Many things have made the Los Angeles Dodgers the super team that they are right now. Obviously, their ability to recruit high-end talent is as good as any other MLB team, as evidenced by all of the signings they’ve made in recent years. Their ability to make outstanding trades also cannot go unnoticed.
What really makes the Dodgers stick out, though, is to find diamonds in the rough. From Blake Treinen, to Max Muncy, to Chris Taylor and even to Michael Kopech, their roster has several players who had little to no value before arriving in Los Angeles. Now, the Dodgers hope that Eddie Rosario could be the next player they get something out of as they reportedly signed him to a minor league deal, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 Houston.
This signing is especially interesting for Dodgers fans because once upon a time, Rosario was their biggest enemy. As a member of the Atlanta Braves, Rosario won the 2021 NLCS MVP against the Dodgers by recording 14 hits in 25 at-bats (.560 BA) and hitting three home runs with nine RBI in Atlanta’s six-game series victory. Rosario was nothing short of dominant against the Dodgers to help Atlanta win the NL Pennant and, eventually, the World Series.
Now, a little more than three years later, Rosario has joined the same organization he played a big role in knocking out.
Dodgers sign former nemesis to minor league deal, hope to revive his career
Rosario was outstanding in the 2021 postseason but for the most part, has struggled since. The 33-year-old struggled mightily in 2022, and, while he was better in 2023, wasn’t good enough for the Braves to exercise his $9 million club option which would’ve kept him around last season.
Instead, Rosario signed with the Washington Nationals and was in the midst of his worst season yet, slashing .183/.226/.329 with seven home runs and 26 RBI in 67 games before eventually being DFA’d and subsequently released in early July.
He wound up latching on again with the injury-riddled Braves soon after being cut from Washington, but had 12 hits in 78 at-bats before again being DFA’d and released. Rosario was worth -2.0 fWAR overall, making him one of the least-valuable players in the sport.
Can Rosario do better than he did in 2024? Probably, but he looked like a player with virtually nothing left in the tank this past season. The odds of him earning regular playing time on this Dodgers team with an enormous amount of outfield depth are probably slim, but if any organization can get Rosario to resemble the quality player he once was, it’d be the Dodgers. They’ve done it before.
