Dodgers Make SHOCKING Move... This CHANGES Everything | LA Dodgers News

The Dodgers have made a shocking move that absolutely changes everything. I'm here to get into exactly what that is in this edition of Dodgers Digest. Hey, this is Mike Nelson. Make sure to subscribe to the channel. I want to thank the 42% of you, the ones who are watching these videos who have already hit the sub button. The 57% of you, what's going on? Hit that subscribe button. We're the fastest growing Dodger channel out there. Myself, Brad J, we're bringing you everyday Dodger content. so make sure to hit that subscribe button we got the monday morning live stream we got a lot to talk about tomorrow it's going to be at 8 a.m pacific 11 a.m eastern we're going to be taking your calls so make sure to tune in tomorrow morning but let's get into it chris taylor that's right chris taylor has been dfa'd he has been released that's it it has come to an end His daughter's tenure has ended after nine years. He's been with the Dodgers since 2016. Think about it. This week, the Dodgers cut ties with two players who were with the team for years, for many years, right? Austin Barnes, 2015, 10 years. Chris Taylor, nine years. Pretty wild, huh? Think about it. In the same week, in the third week of May in 2025, the Dodgers had to cut two players who were, you know, basically staples with the team throughout these years with Dave Roberts. Tommy Edman was activated today, of course, coming off of injury. And, you know, the decision, we talked about this leading up to this moment, you know, today of getting Chris Taylor released. The Dodgers were forced to make a big decision when Tommy Edman was going to come off of injury, right? Because they called up Hassan Kim, you know, because of that. And they also, of course, called up James Altman because of the Hernandez injury. So a couple of players were called up, and Edman is ready to go. He's going to come back. So somebody had to go down, right? And obviously, Hassan Kim, the way he has been playing, hitting over 400, the continued, you know, he has a hot bat. He has one of the hottest bats right now in the Dodgers lineup. The Dodgers just really were not going to give up on him, right? They did not want to send him back to Oklahoma City, and they instead made the decision to cut ties with Chris Taylor, who at this point was a non-factor for the team right basically was a non-factor for the Dodgers in 2025 and was a non-factor last year as well missing most of the year with injury the Dodgers released a veteran utility player Chris Taylor on Sunday uh cutting ties with a long-time fixture been relegated to the end of the bench in recent weeks Taylor has been with the Dodgers since 2016 will be taken off the roster to make room for another utility player Tommy Edman who you know looks to be moving to the outfield i assume right with with Hassan Kim the fixture at second base Edman is gonna be eventually you know be moving into uh the outfield so this is obviously very big news to say the least uh the Dodgers are gonna have to pay out the final year of the four-year deal he was owed 15 million dollars uh this year and it's only been a month so they're gonna have to pay a majority of that money and they're also gonna have to pay out the four million dollar uh buyout that they would have had to pay at the end of this year right because basically the contract had a club option for a fifth season um to be paid under the same amount 15 million dollars a year and basically part of the agreement with the contract was that the Dodgers cut him before that fifth year or at the end of the fourth year they would have to pay out that four million dollars to Chris Taylor so Chris Taylor is going to cash in for an extra four million dollars now that he has been released prior to that fifth year which is why the Dodgers really didn't want to do this right and it goes back to the same story that we've been talking about for the last you know six months or so the Dodgers were actively trying to shop Chris Taylor right I mean it was rumor after rumor the Dodgers trying to trade Chris Taylor uh there were so many you know I don't know if opportunities but they were really trying to actively get rid of him right but what happened well the Dodgers didn't you know nobody wanted him nobody wanted Chris Taylor because Chris Taylor the last couple years really was not very good I don't know what everybody thinks out there but the Dodgers really I think made the right decision by releasing Chris Taylor right I mean I don't know if anybody disagrees with being with that but I think this is the right decision right I mean Chris Taylor sure he's a he did a lot of great stuff for the Dodgers I I mean, we can't forget all the great moments, but we got Hassan Kim, right? Ha-seong Kim has gone 14 for 31 since being called up for triple. That's almost a 500 batting average, right? I mean, this guy is sizzling right now for the Dodgers, 14 for 31. So, I mean, I just don't think the Dodgers can really sacrifice that kind of, you know, stat line. They can't put that guy back in the minor leagues, right? And especially with the way Chris Taylor's going, I mean, he's not doing anything, right? I mean, Chris Taylor, you know, this is a player of old, right? I mean, Chris Taylor, you know, he's always going to be considered, I don't know, a Dodger legend, but he's going to be considered a great Dodger, you know, co-MVP in the 2017 NLCS, along with JT, Justin Turner in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. He made a big catch in left field. Of course, Dodgers made the World Series that year. And then in the moment that I, of course, remember, because I was at the ballpark, I was at Dodgers Stadium at the 2021 NL wildcard game. Remember they used to do those wildcard games, the two wildcard teams would play each other in a one-game playoff. Well, I was at that game against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Chris Taylor hit that walk-off home run to win that ball game. Then, of course, had three home runs against the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS. So, I mean, there was obviously some really historic moments for Chris Taylor with the Dodgers in the playoffs, and he came up big in clutch moments, but those were that was that was uh what is it four years ago now the last few years Chris Taylor has not been himself um he has been on the think about since he signed the the four-year 60 million dollar deal he hasn't really been the same uh which is of course goes back to the same thing when these guys get money they tend to not really produce after that unfortunately but Chris Taylor has not been the same player since he signed the most lucrative contract in his baseball career which was uh well deserved i'm not saying he was paid too much or um you know the Dodger shouldn't sign that deal they had to make that deal because there was other teams interested in Chris Taylor um at that time there was definitely interest around the league for Chris Taylor and the Dodgers were aggressive and decided to keep him a long term and it just didn't pay off right it did not pay off in the end this contract this contract was a waste of money in some ways um it was a waste on uh you know the cap and on the payroll and now they're gonna have to pay out almost 20 million dollars right um and that is obviously not something that teams want to do uh that's why they were trying to trade him and and not to pay anything right or at least pay a portion right i'm sure they were trying to retain it some teams were probably asking for the Dodgers to retain a bit of that salary if they were going to make that trade but it didn't happen we wish nothing but the best of Chris Taylor we'll see if his career continues just like Austin Barnes you know both of these guys their careers are kind of in jeopardy now after being released by the Dodgers um what a day yesterday for the Dodgers losing 11 to 9 to the Angels it was a really bad start for Clayton Kershaw on his first start this season which is obviously disappointing uh but in some ways not surprising we're going to of course talk more about this uh tomorrow on the Monday morning show but really frustrating uh what we saw from Clayton Kershaw, is he really ready to play? Is he at 100%? He did not seem very good at all. Didn't have his command like he mentioned after the game. And just was not the Kershaw that we want to see. Dodgers lose again. They already lost a series against the Angels. But today have an opportunity to kind of you know, it's going to be a 1 o'clock start in about an hour or so against the Angels. uh you see Kikuchi is going to be the starter for the Angels who has been a complete disaster for them so far 0 and 4 with 3.72 ERA Tony Gonsolin will be the starter for the Dodgers has been great 2 and 0 2.81 ERA so you hope the Dodgers can win hope the Angels are still asleep from last game and uh or the hopefully the Dodgers are awake right i know it's early start so hopefully the Dodgers can avoid the sweep today against uh the Angels out at the Dodgers Stadium as always make sure to subscribe and let's go dodgers Woo!