Roberts: “Hard To Imagine” Espinal Not Making Dodgers’ Roster
Veteran infielder Santiago Espinal is in Dodgers camp as a non-roster invitee, but it seems he’s already positioned himself as a favorite to break camp with the club. Manager Dave Roberts said this morning that it’s “hard to imagine [Espinal] not being on the team” (via Jack Harris of the California Post). Plenty can change over the final few weeks of camp, but it’s still notable that Espinal already has caught the attention of his new skipper. Roberts spoke highly of Espinal when players reported to camp, and the veteran infielder has since gone 8-for-14 with a pair of doubles and a stolen base in his first handful of Cactus League plate appearances.
Espinal is a versatile, righty-swinging infielder with considerable experience at both third base (1794 MLB innings) and second base (1621 innings). He’s also logged 343 major league frames at shortstop (most coming back in 2020), chipped in 114 innings in the outfield corners and logged another 16 at first base. It’s the sort of defensive flexibility that the Dodgers tend to prioritize with their bench players.
The 31-year-old Espinal has spent the past two seasons in Cincinnati, struggling at the plate both years. He hit a combined .245/.294/.322 in 719 plate appearances as a Red but provided some solid defensive chops at the hot corner in particular. He’d be more of a second base option with the Dodgers — a potential right-handed complement to lefty-hitting Hyeseong Kim, who’s entering the second season of a three-year contract.
Kim played superlative second base defense last season but was largely shielded from left-handed pitching. He hit well in the 21 left-on-left plate appearances the Dodgers allowed him to take (8-for-21 with a double and a homer), but Kim also fanned at a near-31% clip in 170 plate appearances overall and posted poor batted-ball metrics. Espinal is a career .291/.344/.409 hitter versus left-handed pitching. Back in 2021-22, he slashed a combined .282/.340/.382 in 737 plate appearances for the Blue Jays.
Second base is eventually earmarked for the versatile Tommy Edman, but he’s expected to begin the season on the injured list as he continues recovering from November ankle surgery. Kim’s stellar defense gives him a strong chance to secure regular work at second base in the interim, though veteran Miguel Rojas is on hand as an alternative, as is well-regarded prospect Alex Freeland.
Breaking camp with Espinal on the roster would allow the Dodgers to more easily get Freeland everyday at-bats back in Triple-A. The switch-hitting 24-year-old was L.A.’s third-round pick in 2022 and is a year removed from ranking among baseball’s top-100 prospects at Baseball America and MLB.com. He turned in a nice .263/.384/.451 batting line in Triple-A last season (115 wRC+) but hit .190/.292/.310 with 35 strikeouts in 97 MLB plate appearances.
Dodgers Notes: Second Base, Edman, Hernández
One camp battle opened for the Dodgers this week. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed that Tommy Edman would begin the season on the injured list as he works back from right ankle surgery. That leaves the season-opening second base job up for grabs among a handful of players.
As Jack Harris of The California Post writes, that could be most meaningful for Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland. Kim played in 71 games as an MLB rookie, hitting .280/.314/.385 but striking out in more than 30% of his plate appearances. He had an overaggressive approach and rarely hit the ball hard. Kim’s profile in the KBO was built around his speed and middle infield defense, and his early MLB results align with that.
The 24-year-old Freeland is one of the organization’s better position player prospects. He struggled in a 29-game debut, batting .190 while punching out 35 times across 97 trips to the plate. Freeland had a strong year with Triple-A Oklahoma City, though, hitting .263/.384/.451 with 16 home runs and 18 stolen bases. He walked at a huge 16.3% clip while striking out 22% of the time in the minors.
Kim is a left-handed bat, while Freeland is a switch-hitter who was much better from the left side last season. Either could work in a second base platoon with righty-swinging Miguel Rojas, who projects as their top utility infielder. Kim has the leg up from a versatility perspective, as his plus speed also allows him to back up Andy Pages in center field. Freeland can move around the infield but isn’t a burner and has no professional outfield experience. Both players have minor league options remaining and could be sent to OKC without going on waivers. That’d be more plausible if a non-roster invitee like Santiago Espinal or Ryan Fitzgerald plays their way into a bench job with a strong spring.
Edman’s injury also subtracts from the early-season outfield depth. He’d have been in line for a decent amount of center field work if he were at full strength. Kim could play that role instead, particularly late in games for defensive purposes. That’d occasionally allow Pages to slide to left field, where Teoscar Hernández will pick up the majority of the playing time. Hernández is changing corners after the Kyle Tucker signing.
It wasn’t a lock that the two-time All-Star would remain on the roster all winter. Hernández came up in some trade rumors, with the Royals among the teams known to have interest. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged that the front office took calls on his availability but downplayed their desire to trade him at any point (link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic).
“Teams call and ask about different guys all the time,” Friedman said. “Some that get out there, some that don’t. But we very much value clubhouse chemistry. It’s not something that we would be willy-nilly about. I don’t blame teams for asking. … But obviously it’s not lost on us the importance he has, not just on the field but in the clubhouse as well.”
There’s no indication that any talks have carried into Spring Training. Hernández remains a potent power threat coming off a 25-homer season, but the rest of his production dropped. He hit .247 with a career-worst .284 on-base percentage across 546 plate appearances. Hernández also had a second straight tough year defensively. The 33-year-old said today that he never felt at full strength after a mid-May left groin strain.
That only required a two-week injured list stint but certainly could have impacted his mobility after he returned. That said, Hernández has never been a great defender and is unlikely to improve much in his mid-30s. He’s not an ideal roster fit on a team that can’t offer playing time at designated hitter, but he’s signed for another two years and $33MM (including an option buyout for 2028). Even with the majority of those salaries deferred, that’s more than he would have landed as a free agent this offseason. The Dodgers have no need to force a salary dump and were unlikely to get much of value in a trade return.
Team Puerto Rico Considering Withdrawal From World Baseball Classic Amid Insurance Issues
The 2026 World Baseball Classic is just around the corner, three years after the last tournament ended in epic fashion with Shohei Ohtani striking out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout to give Team Japan the win over Team USA. Fans and players alike are excited for the event around the game, but a wrench has been thrown into the works as a number of players have been denied insurance coverage to participate in the tournament. As noted by Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the insurance concerns are significant enough that Team Puerto Rico has suggested they might need to withdraw from the tournament entirely due to eight to ten players on their expected roster being denied coverage.
Puerto Rico’s losses are headlined by team captain and Mets superstar Francisco Lindor, whose coverage was denied on the basis of a minor elbow procedure he underwent back in October. That denied coverage comes in spite of the fact that Lindor is expected to be ready for Spring Training and played in 160 of the Mets’ games last year. After injuries to Edwin Diaz and Jose Altuve during the 2023 tournament, Drellich and Rosenthal report not only that insurance has become more expensive but also that the league’s insurer has adopted more of a hard line stance on what players they will and won’t approve.
Recent surgery and trips to the 60-day injured list are typically disqualifying for receiving insurance coverage, according to Drellich and Rosenthal, though they add that the league’s insurer reviews each individual player on a case-by-case basis. Alden Gonzalez of ESPN offers a bit more detail on the standards of National Financial Partners, the MLB-partnered insurance broker who handles the policy. Players classified as having “chronic” injuries have a harder time getting insured. Players who were injured for 60 days or longer in the prior season, who missed two of their team’s last three games due to injury in the prior season, who underwent offseason surgery, have undergone multiple surgeries throughout their career, or were placed on the injured list on the final day of August or later in the prior season can all be flagged as having “chronic” injuries.
Another disqualifying factor is age, as Rosenthal and Drellich indicate that NFP will not cover players once they turn 37. That’s left Miguel Rojas to be denied coverage ahead of his 37th birthday on February 24, blocking him from participating with Team Venezuela. Rojas won’t be the only one denied coverage due to age, however, as Drellich and Rosenthal note that NFP is also unlikely to cover players who will turn 37 during the window of coverage associated a team would receive if the player gets hurt. Insurance typically covers two years of salary for position players and four years of salary for pitchers.
It should be noted that denial of insurance coverage doesn’t automatically disqualify a player from participating in the WBC. Rather, it then puts the onus on the player’s MLB club regarding whether the team is willing to stomach the risk of that player participating in the tournament while uninsured. It’s a rare but not unheard of step for a team to take. Rosenthal and Drellich note Miguel Cabrera‘s participation in the tournament back in 2023 as an instance where a player was permitted to play uninsured. Of course, it should be noted that Cabrera was headed into the final season of his Hall of Fame caliber career and was already slated to be a part-time player, so the risk for Detroit if he did suffer a major injury was extremely small.
