The Dodgers keep giving a retired player with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia $0 contracts so he can keep his health insurance

Advertisement
The Dodgers keep giving a retired player with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia $0 contracts so he can keep his health insurance
Kevin Sullivan/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images
  • Andrew Toles hasn't played for the Dodgers since 2018.
  • Since then, he was found homeless and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Advertisement

The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed Andrew Toles to a new contract even though he hasn't played Major League Baseball since 2018, and it seems unlikely he will ever play again.

According to Houston Mitchell of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers re-signed Toles so that he can maintain access to the team's health insurance.

In 2020, Toles was found homeless and sleeping behind a building in Key West, Florida. He was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor trespassing and released to the care of his father.

Toles' father told USA Today in 2021 that his son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and was in a "zombie-like condition."

"We are having challenges,'' Alvin Toles told USA Today. "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."

Advertisement

The Dodgers keep giving a retired player with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia $0 contracts so he can keep his health insurance
Andrew Toles went 8-22 in the 2016 playoffs and scored six runs.Rob Leiter/MLB via Getty Images

Toles played just parts of three seasons with the Dodgers, but he became a sensation with his stellar play in the 2016 National League playoffs.

This is the fifth-straight season that the Dodgers have quietly renewed Toles' contract. He is on the Dodgers' reserve list and does not receive a salary.

{{}}