Luken Baker spent four days on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster in August and played the final two months of the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Baker fell into the latter category, which could have been foreseen when he was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals on August 4. Baker has only played first base and designated hitter offensively as a professional since getting drafted by St. Louis in 2018. The Dodgers have Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani at those positions, which limited the potential avenues Baker might have been able to contribute in the majors.
But the 6’4, 285-pound Baker was a big dude who hit 85 home runs in 317 games for Triple-A Memphis from 2022-24, including winning International League MVP in 2023, and was worth the flier in the Dodgers’ eyes.
Stats: no games with Dodgers, .235/.366/.324 in 19 games for St. Louis
Salary: $766,100, pro-rated for his time in the majors with Cardinals (likely roughly $172,990)
On September 14 for Oklahoma City, Baker homered twice and drove in four runs in a rout of Sacramento.