Former Cubs infielder played six major league seasons, with the bulk of his time coming at third base and second base. Bote reportedly has a non-roster invitation to spring training.
The Dodgers have signed infielder David Bote to a minor league contract, per Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic added that Bote will receive a non-roster invitation to spring training.
Bote spent the bulk of the last two seasons in Triple-A Iowa, where he hit a combined .259/.356/.476 with 37 doubles and 27 home runs in 121 games. He had a three-month stretch with the Cubs this season, appearing in 37 games and starting eight times. He hit .304/.333/.391 with four doubles in all of 48 plate appearances in the majors this season.
The right-handed hitter, who turns 32 in April, has played mostly third base and second base in his six seasons in the majors, and has also played first base, shortstop, and left field frequently in Triple-A.
In the last two seasons between the minors and majors, Bote hit .307/.384/.558 against left-handed pitchers and .242/.341/.427 against right-handers.
He joins a Dodgers team not on the 40-man roster, but is at least roster-adjacent, which could prove useful given the current lack of depth on the position-player side. The caveat here is that the offseason is far from over, but with 39 players on the roster, the team is nearing the point when every addition will require a roster subtraction. So finding a potential contributor for 2025 who doesn’t yet take up space on the 40-man roster could prove useful.
Another small point regarding Bote is that, with four years, 168 days of major league service time, calling him up during 2025 and keeping him on the 40-man roster would mean year before reaching free agency after the 2026 season.
In parts of six major league seasons with Chicago, Bote hit .234/.318/.392 with a 92 wRC+, 51 doubles, and 36 home runs in 1,213 plate appearances.