Clayton Kershaw Admits He's Disappointed in Dodgers' Decision on Longtime Catcher

Austin Barnes, a two-time World Series champion with Los Angeles, was recently DFA'd to make room for a top prospect.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw and catcher Austin Barnes walk to the dugout before game five of the 2017 NLCS. / Dennis Wierzbicki-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers made an exciting announcement Wednesday, as they called up catcher Dalton Rushing, one of the team's top prospects, after a torrid start for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets. Unfortunately, every baseball promotion is paired with a player leaving the big league roster. For the Dodgers, the addition of Rushing means that Austin Barnes, an L.A. catcher since 2015, has been designated for assignment.

While Barnes has never started more than 62 games in a season for the Dodgers (2019), he's been a valuable contributor for the team for more than a decade. A member of the 2020 and '24 World Series teams, Barnes came through in a big way in that first championship run, going 8-for-25 with three RBI and four runs scored, highlighted by a big Game 3 home run against the Tampa Bay Rays.

One notable Dodgers star who will miss Barnes: pitcher Clayton Kershaw. The future Hall of Famer admitted he and a number of his teammates are "disappointed" by the Barnes move, even if he's excited to see what Rushing can do.

"I think everybody was surprised. Yeah. It's sad," Kershaw said, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. Barnesy's one of my best friends on or off the field. You won't find a guy that competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anybody, and he always found a way, and he came up with some big moments for us throughout the years. I think a lot of people forget he was starting a lot of playoff games and winning a lot of games for us, getting big knocks.

"It's sad to see someone like that go who's been here that long, and I think we all kind of feel it. It's no disrespect to Dalton. I know he deserves it, and he's going to be a great player. It's just for me, personally, I think for a lot of guys on the team, it was disappointing to see him go."

Barnes has struggled at the plate this year, hitting just .213/.233/.286 with a pair of RBIs on the year, while Rushing is hitting .308/.424/.515 with five home runs. The move makes sense as L.A. looks to add some pop and depth, but it makes sense that Kershaw and other longterm members of the team hate to see Barnes depart this way.

---

More MLB on Sports Illustrated

feed