Dodgers sign Chris Betts, Cole Duensing to minor league contracts

The Dodgers have signed pitcher Cole Duensing and catcher Chad Betts to minor league deals, per the players themselves, who announced their joining the organization on Twitter on Wednesday.

Betts played 23 games in Double-A Montgomery in the Rays system last season, after getting activated from the injured list in July. The catcher had seven hits in 60 at-bats with two home runs in Double-A, and turns 25 in March. Tampa Bay drafted Betts in the second round in 2015 out of Wilson High School in Long Beach.

“Ecstatic to be with the Dodgers for the next two years,” Betts said on Instagram. “To say this is a dream come true would be the biggest understatement of my life.”

In 2020, when there was no minor league season, Betts organized workouts in Irvine for local players who weren’t at alternate training sites, as chronicled by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

Duensing was a sixth-round pick of the Angels in 2016 who reached High-A last season. The right-hander had a 6.30 ERA in 17 relief appearances for Tri-City, with 33 strikeouts and 18 walks in 30 innings before getting released by the Angels in August.

In January, Duensing shared on Twitter that he was looking for a job, along with video of a new slider and new cutter, along with data from Rapsodo.

Duensing turns 24 in June.