There's a major flaw in the Dodgers' strategy of packing their roster with high-powered veterans for anywhere between three years and a decade, and it's that it's creating a bottleneck of talent in their prospect pipeline. No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing, who has taken over again at the top of the Dodgers' top 30 after Roki Sasaki's graduation to the majors, is the best example of this.
Rushing, now in Triple-A, has come up primarily as a catcher but has taken turns at first base and was even briefly moved to left field last year. He's putting up stellar numbers at the plate so far in Oklahoma City — .308/.424/.514 — and, on Sunday, jumped from No. 25 to No. 15 in MLB Pipeline's updated top 100. However, thanks to the lengths of all of LA's massive contracts at catcher and first, it's been unclear when he was going to appear in the majors.
On Wednesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that the Dodgers may have figured something out, and that they'll be calling up Rushing for his MLB debut.
Dodgers are finally calling up No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing for his major league debut, will DFA Austin Barnes
In response, the team will DFA longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes, according to FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray. This represents a stunning break in tradition. Forget the wily veteran. When Will Smith needs a break, you're up, kid.
It's long felt like that Dodgers have been actively working against Rushing's promotion, intentionally or not. He can't be their primary catcher, because Will Smith has that locked down through 2033. He can't be their first baseman, because Freddie Freeman has that locked down through 2027. He could maybe be their left fielder next year, but he hasn't spent much time there this season and the Dodgers are already planning on going in on the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes.
But right now, with all of the injuries that have mostly plagued the rotation but have also affected position players (Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández still seem to be at least a week away from return), is the perfect time to let Rushing get a few major league at-bats and show the Dodgers what he might be capable of.
This could be his chance to show the team that he deserves to take that outfield spot next season and maybe save the Dodgers a few hundred million dollars by sitting out on Tucker or, if he does well, it could drive his trade value up even further.
Either way, the Dodgers have finally found a way to give Rushing a first crack at things, and he could be just the sparkplug these ailing Dodgers need.
