Dodgers release former All-Star Chris Taylor, cutting ties with another established veteran

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LOS ANGELES — Chris Taylor, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ longest-tenured position player whose postseason heroics and versatility made him a beloved figure and a well-compensated All-Star, was released Sunday morning.

Taylor was in the final year of a four-year, $60 million deal and had $16 million guaranteed left on his deal entering the season. He held the title of the Dodgers’ longest-tenured position player for a grand total of four days. The Dodgers already designated longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes for assignment on Wednesday to make room for prized catching prospect Dalton Rushing.

The Dodgers activated Tommy Edman off the injured list to take Taylor’s spot on the roster, which was tenuous even as the club opted to keep him and roster him for the 2025 season. Taylor received scant playing time; he appeared in 28 of the Dodgers’ 46 games, essentially a defensive replacement in left field in the ninth inning. He received 35 plate appearances, going 7-for-35 with 13 strikeouts and playing so infrequently that on more than one occasion, the organization brought in minor league pitchers to face Taylor in simulated games hours before first pitch.

Cutting ties with Taylor likely clears the path for Hyeseong Kim to remain with the big-league club. The Korean infielder, who signed a three-year deal with the Dodgers this winter, has gone 14-for-31 to start his major-league career while invigorating the roster with his speed and giving the Dodgers a much-needed left-handed bat off the bench.

Moving on from Taylor also allows him to seek a career milestone elsewhere: Taylor is less than a year from reaching 10 years of major-league service.

Thank you, CT3. pic.twitter.com/WhX5fr4t53

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 18, 2025

So ends the Dodgers chapter for Taylor, who emerged as one of the club’s preeminent player-development success stories. The club acquired him from the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Zach Lee in 2016. By the following season, Taylor and his revamped swing won co-MVP of the 2017 National League Championship Series, and he led off for the club in the World Series against the Houston Astros. He swatted a leadoff home run in Game 1 off Dallas Keuchel, the first of several integral postseason moments for the eventual two-time World Series champion.

A year later, Taylor’s sliding catch in left field during the 2018 NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers helped the Dodgers hold on for a second consecutive pennant. Years later, the catch was immortalized in the form of a bobblehead.

Taylor’s career as a Dodger likely peaked in 2021, when he was named an All-Star for the first time and finished with a .782 OPS in 148 games while manning seven different positions. That October, he prolonged the Dodgers’ season twice — first, with a walk-off home run to topple the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Game, and then with a three-homer game in Game 5 against the Atlanta Braves to extend the NLCS by one more game. That winter, in the hours before baseball’s lockout, he re-signed with the Dodgers on the lucrative deal that has become the center of the narrative around Taylor ever since.

He appeared in 350 games for the Dodgers after signing the deal, producing a .676 OPS while accruing 1.6 Wins Above Replacement.

The Dodgers also selected reliever Lou Trivino’s contract on Sunday, league sources told The Athletic, with veteran Kirby Yates expected to hit the injured list after injuring his right hamstring during Saturday’s loss to the Angels.

(Photo by Elsa / Getty Images)

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