Santiago Espinal has cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The Dodgers designated the veteran infielder for assignment on Tuesday when Tommy Edman returned from injury.
Espinal has been outrighted twice this season. The first came when Kiké Hernández returned from the injured list. Hernández quickly went back down with injury, so the Dodgers re-signed Espinal as soon he cleared waivers. The roster fit is tougher with Edman back, as it’d probably require the utilityman accepting a minor league deal and reporting to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
A glove-first infielder, Espinal impressed the Dodgers on a non-roster invite to Spring Training. He hit .268 in 36 games this year but only walked once and recorded four extra-base hits. Espinal had a couple league average offensive seasons with the Blue Jays from 2021-22. He’s a .247/.296/.328 hitter in more than 1000 trips to the plate over the past four seasons.
