Dodgers snag former Pirates up-and-comer who got DFA'd after 2-year spiral

The Dodgers have made a couple of bizarre roster moves this offseason, all in the name of depth. There was DFA'ing Michael Siani and signing Andy Ibáñez to a major league deal, only to lose Ibáñez to the Athletics after reclaiming Siani.

There was reclaiming Ben Rortvedt for less than a week before sending him off on the waiver wire again. Twins infielder Ryan Fitzgerald was claimed, DFA'ed, and then returned to the organization.

There was nothing wrong with these moves, really (except for maybe the Siani/Ibáñez switch, which is still inexplicable). Depth never hurts, and the Dodgers lost some, especially for the outfield, when they DFA'ed Justin Dean and sent Esteury Ruiz to the Marlins.

And the Dodgers, injury-conscious as they are, love to keep a healthy amount of options in reserve. They're probably not consciously looking for their next Max Muncy or 2023 Jason Heyward, but their track record for fixing up evidently broken players makes every new player — no matter how hopeless they appear at first glance — seem more important at first blush than they ever really turn out to be.

The latest is longtime Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski, who Pittsburgh DFA'ed on Feb. 16 for LA to scoop him up on waivers. Kiké Hernández was moved to the 60-day IL to make room on the roster.

Dodgers claim Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski off of waivers, move Kiké Hernández to 60-day IL

Suwinski had a decent 2023 on a bad Pirates squad. He hit .224 with a .793 OPS, 26 homers, and 23 extra base hits, he played above-average outfield defense, and he was decently speedy. It amounted to a 2.1 bWAR, the third-highest of any position players on that Pirates team.

But he's never been able to recreate that season — hasn't even really gotten close. He hit .182 with a .588 OPS in 88 games in 2024, then .147 with a .534 OPS in 59 games in 2025 between constant trips to and from Triple-A Indianapolis. That impressive flash of power in 2023 has all but disappeared.

There's basically no chance that Suwinski ends up on the major league roster, when the only role that has yet to be completely locked down is second base, but there's a chance that we see Suwinski later in the season if Teoscar Hernández's groin injury from last year starts giving him trouble, or if (Kiké) Hernández or Tommy Edman remained delayed.

We're not expecting much out of Suwinski, but he already got the better end of the deal getting claimed by the Dodgers.