Luken Baker spent four days on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster in August and played the final two months of the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Position player depth was an issue for the Dodgers in 2025, and at times they grabbed some players as they became available, in hopes of a potential contribution. Some players saw time with the Dodgers, like Buddy Kennedy, and others like CJ Alexander didn’t get the call to the majors but spent a short amount of time on the 40-man roster.
Baker fell into the latter
category, which could have been foreseen when he was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals on August 4. Baker has only played first base and designated hitter offensively as a professional since getting drafted by St. Louis in 2018. The Dodgers have Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani at those positions, which limited the potential avenues Baker might have been able to contribute in the majors.
But the 6’4, 285-pound Baker was a big dude who hit 85 home runs in 317 games for Triple-A Memphis from 2022-24, including winning International League MVP in 2023, and was worth the flier in the Dodgers’ eyes.
The Dodgers designated Baker for assignment on August 8 to make roster room for future postseason defense specialist Justin Dean, but Baker remained in Triple-A after getting sent outright to the minors and hit reasonably well for Oklahoma City the rest of the way, .273/382/.521 with eight home runs in 33 games and a 127 wRC+ for the Comets.
2025 particulars
Age: 28
Stats: no games with Dodgers, .235/.366/.324 in 19 games for St. Louis
Salary: $766,100, pro-rated for his time in the majors with Cardinals (likely roughly $172,990)
Game of the year
On September 14 for Oklahoma City, Baker homered twice and drove in four runs in a rout of Sacramento.
