Dodgers Make First Move of Offseason, Coming at Tigers’ Expense

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Eliezer Alfonzo of the Detroit Tigers

The Los Angeles Dodgers may be just two weeks removed from their dramatic, seven-game World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays that made them baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years — but they are already working on building their team, and their farm system, for next year.

On Monday, the Dodgers made their first move of the offseason, and it came at the expense of the Detroit Tigers.

Catcher Eliezer Alfonzo had been a mainstay of Detroit’s minor league system since 2017 when he signed with the Tigers organization out of Venezuela at the age of 16, making it up the ladder as high as the Triple-A Toldeo Mud Hens for just eight games this season.

Free Agent After Nearly a Decade

But Alfonzo, who is now 26 years old, never got a call-up to the Tigers’ major league club. He was invited to the major league spring training camp in 2024 and 2025, but that was the extent of his contact with the highest level of professional baseball.

Finally, after nearly a decade, Alfonzo last Thursday exercised his right to elect free agency at the minor league level, according to his MLB.com transactions page.

Alfonzo was one of 24 Tigers minor leaguers to choose free agency last week, but on Tuesday he became the first to find a new home, becoming part of the World Series-winning organization in Los Angeles.

Of those 24 players, only five had major league experience on their resumés. Though Alfonzo was not one of them, he was the first to get a new contract.

Alfonzo Could Get Opportunity With Dodgers

“Alfonzo might have some more luck with the Dodgers, who have little in the way of break-glass-in-case-of-emergency catching depth in their farm system, but the Tigers are pretty settled in that regard,” wrote Motor City Bengals scribe Katrina Stebbins on Tuesday. “Dillon Dingler will be next year’s Opening Day catcher, and Jake Rogers could be on the roster as a backup.”

In addition, the No. 3 prospect in the Tigers’ system is also a catcher. Josue Briceño a 2022 signing who carried an $800,000 bonus in 2022, also out of Venezuela, is expected to be ready for the major leagues in 2027, according to MLB Pipeline.

Longtime New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman was the first to report the Dodgers’ signing of Alfonzo on Monday. The catcher scraped out three hits spring training this year, seeing limited action.

Dodgers Look Toward Catching Depth

What could the World Series champs, who still have the highest payroll in the game, want with a career minor-league catcher?

“Alfonzo figures to report to Double-A Tulsa or perhaps Triple-A Oklahoma City at the start of the 2026 Minor League season,” noted Matthew Moreno of DodgerBlue.com. “The Dodgers lost some of their catching depth at the trade deadline this year when Hunter Feduccia was sent to the Tampa Bay Rays as part of a three-team trade that included the Cincinnati Reds. Though, the Dodgers did receive Ben Rortvedt in the trade, and he proved to be a key contributor as Will Smith and Dalton Rushing both went on to deal with injuries.”

The. Dodgers themselves lost 17 minor league players to free agency last week, including seven with major league experience.

Among the ex-big-leaguers was 2018 second-round draft pick Michael Grove, who got into 64 games including 20 starts with the Dodgers over three seasons, with a 7-7 won-loss record and 5.48 ERA, striking out 151 in 149 1/3 innings.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin