Dodgers DFA former All-Star reliever, demote top prospect after Will Smith injury

Though Will Smith's injury diagnosis was (somewhat) a sigh of relief for the Los Angeles Dodgers, that didn't mean it wouldn't require some roster shuffling. The team is still being cautious as Smith is expected to undergo a CT scan and he's probably not going to play this weekend.

That means LA needs catching help ... right now. Acting swiftly, the Dodgers called up Ben Rortvedt to the big league roster after acquiring the catcher at the trade deadline in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

But the moving parts didn't end there. Because they needed room on both the active and 40-man rosters, they optioned infielder (and top prospect) Alex Freeland to Triple-A Oklahoma City and designated reliever Alexis Díaz for assignment.

Freeland logged 29 games with the Dodgers and was a helpful defensive substitute with Max Muncy on the shelf, but his bat was essentially a non-factor. He hit .190 with a .601 OPS and struck out 36% of the time. He's no doubt a promising young talent, but there's more work for him to do in the minor leagues. Freeland's made quite the ascension over the last two seasons, so it's not the end of the world that his bat didn't come around in limited action.

On the other hand, the Díaz experiment is over. After acquiring him in late May in a shocking trade with the Cincinnati Reds, the Dodgers took three months to try and get the former All-Star back on track. No dice.

Dodgers DFA Alexis Díaz, option Alex Freeland, activate Ben Rortvedt

Díaz only got nine innings of action at the big league level with LA and finished with a 5.00 ERA and 5.36 FIP. Though he had a respectable 1.00 WHIP, he allowed two home runs and hit two batters. Somehow, it was worse at Triple-A.

The right-hander had an 8.10 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across 10 innings, allowing two homers and an eye-popping 10 walks. The Dodgers took about three weeks working with him behind the scenes before sending him to OKC on June 18. His last appearance came on Aug. 30 and he surrendered a home run in an 8-2 loss.

We're not going to go as far to say as the Dodgers got "humbled" in this trade with the Reds just because they couldn't revive Díaz, who was an All-Star two years ago. LA took a respectable chance, surrendered very little, didn't waste any resources, gave it the old college try, and just got a number of relievers back from injury to fill the bullpen voids anyway.

It's a shame it didn't work out, but Dodgers fans would agree that nobody got their hopes up too high knowing what he had gone through in Cincinnati dating back to 2024.