture and where we’re at at this point. So the decisions were incredibly difficult. The conversations were tough. But with where we are, the division race, the composition of roster, everything. We felt like this was in the Dodgers’ best interest in terms of how to win as many games and put us in a position to best win the World Series this year.”
Columnist Dylan Hernández writes that the Dodgers need to make liberal use of the injured list. Release Chris Taylor. Do whatever is necessary for Hyeseong Kim to remain in Los Angeles.
Taylor was in the last season of a four-year, $60-million contract with the Dodgers. The former All-Star was the longest-tenured position player on the roster, after Barnes was designated for assignment last week. But, just like with Barnes, Taylor’s declining production, coupled with the emergence of a younger and more productive alternative in rookie utilityman Hyeseong Kim, left the 34-year-old expendable.
Thus, for the second time in the last week, the Dodgers parted ways with one of the most familiar faces of the team, triggering another shake-up in a suddenly-evolving clubhouse.
“We didn’t feel like coming into the season this was something that we would necessarily be doing in May,” Friedman said. “But you learn things and things change and things evolve and play out. We just have a lot more information at this point in May than we do before the season. I wouldn’t say it was something that we thought was fait accompli, and was necessarily going to happen. But with where we were, all things factored in, while not easy we felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Taylor once was one of the biggest success stories in the Dodgers organization. Acquired in a low-profile trade with the Seattle Mariners for Zach Lee in 2016, Taylor became a defensively versatile slugger in Los Angeles, batting .265 from 2017-2021 with 78 home runs and 292 RBIs with a revamped swing and increasingly prominent role.
He became an All-Star for the first time in 2021, then punctuated the season by hitting a walk-off home run in the National League Wild Card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals and three home runs in an elimination game against the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series. The following offseason, the Dodgers signed him to his four-year extension just before Major League Baseball’s lockout of the players. The hope was that he would be a cornerstone of the franchise’s future.
Instead, he’s been a shell of his old self ever since.
After undergoing elbow surgery after the 2021 season, Taylor struggled to maintain the mechanics in his swing. In 2022 and 2023, he batted a combined .228 with a subpar .708 OPS.
Last year, the bottom fell completely out, with Taylor setting career lows in batting average (.202), OPS (.598) and home runs (four) while playing just 87 games.
This season, Taylor was the last man on the Dodgers’ bench, starting just six of the team’s first 46 games while batting .200 with two doubles and homers.
Friedman said he believed Taylor’s injury history — which also included a left foot fracture in 2022, a right knee injury in 2023 and a groin strain last season — were a main factor in his decline, but also acknowledged the difficulties that came with his increasing lack of playing time.
“With a lot of guys, but with CT as well, it’s hard to play once a week, it’s a tough role, and in a vacuum isolated to him, probably not the best role for him to have success,” Friedman said. “But just with the way our roster has played out, that’s how it’s evolved. But I know he’s looking forward to trying getting an opportunity to play more often, and he’s got a chip on his shoulder, and I certainly would not bet against him.”
The Dodgers are calling up top prospect Dalton Rushing and designating longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes for assignment.
For a while, Taylor’s presence on the Dodgers’ active roster was a tenable situation. The Dodgers had a player whom they trusted to play multiple positions, without having to worry about finding him regular at-bats.
In recent weeks, however, Kim’s emergence as a slick-fielding, left-handed bat with game-changing speed altered the equation.
With Edman back and Teoscar Hernández nearing his own return from the injured list, the Dodgers were facing a roster crunch. And rather than send Kim (who is batting .452 with three stolen bases in 14 games) back to the minors, they elected to move Taylor off the roster instead, turning the page on one of the five remaining position players from both their 2020 and 2024 World Series-winning teams.
“He was a huge part of so much success that we’ve enjoyed,” Friedman said. “Can’t say enough about the human, the worker, the teammate, the player. He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around. We’ll always have a place for CT. And whenever he’s done playing four, five, six years from now, I hope, he’s always connected to the Dodgers.”
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