Dodgers Claim Christian Cairo

The Dodgers announced that they have claimed infielder Christian Cairo off waivers from the Mets. New York designated him for assignment last week. The Dodgers had three vacancies on their 40-man roster and don’t need to make a corresponding move.

The Mets claimed Cairo off waivers from the Phillies in September. He has not yet qualified for arbitration. Regardless, the Mets signed him to a split deal last week and then designated him for assignment later that day. The salary details of the contract have not been publicly reported.

It might seem strange to sign a player and then immediately cut him from the roster but it’s a strategy that has become somewhat common in recent years, with the Orioles being the club most frequently deploying it. The hope is that the player’s salary is high enough that other clubs will pass on putting in a waiver claim. The player will then stick around as non-roster depth. Even if he has the right to elect free agency, the guaranteed money on his deal will hopefully prevent him from doing so.

The best-case scenario for a move like this would be something like Ryan O’Hearn. The O’s sent him through waivers unclaimed in January of 2023. Baltimore got to keep him as depth while using that roster spot to pick up other players. O’Hearn eventually earned his way back onto the roster and was an above-average hitter for the 2023 to 2025 seasons. The O’s traded him and Ramón Laureano to the Padres at the 2025 deadline for six prospects.

Most cases like this won’t play out that way but clubs keep trying because the down payment is usually minimal, by baseball standards, while the payoff is potentially huge. The Mets have recently taken up the mantle of the club most aggressive in this area. They have given pre-arb deals to Cairo, Kyren Paris and Robert Stock this month. Stock is still on the roster but Cairo and Paris were designated for assignment last week.

In the case of Cairo, the Dodgers have swooped in to prevent the Mets from accomplishing their goal. Cairo hasn’t yet made his major league debut but teams are clearly intrigued by his work in the minors. Atlanta took him from Cleveland in the 2024 Rule 5 draft but he didn’t make the Opening Day roster in 2025 and was returned to the Guardians. He then got a minor league deal with an upward mobility clause with the Phillies going into 2026. The Phils gave him a roster spot at the end of spring training but kept him in the minors. He was put on waivers in September, which is when the Mets grabbed him.

Cairo’s offensive numbers on the farm don’t jump off the page. Over the past three years, he has a .236/.360/.318 line and 93 wRC+, but his 14.5% walk rate and 19.9% strikeout rate are both strong figures. If he could do a bit more damage when putting the ball in play, there is perhaps an extra gear in there. Defensively, Cairo is considered strong at shortstop. He also has experience at every other position on the diamond outside of the battery. He doesn’t need to hit much to be a useful utility piece.

He still has two options and could be kept in the minors. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if the Dodgers tried to put him back on waivers later in the winter. For now, he profiles as a depth infielder for Los Angeles. They have Mookie Betts at shortstop, Max Muncy at third and Freddie Freeman at first. Second base is a bit more open but the Dodgers have Tommy Edman, Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim as options there. If Cairo is still on the roster come spring, he could compete for a bench spot.