Santiago Espinal has remained part of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization after getting designated for assignment as he cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Espinal was DFA’d at the beginning of the week in a corresponding move to Kiké Hernández getting activated off the 60-day injured list. The Dodgers could have chosen a different path, such as optioning Hyeseong Kim, but that would’ve required a secondary move to make room for Hernández on their 40-man roster.
“Brandon Gomes and Santiago had a conversation today. He chose not to come in,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Monday. “I’ll lob a call to him in the next couple of days to thank him for everything he did for us. He was fantastic.
“So, obviously, we had a tough decision to make with activating Kiké. But Santiago was great for me, great for the team. I think the thing is we were very forthright up front about the expectations. I think he respected that. Complete pro.”
As fate would have it, Hernández’s return lasted all of four at-bats as he was put back on the injured list because of a left oblique strain.
Espinal appeared in 26 games for the Dodgers and went 9-for-41 (.220) with three doubles, one home run and four RBI before the DFA. He was primarily utilized as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement, seeing time at three different positions in the infield.
Dodgers reworked Santiago Espinal’s contract
Espinal signed a Minor League contract with the Dodgers during the offseason and made their Opening Day roster after an impressive showing during Spring Training. His deal included a deadline by which the contract would become fully guaranteed, though it was extended when the Dodgers’ first roster crunch approached.
That was resolved by sending Alex Freeland down to Oklahoma City as the corresponding move to Mookie Betts returning. The Dodgers then wound up putting Espinal on waivers before his contract became fully guaranteed.
Now the 31-year-old is going to be at the Triple-A level and conceivably could make his way back up to the Dodgers roster if they find themselves in need of an infielder. However, he would have to get added back onto their 40-man roster as well.
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