This isn’t only an issue that impacts players with hefty salaries. Team Puerto Rico’s operations manager, Joey Sola, told Drellich and Rosenthal that even some Double-A players without MLB salary guarantees or invites to big league Spring Training have been flagged in the insurance process. At the major league level, a number of relievers and other players with relatively low salaries have been denied coverage in spite of the substantially lower payout associated with them relative to the injury of a star player on a nine-figure contract.
Turning to Team Puerto Rico specifically, Gonzalez writes that Victor Caratini, Carlos Correa, Jose Berrios, Emilio Pagan, and Alexis Diaz are all expected to miss the tournament in addition to Lindor. So too is southpaw Jovani Moran, as noted by Tim Healey of the Boston Globe. Drellich and Rosenthal write that Moran’s case is under review, as are the cases of right-handers Luis Quinones and Yacksel Rios. Puerto Rico, with a population of just 3.2 million on the island, is being hit particularly hard by these losses due to a lack of quality substitutes. Puerto Rico’s capital of San Juan is scheduled to play host to one of the four pools in Round 1 of the WBC, joining Houston, Miami, and Tokyo. Multiple reports have indicated that Team Puerto Rico’s statements about potentially withdrawing from the tournament could lead to a less stringent approach towards approval for some of the team’s players.
The possible withdrawal of Team Puerto Rico isn’t the only controversy stemming from the coverage denials. As noted by Drellich and Rosenthal, Rojas and some in the Puerto Rican media have criticized the process as being particularly harsh on Latin American countries, with the United States and Japan receiving favorable treatment.
“My only question is: Why is it just with our countries [in Latin America], like Venezuela, Puerto Rico, a couple Dominican players?” Rojas said, as relayed by Gonzalez. “I don’t see that happening with the United States or happening with Japan. And I’m not trying to attack anybody, or attack what’s going on … but at the end of the day, it feels like it’s just happening with the players that want to represent their country from Latin America. So, there’s a lot of things I would like to talk about with someone in control, with someone from MLB.”
It’s not hard to understand that perspective, given that Ohtani would seem to fit the bill of a player with a “chronic” injury according to the process Gonzalez laid out after undergoing surgeries throughout his career. While Ohtani has been cleared to play for Team Japan as a DH, it’s also important to note that he will not pitch in the WBC and that reporting from Drellich and Rosenthal indicates he was not likely to be approved for coverage as a pitcher.
Another gripe that’s been expressed with the process is the extremely short turnaround time on decisions. WBC rosters are due this coming Tuesday, February 3, and will be announced on Thursday February 5. Some cases still remain under review and a number of decisions have come within just the last few days, leaving WBC teams to scramble for replacements when their expected players get denied coverage unexpectedly.
“In some ways, I think it’s a little bit unfair,” Sola said, as relayed by Drellich and Rosenthal. “Especially when you are three days from submitting your final roster. Who in the world would think Lindor wasn’t on the (eligible) list? You wait until the last weekend to get an answer on Lindor? C’mon.”
It remains to be seen whether Team Puerto Rico will withdraw from the tournament, or if some combination of players approved for coverage after review and a collection of substitute players will be enough to allow them to remain as part of the tournament. With less than 48 hours remaining until the day rosters are due, however, time is running out for the WBC, MLB, the MLBPA, and NFP to handle this issue.
Dodgers To Re-Sign Miguel Rojas
Miguel Rojas will play his final season as a Dodger. The World Series hero is reportedly in agreement with Los Angeles on a one-year, $5.5MM contract. Rojas, a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council, announced in October that he would retire after the 2026 season. He’ll reportedly jump right into a player development position with the Dodgers once his playing career is finished. That’ll push the team’s 40-man roster count to 38 once it’s official.
It’ll be Rojas’ fourth consecutive season in L.A. and his fifth as a Dodger overall. He broke into the majors with the team in 2014 but was traded to the Marlins after his rookie year. Rojas spent eight seasons in Miami, much of it as an everyday shortstop, until the Fish traded him back to the Dodgers over the 2022-23 offseason. He has worked in a utility role for the past three seasons and has been a strong contributor off the bench for Dave Roberts in the most recent two years.
