The Chris Taylor period in Los Angeles is over.
On Sunday, Taylor was launched by the Dodgers, making him the second longtime crew veteran, together with former backup catcher Austin Barnes, to be lower free by the crew within the final week.
In corresponding roster strikes, the Dodgers activated Tommy Edman from the injured checklist and had been anticipated so as to add pitcher Lou Trivino to the 40-man roster. Trivino was in Los Angeles on Sunday — occupying the identical locker stall Taylor used to — after fellow reliever Kirby Yates suffered a hamstring harm Saturday evening.
Taylor was within the final season of a four-year, $60-million contract with the Dodgers. The previous All-Star was the longest-tenured place participant on the roster, after Barnes was designated for task final week. However, similar to with Barnes, Taylor’s declining manufacturing, coupled with the emergence of a youthful and extra productive various in rookie utilityman Hyeseong Kim, left the 34-year-old expendable.
Thus, for the second time within the final week, the Dodgers parted methods with one of the vital acquainted faces of the crew, triggering one other shake-up in an suddenly-evolving clubhouse.
Taylor as soon as was one of many largest success tales within the Dodgers group. Acquired in a low-profile commerce with the Seattle Mariners for Zach Lee in 2016, Taylor grew to become a defensively versatile slugger in Los Angeles, batting .265 from 2017-2021 with 78 dwelling runs and 292 RBIs with a revamped swing and more and more outstanding position.
He grew to become an All-Star for the primary time in 2021, then punctuated the season by hitting a walk-off dwelling run within the Nationwide League Wild Card Recreation towards the St. Louis Cardinals and three dwelling runs in an elimination recreation towards the Atlanta Braves within the NL Championship Sequence. The next offseason, the Dodgers signed him to his four-year extension simply earlier than Main League Baseball’s lockout of the gamers. The hope was that he can be a cornerstone of the franchise’s future.
As an alternative, he’s been a shell of his previous self ever since.
After present process elbow surgical procedure after the 2021 season, Taylor struggled to take care of the mechanics in his swing. In 2022 and 2023, he batted a mixed .228 with a subpar .708 OPS.
Final yr, the underside fell utterly out, with Taylor setting profession lows in batting common (.202), OPS (.598) and residential runs (4) whereas enjoying simply 87 video games.
This season, Taylor was the final man on the Dodgers’ bench, beginning simply six of the crew’s first 46 video games whereas batting .200 with two doubles and homers.
For some time, it was a tenable scenario. The Dodgers had a participant whom they trusted to play a number of positions, with out having to fret about discovering him common at-bats.
In latest weeks, nonetheless, Kim’s emergence as a slick-fielding, left-handed bat with game-changing pace altered the equation. With Edman and Teoscar Hernández each nearing returns from the injured checklist, the Dodgers had been dealing with a roster crunch. And slightly than ship Kim (who’s batting .452 with three stolen bases in 14 video games) again right down to the minors, they elected to maneuver Taylor off the roster as an alternative, turning the web page on one of many 5 remaining place gamers from each their 2020 and 2024 World Sequence-winning groups.
