The story of the Dodgers and Andrew Toles is one of a franchise trying to do the right thing by one of its former players struggling with mental health challenges.
Toles, a promising outfielder who played parts of three seasons with the team from 2016-18, did not report to spring training in 2019 and was quietly placed on the restricted list before it was eventually revealed that Toles had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Every year since 2019, the team has quietly renewed Toles’ contract so he can retain his health insurance while placing him on the restricted list so he would not take a roster spot.
The Dodgers, however, revealed this week that proceeding in this manner with Toles was no longer possible and the team is working with his family to figure out “how to best move forward.”
“We’ve been in contact with the Toles family and have worked together on how to best move forward,” the Dodgers said in a statement to The Times. “Continuing with the previous setup was no longer possible due to eligibility. The Toles family has asked that Andrew’s privacy be respected. Out of respect to the Toles family, we will not comment any further.”
Toles, who turns 34 in May, was picked up by the Dodgers late in the 2015 season after he was released by the Tampa Bay Rays. Playing all three outfield positions, Toles batted .314 in 48 games during the 2016 season. But it was during the playoffs that he emerged, batting .364 while appearing in all 11 of the team’s postseason games — including a .462 batting average and 1.082 OPS in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.
In 2017, Toles made the opening-day roster and was the Dodgers’ primary leadoff hitter. But an ACL tear in early May ended his season after 31 games, and he appeared in 17 games with the Dodgers during the 2018 season.
By 2020, Toles was found sleeping behind a building at Key West International Airport in Florida. He was homeless and taken to a mental health facility.
At last report, Toles was in the care of his father, Alvin, who said Andrew is in a “zombie-like” condition. ”We are having challenges,” Alvin told USA Today in 2021, “but nothing that God and I can’t handle. Schizophrenia, it’s just so tough. I mean, he can’t even watch TV. He hears voices and the TV at the same time, so it’s kind of confusing. I’ve seen him looking at some baseball games on his laptop, but I don’t think he really understands what’s going on. I just want him to have a chance in life. That’s all. Just to be healthy, live a normal life.”
MLB’s restricted list is used to place a player who is unavailable due to non-baseball reasons, such as personal issues. It has also been used when a player retires at a young age without getting an unconditional release, but then returns to playing. Right-hander Salomon Torres spent a several years on the restricted list after playing from 1993-97 for three teams before returning to the majors in 2002 at age 29 to pitch for seven more seasons with two teams. (He spent a year pitching in South Korea in 2001 before his MLB return.)
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