November 13th: Prior to being put on waivers, Rortvedt and the Dodgers avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $1.25MM deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The Dodgers presumably hoped that Rortvedt would clear waivers and accept an outright assignment, therefore staying as depth without taking up a roster spot. However, the Reds prevented that from happening.
November 12th: The Dodgers announced that catcher Ben Rortvedt has been claimed off waivers by the Reds. There was no previous indication that Rortvedt had been designated for assignment, so this drops the Los Angeles 40-man roster count to 39. The Reds, meanwhile, go from 37 to 38.
Rortvedt, 28, has bounced around the league quite a bit. He has just 227 big league games under his belt but those have come with four different teams. He has suited up for the Twins, Yankees, Rays and Dodgers. He has put up good defensive numbers in that time but hasn’t hit much. Overall, he has a .190/.279/.270 batting line in 633 plate appearances.
Given the strength of his glovework, even a bit more offense can make him a valuable player. He showed that with the Rays in 2024. His .228/.317/.303 slash wasn’t great in a vacuum. It led to an 87 wRC, indicating he was 13% below league average overall. However, that’s not so bad for a catchers, as backstops are usually about 10% below par. Thanks to his glovework and that passable offense, FanGraphs credited him with 1.4 wins above replacement on the year.
He couldn’t keep it going into 2025. He started the year with a .095/.186/.111 performance and was outrighted to the minors by early June. He was then flipped to the Dodgers as part of the three-team deadline deal which sent Zack Littell to Cincinnati. Rortvedt was called up when Will Smith was injured and hit a more serviceable .224/.309/.327 down the stretch. With Smith still injured as the playoffs began, Rortvedt was the club’s regular behind the plate. He put up a hilarious .429/.500/.571 line in four games before Smith took over. Rortvedt stayed on the roster through the rest of the playoffs but didn’t play in the NLCS or World Series.
Going into 2026, Smith and Dalton Rushing project as the Dodgers’ top two catchers. Rortvedt is out of options. He’s also eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.3MM salary. Presumably, the Dodgers weren’t planning to tender him a contract. They put him on waivers and gave him a chance to land somewhere else.
The Reds are an interesting landing spot for Rortvedt. They had Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino as their primary catchers in 2025. Trevino has been a strong defender in his career but was closer to average in 2025. His bat has never been great but his .238/.272/.351 line in 2025 was below his own standards. He is signed through 2027 with a club option for 2028.
Stephenson, meanwhile, has never received strong grades for his work behind the plate. He has been a good hitter in his career, however. He was league average in 2025 but has shown the potential for more. He slashed .296/.369/.454 for a 120 wRC+ from 2020 to 2022. Over the past three years, he has a .246/.325/.414 line and 99 wRC+. Stephenson is heading into his final arbitration season with a projected salary of $6.4MM.
With Rortvedt now in the fold, the Reds have some options. Since Stephenson isn’t a strong defender, perhaps he could spend more time at first base this year, while leaving the catching duties to Trevino and Rortvedt. It’s also possible the Reds look to see if there’s any trade interest in Stephenson or Trevino. Alternatively, they could hold all three. They could tender Rortvedt a contract and then try to pass him through waivers later. Since his service time is between three and five years, he would have the right to elect free agency but would have to forfeit his salary commitments in exercising that right.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images