The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of Santiago Espinal, which adds him to their 40-man roster and sets him up to make their Opening Day roster.
The Dodgers signed Espinal to a Minor League contract and invited him to Spring Training in the middle of February. The club was looking for a right-handed infielder after losing Andy Ibáñez to the Athletics.
The 31-year-old is hitting .412 with two homers and 13 RBI in 34 at-bats this Spring Training, and has impressed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to the point where he became close to a roster lock.
Espinal can play all over the field, giving the Dodgers a versatile player off the bench, and can put together a quality at-bat to give anyone a day off when needed.
Espinal has played parts of six seasons at the Major League level, last appearing in a game for the Cincinnati Reds in 2025. He also spent four years with the Toronto Blue Jays.
He had his best season in 2022 with the Blue Jays when he was named an All-Star and hit .267/.322/.370 with a 100 wRC+ and 2.4 WAR for the season. But outside of two years with Toronto, Espinal has been a below league-average hitter, slashing .261/.316/.349 with an 85 wRC+ for his career.
Espinal hit just .243/.292/.282 in 114 games last season, but he set his career-high in home runs with nine during the 2024 season while hitting .246/.295/.356.
Santiago Espinal focused on helping Dodgers win
Rather than competing for a starting job, Espinal knows his way to impact the Dodgers is going to mostly be in spot starts and off the bench.
He has been focused on improving from his poor 2025 season and finding ways to contribute to the Dodgers in any way possible.
He has experience at every position except center field and catcher. Espinal has primarily played third base this spring, making appearances at second base and first base as well.
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