Rojas owns a .273/.328/.404 batting line across 654 plate appearances in the past two seasons. He remains one of the toughest players in the league to strike out. Rojas is no longer an everyday shortstop but can back up Mookie Betts while logging more time between second and third base. He remains a quality utility piece who has also been regarded as a clubhouse leader in Miami and Los Angeles. The Dodgers intend to keep him in the organization beyond his playing days, which reflects his clearly strong relationship with the coaching staff and front office.
That all made it likely that the Dodgers would bring Rojas back regardless of what happened in the postseason. He then cemented himself in franchise lore and baseball history with one of the most dramatic, improbable home runs of all time.
Roberts penciled Rojas into the starting lineup for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series. He came up with one out in the ninth inning of the decider against Jeff Hoffman. With the Dodgers trailing by one, Rojas (who has never hit more than 11 home runs in a season) took Hoffman deep to left field to tie the game. It was one of the most impactful single plays ever, and the Dodgers went on to win in extras when Will Smith homered off Shane Bieber.
That one swing probably doesn’t have much bearing on Rojas’ contract. His $5.5MM salary is narrowly above the $5MM that he made in both 2024 and ’25. The Dodgers were very likely to bring him back to continue playing a utility role regardless. He’ll offer a right-handed complement to lefty hitting Max Muncy and Hyeseong Kim around the infield. The Dodgers could look to re-sign Kiké Hernández for a similar job, though that again wouldn’t leave much playing time for well-regarded prospect Alex Freeland.
The Dodgers have a projected payroll of $337MM for next season, according to RosterResource. A good portion of that money is deferred, of course. Their competitive balance tax number — which adjusts for contracts’ post-deferral values — sits at an estimated $319MM. They’re already in the top tax bracket and pay the highest fees as three-time repeat payors, meaning they’re hit with a 110% tax on any additions. They’ll pay $6.05MM in taxes on this deal, bringing the overall investment to $11.55MM. That’s not much by Dodgers standards, and they’ll hope Rojas plays a role in becoming the first team to win three straight titles since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported the signing and terms. Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images.
Dodgers Win World Series
The Dodgers are champions. Los Angeles outlasted Toronto in an epic Game 7 showdown. Will Smith delivered the game-winning swing, homering in the 11th inning to give the Dodgers their first lead, which they wouldn’t relinquish. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching on no rest after throwing 96 pitches on Friday, closed out the win. Unsurprisingly, the all-time performance earned Yamamoto the Series MVP award.
LA becomes the first team to repeat as champions since the Yankees in 2000. New York won three straight titles (1998-2000). It’s the Dodgers’ ninth World Series title, moving them into a tie for third with the Athletics and Red Sox. It’s their third title in the past six seasons.
Miguel Rojas, an unlikely World Series hero, rescued LA’s season in the ninth inning. The light-hitting shortstop yanked a Jeff Hoffman slider over the left field wall to tie the game. Rojas joined Bill Mazeroski as the only players in World Series history to hit a game-tying or go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all game (h/t Jesse Rogers of ESPN).
Rojas’ heroics allowed Yamamoto to do something just as special. After a complete game win in Game 2 and a quality start in Game 6, the ace entered in the bottom of the ninth inning with two runners on. He hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch to load the bases, but wiggled out of the jam. Defensive sub Andy Pages leaped over teammate Enrique Hernandez to reel in an Ernie Clement drive to send the game to extra innings. Yamamoto then cruised through the 10th inning in order before getting into trouble in the 11th frame. With runners on first and third and one out, he coaxed a double play grounder from Kirk to seal the game.
Toronto was in control for much of the game. Shohei Ohtani, pitching on three days’ rest, labored through the first two innings. After George Springer singled to start the third frame, Nathan Lukes sacrificed him to second. Ohtani then intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr., before hanging a slider that Bo Bichette deposited into the center field stands for a three-run homer. The Blue Jays had multiple chances to extend their lead, including a leadoff double in the eighth inning, but failed to cash in.
The Blue Jays came out swinging in the Fall Classic, exploding for nine runs in the sixth inning to win Game 1 in blowout fashion. A dominant Yamamoto performance evened the series, then LA took a 2-1 lead after Freddie Freeman walked off Game 3 in the 18th inning. Toronto bounced back, winning Game 4 and Game 5 behind strong starts from Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage, respectively. Yamamoto cruised again in Game 6, pushing the series to its limit. Game 7 delivered an instant classic.
