Santiago Espinal cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent after a second time of being designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers this season.
Espinal was DFA’d on June 16 when the Dodgers activated Tommy Edman off the 60-day injured list. After clearing waivers, he had the option to stick in the organization and report to Triple-A Oklahoma City, but he instead decided to test the free agent market.
Espinal was in his second stint with the Dodgers after signing with them as a Minor League free agent just before Spring Training. He was signed to provide depth while Kiké Hernández and Edman were on the IL to begin the season.
Upon Hernández’s return on May 25, the Dodgers designated Espinal for assignment for the first time. In that instance he also cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent.
However, once Hernández was injured again and returned to the IL, Espinal was re-signed four days later. The Dodgers optioned Hyeseong Kim to bring Espinal back as the team needed a right-handed infield bat.
Espinal hit .268/.276/.375 with three doubles, one home run and seven RBI in 36 games over his two stints with the Dodgers. He primarily played second base and third base, but also appeared in three games at first base.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke highly of the veteran utilityman both in his first and second stints with the club.
“I think that with a star-studded team, you also have to have guys that know their roles,” Roberts said after Espinal was re-signed. “Espy is a guy that is good on the team, understands his value, he’s ready when called upon, I trust him defensively, and I just like him versus left-handed pitching.”
Unfortunately for Espinal, he found himself to be the victim of a roster crunch, and with Edman’s return, his role as the right-handed utility infielder became redundant.
The Dodgers have also wanted to continue giving Alex Freeland opportunities at second base against right-handed pitching, and Ryan Ward has shown himself to be a quality bat and platoon partner in left field.
If neither of those were the case, the Dodgers may have valued keeping Espinal around more as depth.
Santiago Espinal’s seamless fit with Dodgers
The 31-year-old quickly made a good impression on Roberts in Spring Training, who said it would be hard to envision Espinal not making the team out of camp.
Roberts also shared that Espinal quickly got acclimated to being part of the Dodgers and said he fit in “seamlessly” since signing with them.
Being able to acclimate quickly may be part of why Espinal is looking for another opportunity rather than staying with the Dodgers. His path to an MLB job would also likely be more open with another organization.
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