Dodgers To Reacquire Ben Rortvedt

The Mets are trading catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Dodgers in exchange for righty Chayce McDermott, who was recently designated for assignment in L.A., per Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. Rortvedt wasn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster and therefore doesn’t need to immediately take a spot with the Dodgers. The Mets have many roster openings due to their deadline sell-off, so they have lots of space for McDermott.

The Dodgers clearly like Rortvedt as a depth catcher. They acquired him at last year’s deadline and he got a decent amount of playing time down the stretch while Will Smith was injured. The Dodgers tried to keep him around as a depth option for 2026. Shortly after the 2025 season ended, they signed Rortvedt to a $1.25MM deal to avoid arbitration and then put him on waivers, hoping he would clear and stick around as non-roster depth.

However, that plan didn’t work, as the Reds claimed him. The Reds put him back on waivers in February and the Dodgers re-claimed him. When they tried again to get him though waivers shortly thereafter, the Mets claimed him. The Mets were then able to get him through the wire unclaimed around Opening Day.

The Dodgers haven’t had a clear catching need for most of the season but the situation has changed recently. Smith has been on the injured list for almost two months now due to an inflamed disk in his neck. He has resumed baseball activities but has an uncertain timeline. Dalton Rushing was held out of yesterday’s lineup due to some vague arm issue, which led to rookie Eliezer Alfonzo getting the start.

As the Dodgers proceed, perhaps they will add Rortvedt to the 40-man, but they could also keep him in Triple-A in a non-roster capacity. He has a .190/.279/.270 line in his career but he has a strong defensive reputation and the Dodgers clearly like having him in the mix.

For the Mets, they have Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens in the majors. They also have Hayden Senger and recent waiver claimee Shawn Ross on optional assignment. They aren’t likely to need Rortvedt anytime soon.

They will swap him out for McDermott, a flier on a former prospect. With the Orioles, he had a really strong 2024 season. He threw 100 Triple-A innings with a 3.78 earned run average. His 13.7% walk rate was too high but he struck out a huge 32.9% of batters faced. Baseball America ranked him Baltimore’s #5 prospect going into 2025 and he seemed like a potential rotation building block for the O’s.

Things haven’t panned out that way. McDermott has received only fleeting big league looks, with a 20 earned runs allowed in 15 innings. His results in the minors also backed up last year, getting him moved to the bullpen. He finished the year with a 6.18 ERA on the farm.

This year has been better but not amazing. He was designated for assignment in April and flipped to the Dodgers. He has a 4.10 ERA in 26 1/3 Triple-A innings since that deal. His 36.4% strikeout rate is very impressive but he has walked 16.9% of opponents. The Dodgers designated him for assignment a few days ago. The Mets will take a flier on him for now and see if they can rein in his command. He is in his final option year and will be out of options next season.