While it had become increasingly likely the Los Angeles Dodgers would non-tender Cody Bellinger by the 5 p.m. PT deadline on Friday, the team also opted against tendering a contract to Edwin Ríos and Luke Williams.
Williams was claimed off waivers from the Miami Marlins earlier this month, while Ríos had been with the Dodgers since being selected in the sixth round of the 2015 MLB Draft.
The 28-year-old was poised to go through the salary arbitration process for the first time but now somewhat surprisingly finds himself a free agent instead.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the decision to non-tender Ríos stemmed from the organization having a plethora of left-handed hitters on their 40-man roster, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Friedman said the decision to non-tender Rios was a matter of “fit” with the Dodgers having multiple left-handed hitters on their 40-man roster.
As Friedman noted, the Dodgers have a multitude of left-handed bats on the 40-man roster, making Ríos expendable. The group includes Michael Busch, Freddie Freeman, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, James Outman and Jorbit Vivas.
Ríos batted .244/.293/.500 with seven home runs, 17 RBI and a 120 wRC+ this past season, but he never returned to the Dodgers roster after a significant hamstring strain in June. Ríos was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City after completing a rehab assignment.
In parts of four seasons with the Dodgers, Ríos hit .219/.299/.492 with nine doubles, 20 home runs and 43 RBI across 112 games. Given his power potential, it shouldn’t take long for Ríos to catch on with a new team.
Edwin Ríos impressed Freddie Freeman
While Ríos was making an impact for the Dodgers off the bench earlier this year, his contributions were not lost on Freddie Freeman.
“It is very, very hard to not play every day and be able to put up quality ABs,” Freeman said in May. “He’s been doing it every single time he’s in the lineup.
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