Dodgers Make Telling Roster Decision With Santiago Espinal

The Los Angeles Dodgers have gone through the process of making Spring Training roster cuts over the last two days, but mixed in an addition on Wednesday by selecting the contract of Santiago Espinal.

In doing so, Espinal is now on the Dodgers' 40-man roster that is again full. A spot had been opened when Jack Suwinski was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City upon clearing waivers.

Why the Santiago Espinal roster decision matters

Now that Espinal is on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, it clears the final hurdle to having him on the team at the start of the season. Espinal's performance this spring had him trending in that direction for multiple weeks.

"It’d be hard to imagine him not being on the team," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts Roberts said earlier this month regarding Espinal's odds for making the Opening Day roster.

Hours later, the 31-year-old hit two home runs and finished with six RBI. Overall this spring, Espinal is batting .389/.432/.639 with three doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI while having appeared in 15 Cactus League games.

Espinal also was in the Dodgers lineup for their World Baseball Classic exhibition game against Team Mexico, which is not included in official Spring Training stats. He went 2-for-3 with one RBI in the Dodgers' 7-5 win.

Espinal is a former 10th-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 MLB Draft. However, the Dominican Republic native made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020. Espinal spent four seasons with Toronto before playing for the Cincinnati Reds from 2024-25.

Espinal's time with the Blue Jays overlapped with that of Teoscar Hernández, and now the two are poised to become Dodgers teammates.

Over his Major League career, Espinal has hit .261/.316/.349 with 80 doubles, 20 home runs, 160 RBI across 578 games. Espinal was an All-Star with the Blue Jays in 2022, when he finished with career highs in doubles (25), RBI (51) and games played (135).

Espinal has a career 107 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, which is notable given he figures to platoon with Hyeseong Kim at second base and occasionally start in place of Max Muncy.

Espinal has experience at third base (262 games), second base (219) and shortstop (56). He additionally has spent some time at both corner outfield positions and also made two pitching appearances for the Blue Jays in 2020.

The Dodgers have primarily utilized Espinal at third base this spring, but he's also spent time playing first base, second base, right field and been the designated hitter.

In some regard, Espinal was signed to a Minor League contract as the organizational replacement to Andy Ibáñez. He signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers during the offseason but was designated for assignment three weeks later and subsequently claimed off waivers by the Athletics.

Because Espinal is out of Minor League options, he will need to remain on the Dodgers' active roster or be exposed to waivers.