The Austin Barnes era comes to an end
A shocking move
It’s not often you’re truly blown away with a roster move, but Wednesday provided two of those.
The first came as a shock, as it was reported LA’s top prospect Dalton Rushing would be getting called up. I’ve written about Rushing a number of times over the years, about how the Dodgers should trade him with there not being a spot on the roster for him.
With Rushing getting the call, I tried to go through a number of hypotheticals as to why he’d be on the roster. My first thought was an injury happened to Will Smith and he’d be the replacement. With Smith playing the night before just fine, that didn’t seem right.
My next thought was about them trying Rushing out in left field again. Although he’s a catcher, he spent time in left field last season as a potential way to get him playing time in the majors. That experiment ended this season as Rushing has spent only a few innings out there. Still, I thought the team might decide to ignore the defense and do whatever it took to get him out there.
There was one hypothetical that never even crossed my mind. It was one that likely didn’t cross 99.9% of Dodgers’ fans minds. Like seriously, I never once even thought about it because I didn’t think there’d be any chance of that happening.
Then, the notification came in.
The Dodgers had designated Austin Barnes for assignment.
The shock was already high with the Rushing call-up, but this was truly a moment that took your breath away as a Dodgers fan.
Barnes was the longest tenured position player on the team. He had been with the Dodgers since 2014. He was known as ‘The Captain’ among players in the clubhouse. There’s no way the Dodgers just did that?
They had an out this offseason, but instead opted to pick up his contract for another season. They wanted him back for at least one more season. Despite horrible numbers offensively and defensively, Barnes has stuck around due to his value with the pitchers and in the clubhouse. He was only playing twice a week at most, so he wasn’t really hurting the team in any capacity.
The Dodgers decided that it was time for a new start. Instead of keeping the negative production with Barnes, they opted to go with the top prospect in Rushing.
Barnes finishes his career with 612 career games in LA. He recorded 338 hits, scored 206 runs, hit 35 home runs and drove in 162 runs. His best season by far came in 2017, when he posted a 2.5 WAR. Barnes posted a .895 OPS and hit eight home runs. His 38 RBI were a career-high.
Aside from 2017, Barnes has been LA’s backup catcher for 10 of 11 years. He did all you could ask from him and more.
Again, the production clearly wasn’t there in 2025, but the Dodgers could live with it. They’ve lived with it every year aside from 2017. This came as an absolute bombshell.
Clearly the Dodgers are ready to move in a different direction with this move, as Rushing is a top prospect in baseball for a reason. He owns a 145 wRC+ this season. He owned a 146 wRC+ last season. In 2023 it was 147. You can’t get anymore consistent than that.
Rushing was blocked by Barnes. His only real route towards playing was with an injury to Will Smith. Well, the Dodgers found a different avenue to go down in order to make that happen.
This is tough. On one hand, it’s so exciting to see a top prospect get their opportunity. Rushing can be a real difference maker with the Dodgers and it’ll be fun to see how he looks. On the other hand, it’s a brutal blow to see Barnes leave. I mean think about it, how many players stick with one team for 11 YEARS? Let alone players who aren’t even All-Stars. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the Dodgers to break the news to Barnes.
Just a brutal part to the game.
Whatever happens next with Austin Barnes, we’ll miss him. We’ll always welcome him back to Dodger Stadium with open arms. Thanks for everything, captain!
His wife went to Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. Austin signed a ball and bat to auction off for the baseball team. I won the auction and will forever cherish that bar and ball.
I'd bet that Barnes is snapped up by a club (hopefully the dodgers) to work on the coaching staff basically immediately (or as soon as he decides he wants to go that way).