Why the Dodgers are parting ways with Santiago Espinal for complicated reason

Santiago Espinal may have played his last game with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That's because on Monday, the Dodgers designated Espinal for assignment.

That's a roster move that puts Espinal on waivers and removes him from the 40-man roster. Another team can now claim Espinal off waivers.

Even if he makes it through waivers, most veterans are able to opt for free agency rather than an assignment to Triple-A.

The Dodgers could always reunite with Espinal, but this move ends his tenure in Hollywood for now.

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Why did the Dodgers get rid of Santiago Espinal?

Part of the reason is that Espinal is hitting .220 with limited power and that the Dodgers have other infield depth besides him, but that's not all.

There's also financial implications here.

The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya wrote this on X:

While redundancy (having two right-handed hitting utility types) was likely the biggest driver in the decision, a source said that Santiago Espinal has not reached his renegotiated guarantee date. That means the Dodgers aren't on the hook for his full $2.5 million for 2026. https://t.co/nMVFqYl1mV

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That essentially means that a date coming up soon was set up to be the time when Espinal's full contract was guaranteed.

Instead, he received some unreported fraction of his value, and the Dodgers don't have to pay out the rest.

L.A. may have moved on from Espinal at some point anyway with Enrique Hernandez returning, but the chance to save some money probably didn't make it a tough decision, either.

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