Dodgers Formally Release Veteran Following Shocking DFA

Barnes, 35, was acquired by the Dodgers at the 2014 trade deadline in the seven-player blockbuster trade that also brought Kiké Hernández to Los Angeles and sent Miguel Rojas to the Miami Marlins. This season he was hitting .214 as the backup to starting catcher Will Smith.

From 2015-16, Barnes shuffled back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. Since 2017, however, he had been the Dodgers' entrenched backup catcher — first to Yasmani Grandal and Russell Martin, then to Smith.

Barnes made his bones as a hard-nosed catcher, willing to get dirty, frame pitches with the best of his peers, and ably call a game for one of the league's best pitching staffs. Although never a slugger, Barnes' ability to draw walks and put the ball in play endeared him to the organization as a viable backup.

In 11 major league seasons, all with the Dodgers, Barnes slashed .223/.322/.338. He never drew more than 262 plate appearances in a single season.

In his best season at the plate, 2017, Barnes hit .289 with a .402 on-base percentage. His 138 OPS+ that year, combined with an October slump by Grandal, made him the primary backstop in the National League Championship Series and World Series.

Barnes appeared in 44 postseason games with the Dodgers, collecting rings in 2020 and 2024. He caught the final out of the 2020 World Series, and appeared in five games against the Tampa Bay Rays as the Dodgers broke their 32-year championship drought.

A native of Riverside, Barnes was originally drafted by the Marlins in the ninth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Arizona State.

Any team looking for a veteran backup — particularly a young team with little postseason experience — could look to Barnes to inject some life into its roster.

Although fans had been clamoring for the Dodgers to DFA Barnes because of his poor performance at the plate, the reaction within the clubhouse last Wednesday was one of surprise.

"I think everybody was surprised," veteran pitcher Clayton Kershaw told reporters, including Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation. "Yeah. It’s sad. Barnesy’s one of my best friends on or off the field. You won’t find a guy that competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anybody, and he always found a way, and he came up with some big moments for us throughout the years."

More to come on this story from Dodgers on SI.