The Los Angeles Dodgers are designating catcher Austin Barnes for assignment to call up Dalton Rushing, per multiple reports.
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Dodgers will designate Austin Barnes for assignment, league sources said. Was the Dodgers’ longest-tenured position player. https://t.co/yE1XRfcGk0
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 14, 2025
The move signals the end of of a long union between the Dodgers and their longest-tenured player not named Clayton Kershaw.
Rushing has an undeniable bat and will hope to provide his team with a much-needed boost on offense. The 24-year-old is batting .308/.424/.514 with an OPS of .938 in Triple-A this year.
Barnes had seen better days at the plate in his career as he was hitting .214 in 42 at-bats in 2025. He added nine hits, a pair of RBIs and 14 strikeouts this season. Defensively, he had allowed 15 stolen bases across 12 games played.
With all the recent changes in Los Angeles over the last decade, Barnes has been one of the few constants.
The longtime backstop made his way to the Dodgers via an offseason trade ahead of the 2015 campaign. It sent Dee Gordon and ironically Miguel Rojas among other pieces to the Marlins for southpaw Andrew Heaney, right-hander Chris Hatcher, Barnes and just as ironically, Kiké Hernández.
Austin Barnes has spent his entire 11-year MLB career with the Dodgers.
He played in 612 regular season games and 44 postseason games.
He won two World Series with the team (2020, 2024). He caught the final out of the 2020 World Series.
A true professional through and through. pic.twitter.com/7wblFKKpGT
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) May 14, 2025
Offensively, Barnes’ best season came in 2017 where he batted .289/.408/.486 with an incredible .895 OPS, adding 38 RBIs and eight home runs in 218 at-bats. All of these marks would be career-highs for the back stop on the Dodgers’ way to the National League pennant, with his eight home runs being tied once again in 2022.
In the 2020 World Series, Barnes hit his second career postseason home run during Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays on the way to breaking the 1-1 series tie and eventually hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Barnes will be missed behind the dish for the Dodgers, but he leaves behind quite the legacy as a consistent presence behind home plate.
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Photo Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
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