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Alden Gonzalez
The Los Angeles Dodgers released veteran utility player Chris Taylor on Sunday, cutting ties with a longtime fixture who had been relegated to the end of the bench in recent weeks.
Taylor, a Dodger since 2016, will be taken off the roster to make room for another utility player, Tommy Edman, who was activated off the injured list ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Angels.
By releasing Taylor, the Dodgers will pay out the final year of his four-year, $60 million contract and allow him to be a free agent.
His departure comes four days after the Dodgers cut ties with longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes in order to make room for top prospect Dalton Rushing. Outside of Clayton Kershaw, Taylor and Barnes represented the Dodgers’ two longest-tenured members.
The decision to release Taylor seemingly signals that Hyeseong Kim, the rookie second baseman from South Korea, will stay in the major leagues, even after Teoscar Hernandez is activated off the injured list in the coming days. Kim, a speedy left-handed hitter, is 14-for-31 since being called up from Triple-A.
Taylor has appeared in just 35 games this season and accumulated only 28 plate appearances, during which he collected seven hits and 13 strikeouts without drawing a walk. Taylor’s only discernible path to playing time came as a late-game defensive replacement in left field. His opportunities for major league at-bats became so infrequent that the Dodgers occasionally had minor league pitchers make the drive from nearby Rancho Cucamonga to pitch to Taylor so he could see velocity.
Not long ago, though, Taylor was a core member of highly successful Dodgers teams, a clear embodiment of the front office’s infatuation with versatility. After struggling to break through with the Seattle Mariners, Taylor was dealt to the Dodgers in June 2016, changed his swing and altered the path of his career. From 2017 to 2023, Taylor slashed .256/.336/.444, put up 17.7 FanGraphs wins above replacement and saw frequent playing time at six different positions: left field, center field, right field, third base, second base and shortstop.
His best moments came in October. Taylor was co-MVP in the 2017 National League Championship Series, along with Justin Turner. In Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS, Taylor made a miraculous catch in the left-center-field gap to preserve a one-run lead and eventually propel the Dodgers to victory.
During the 2021 playoffs, Taylor hit the walk-off home run in the wild-card game against the St. Louis Cardinals, then hit three home runs against the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.
But Taylor slumped badly during the 2024 season, batting .202/.298/.300 in 87 games. And as the 2025 season played out, it became clear that Taylor didn’t necessarily have a role on this era’s most star-laden Dodgers roster.
