Although Chris Taylor had his Los Angeles Dodgers career come to an unceremonious end, he continued playing this season by signing with the Los Angeles Angels.
In keeping active with a team, Taylor has now reached 10 years of Major League service time to become part of an exclusive group of players that dates back more than a century.
Accruing 10 years of service time in the Major Leagues is considered a significant benchmark as fewer than 10% of players in MLB history have accomplished the feat. James Paxton, Mookie Betts, Blake Treinen and Kiké Hernández all accomplished the feat with the Dodgers last season.
In Taylor’s case, if he had still been with the Dodgers at the time of reaching 10 years of Major League service, he would have obtained a full no-trade clause by way of 10-and-5 rights. Meaning, 10 seasons in the Majors with the last five coming on one team.
As part of an ongoing campaign, the MLBPA each season recognizes those who reach 10 Years of Service Time — the holy grail for Players. Today, we tip our caps to Chris Taylor, who achieved the feat this August!
Taylor was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2012 and made his MLB… pic.twitter.com/Q79IAqGUW9
— MLBPA (@MLBPA) August 29, 2025
Taylor made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2014 and also played for the team in parts of the next two seasons. He was then traded to the Dodgers in 2016, and went on to become an integral member of their success.
Taylor’s ascension into a super utilityman included earning co-MVP honors of the National League Championship Series in 2017. He was part of the Dodgers winning the World Series in 2020 and 2024, and earned All-Star Game honors in 2021.
Taylor became a free agent after the 2021 season and re-signed with the Dodgers on a four-year, $60 million contract the night before the MLB lockout began. His deal included a $12 million team option for the 2026 season.
Why did Dodgers release Chris Taylor?
Taylor was struggling this year and seemingly lost his roster spot due in part to the emergence of Hyeseong Kim in his rookie season. Taylor’s release came on the heels of Austin Barnes getting designated for assignment.
“This has been a very emotional week for all of us,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at the time. “Barnesy and C.T. 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, division race, 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 position to best win a World Series this year.
“Doesn’t mean that it was easy, but ultimately felt like it was the right thing to do. … I feel like our culture is in a significantly stronger spot than it was five years ago. And I hope five years from now, it’ll be even stronger.
“And if that’s the case, their fingerprints are still going to be on that. The lasting impact that those guys have had is real. And so again, that’s what made it so difficult and so emotional.
“But balancing that with our roster and how to win the most games. And we’ve got a lot of guys who’ve been here a long time still, and we’ve got some new guys as well. We talk about this every off season, it’s a really delicate balance of figuring out the right way to handle the stability and continuity, versus infusing some new guys.”
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