Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
I didn’t initially think much of the Dodgers recently claiming utilityman Christian Cairo off waivers from the Mets, and was gonna just throw his acquisition into a larger news post for later. But the more I looked into him, the more he seemed like a pretty solid use of a 40-man roster spot … even if it might be a very temporary stay.
Cairo (25) has yet to make his MLB debut but has finished the year at AAA the last three seasons while bouncing from the Guardians to the Phillies to the Mets. He’s also the son of long-time big-leaguer Miguel Cairo (I’m getting old), which presumably doesn’t interest the Dodgers, but what presumably does is that he’s played every position except catcher and pitcher during his time as a pro. In 2026, he started 58 times at short, 26 times at third, 17 times at second, 16 times in left, and eight times in center. A wider look at his career reveals he’s basically always bounced around, as he’s notched 160 starts at second, 159 starts at third, 149 starts at short, 54 starts in left, 13 starts in center, and four starts in right. He’s also played 1.1 innings as a reserve at first, though that was way back in 2021.
CHRISTIAN CAIRO OH MY GOODNESS!#ironpigs #baseball pic.twitter.com/nKmPA8Dil7
— Lehigh Valley IronPigs (@IronPigs) April 12, 2026
By DRP — basically the only metric we have that attempts to evaluate MiLB defense — he’s been consistently well above-average despite the shuffling, so it’s clear that’s his calling card. That grading also mirrors the most recent scouting takeaways on him from last year.
Though he lacks prototypical shortstop arm strength (and sometimes air mails throws when he’s a bit out of range), Cairo is otherwise an elegant and skillful shortstop defender with fantastic footwork and actions, a plus fielder despite his substandard arm.
Despite his utility, the reason he’s being held back is one you’ve likely figured by now: his bat, though that’s not even the titular ‘one thing’ referenced. In 525 PA last year, he put up a .230/.381/.300/.681 line for a 95 wRC+. But a 17.5% walk rate and 14.5% strikeout rate are both very promising, it’s just the complete lack of damage on contact that’s limiting him immensely.
Almost remarkably, it’s been the same story at the plate across all levels for him, perhaps most relevantly illustrated by his .226/.360/.314/.674 career slash and a .233/.361/.314/.675 slash in three seasons at AAA. He doesn’t really have notable handedness splits either, so there’s no platoon potential. The only skill change he’s undergone was that he slashed his strikeout rate by a not-unsignificant ~9% or so from his previous bests in 2026, which at the very least makes him a lot closer to a viable glove-only major leaguer.
If Cairo could add any pop whatsoever it’d help immensely, and it’s not that he has no power…
Christian Cairo – Philadelphia Phillies (1)* pic.twitter.com/PRZjyCzil9
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 6, 2026
…but if he does end up contributing, then sequences like this are the much more likely way.
What an inning for Christian Cairo!
— Lehigh Valley IronPigs (@IronPigs) May 23, 2026
Top 10th: wild throw deke at third
Bottom 10th: walk-off! pic.twitter.com/IjbgkfsUbQ
He’s still 25 and coming into his physical prime, but nobody should be under any illusions that he’ll add thump. It’s just more that any kind of further evolution could make him MLB relevant, and a stereotypical grinder utilityman would be an ideal emergency option for the team.
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On the surface this seems like an odd move for the Dodgers to make. We already talked about how 40-man spots are at a premium for them right now, especially with the approaching Rule 5 Draft protection deadline, and this puts them at 38 players.
That said, as also previously reviewed, I think there’s about 3-4 easy DFA candidates currently on the 40-man, in addition to the two open spots if they really need them. Depending on how the Dodgers feel about those guys and/or their prospects, it might not be as desperate of a situation as it seems like now. Additionally, there’s a real possibility I did this whole write-up for another team and the Dodgers are only trying to Ben Rortvedt him through waivers to improve at the margins like the Mets just attempted to do. He has two option years remaining, so if they can manage it, then he seems like an overall safe minor-league depth option that gives the Dodgers a lot of coverage.
