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Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced the tough news of designating catcher Austin Barnes for assignment on Wednesday. Barnes was the longest-tenured position player, having made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2015.
Austin Barnes helped the Dodgers win the World Series in both 2020 and 2024. When asked about the decision to designate Barnes for assignment, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts said (starts at 0:24):
“This was certainly a tough conversation. Austin is a Dodger for life. He helped us win the championship. Caught the last pitch in 2020 in the World Series. And he's done a lot of great things in the community, for the Dodgers, for myself personally.”
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“...Austin is a guy that's far beyond the numbers. He's a glue guy. He held guys accountable. He was tough. I mean, he had a very innate ability to get big hits and he was respected across the board. And so when you lose a presence like that, there's always kind of, pause, I guess."
As a corresponding move, the Dodgers promoted top prospect Dalton Rushing from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Speaking about Rushing’s arrival and Barnes’ departure, manager Dave Roberts said:
“But when we bring in a talent like, Dalton and the way he's performed, we feel good about the culture we have already in place, but how Austin's impacted our pitching staff. That's going to continue to go on.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Dalton Rushing with the 40th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft. During the 2025 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Rushing played in 31 games, posting a .308 batting average with five home runs and 17 RBIs.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reminisces favorite moments managing Austin Barnes
Austin Barnes and Dave Roberts both began their journey with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015. Roberts, who was named the Dodgers’ manager in November of that year, reminisced about some of his favorite moments managing Barnes both from the team's 2020 World Series-winning season.
“Yeah, the hit against Blake Snell to go to the pen. That was a good one,” Roberts said. “And the arms up embracing Julio in Texas. That was a great moment. He's not a very emotional guy, but some of the memes that I've seen in the postseason, but I just I love that guy.”
So far in the 2025 season, Austin Barnes has played in 13 games, going 9-for-42 with four runs scored, two RBIs, one walk, a .214 batting average, and a .519 OPS.
