Mookie Betts To Play Shortstop In 2025

Last month, the Dodgers revealed shortly after their victory in the World Series that they planned to return versatile star Mookie Betts to the infield, where he spent the first half of the 2024 campaign before moving back to right field down the stretch, for the 2025 season. Now, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes has added a bit more specificity to that plan by informing reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) Monday that Betts will enter the 2025 season as the club’s starting shortstop.

As noted by Ardaya, that move back onto the outfield grass late in the 2024 season was preceded by a months-long absence due to a broken handed he suffered when struck by a pitch back in June. At the time, the club decided to move Betts back to the outfield for the time being thanks in part to the emergence of Miguel Rojas and Tommy Edman as viable options at the position but also because Betts was somewhat abruptly moved to shortstop just before the season began due to Gavin Lux struggling at the position during Spring Training. Ardaya notes that Betts struggled at times with the transition from making throws as an outfielder to ones as a shortstop, but that Betts and the club feel more confident that he’ll be able to handle the position on an daily basis in 2025 now that he has a full offseason to prepare for the move.

Given the apparent lack of interest on the part of L.A. in engaging in the shortstop market this winter, it’s perhaps not especially surprising that they plan to hand the keys to the position back to Betts next year. The Dodgers were loosely connected to top free agent shortstop Willy Adames earlier this offseason but did not seem to be among his most aggressive suitors before he ultimately landed with their division rivals in San Francisco over the weekend. Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner is a trade candidate who has gotten some buzz this winter and the Dodgers were previously connected to over the summer who has plenty of shortstop experience himself, but there’s been no indication of that interest carrying over to the winter.

With Betts now officially ticketed for regular reps at shortstop, the club’s lineup has seemingly begun to fall into place. Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas figure to share time at second base, with Ardaya suggesting that a strong second half from Lux should earn him a crack at the lion’s share of playing time at the keystone next year. That would leave Max Muncy to continue playing third base on a regular basis while Tommy Edman figures to act as the club’s regular center fielder. Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani are of course locked in at first base and DH respectively, and newly-signed outfielder Michael Conforto figures to be an everyday player for L.A. in one of the outfield corners.

That leaves one obvious vacancy in the club’s lineup at the outfield corner not occupied by Conforto. Given the heavily-reported mutual interest in a reunion, it seems like the Dodgers hope to fill that void with Teoscar Hernandez. With that being said, the sides are reportedly facing a gap in contract talks, and with a number of reports suggesting Hernandez could have a robust market as perhaps the top outfield option available with Juan Soto now off the market it seems there’s no guarantee he’ll wind up in Dodger blue next year. There’s plenty of other interesting options available on the free agent market such as Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar should the Dodgers miss out on Hernandez, but it’s also at least plausible the club decides to go with a platoon of internal youngsters Andy Pages and James Outman to fill out that final spot in the lineup.