Miguel Rojas Intends To Retire After 2026 Season
Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas plans to retire after the 2026 season, he told Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation following last night’s series-clinching win over the Phillies. The 36-year-old Rojas is an impending free agent and said he hopes to remain in Dodger blue for the final season of his career.
“I’ve been giving it everything that I have every single night for the four years that I’ve been here,” Rojas said. “Hopefully I can finish my career here next year because I’m going to retire after next year.” That’ll be Rojas’ 13th season in the big leagues overall, and he has accrued more than 11 full years of service time.
It stands to reason the Dodgers would be happy to keep him around on another cheap one-year contract. Rojas is in his second stint with Los Angeles. He debuted there in 2014 and was traded to the Marlins the following year. Rojas spent eight seasons in Miami, most of it as the starting shortstop. The Fish dealt him back to the Dodgers over the 2022-23 offseason.
Rojas was in the final year of his contract with Miami. The Dodgers immediately signed him to an extension for the 2024 season that came with a ’25 club option. They exercised the $5MM option after he hit .283/.337/.410 last year. Rojas has been almost as productive this season, batting .262/.318/.397 over 317 trips to the plate. While he isn’t going to hit for much power, he still reliably puts the ball in play and provides good defense at second or third base. Rojas’ days as an everyday shortstop are behind him, yet he has chipped in 10 starts and logged 117 innings at the position this year.
The Dodgers have used Rojas in five of their six postseason games. He started at second base for the clincher of the Wild Card Series against the Reds and was at the hot corner for Game 2 of the Division Series in Philadelphia. Rojas is a decent complement to left-handed hitting Max Muncy at third base. He has been more productive this season than fellow impending free agent utilityman Kiké Hernández. It’d make sense for the Dodgers to let Hernández walk and bring Rojas back on another deal in the $5MM range. If they let both players depart to open at-bats for Hyeseong Kim and/or rookie Alex Freeland, Rojas shouldn’t have a hard time finding a semi-regular utility role elsewhere.
Dodgers Notes: Freeman, Glasnow, Rojas, Sheehan
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman led his team to the World Series championship in 2024, with series MVP honors to prove it. That postseason run came at the expense of his health, however, as he played through a bone bruise and sprain in his right ankle that eventually required him to undergo surgery in early December. At the time, the Dodgers suggested that Freeman would be able to “participate in baseball activities” during Spring Training, but that vague timeline did not set a date for when he would be ready to participate in games again.
Freeman himself offered a bit of clarity on the situation to reporters during the Dodgers FanFest event today. As noted by Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Freeman has resumed swinging a bat again but has yet to start running to this point. With the start of Spring Training a matter of weeks away, it’s hardly a surprise that Freeman indicated he won’t be available for the first games of Cactus League play this spring. Freeman did say that he “expects” to be ready for the start of the Dodgers’ season in Tokyo on March 18, though of course with that just six weeks away a setback in his recovery could alter that timeline.
That Freeman should be ready for the start of the season is surely a relief for Dodgers fans, though it would hardly be a surprise if the club opted to be as careful with him as possible in order to ensure he starts the season on the right foot with as good of health as possible. The slugger’s .282/.378/.476 slash line in 147 games for the Dodgers in his age-34 campaign last year was a modest step back from his back-to-back top-4 MVP finishes in 2022 and ’23 but was still more than enough to put him on the shortlist for the very best first basemen in the sport last year. Freeman once again figures to help anchor the Dodgers lineup alongside fellow former MVPs Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani in 2025. It’s a lineup that largely looks the same as last year, though Michael Conforto has replaced Jason Heyward in the outfield mix while Hyeseong Kim has taken over for Gavin Lux at the keystone.
Aside from Freeman, however, the club appears to be generally healthy headed into Spring Training when looking at players who are expected to impact the 2025 team on Opening Day. Right-hander Tyler Glasnow was shut down in August due to an elbow sprain, but Dodgers Insider relays that Glasnow spoke at today’s fan event as well. The right-hander revealed that he’s resumed throwing and is feeling “as good as [he’s] ever felt.” The 31-year-old is one of the most dominant hurlers in the sport when healthy, but his 22 starts last year were a career high as he’s constantly battled injury woes throughout his career. With Glasnow seemingly poised to be ready for the start of the season, the Dodgers will surely hope that their plans to use a six-man rotation this year in order to accommodate Ohtani in his return to pitching can help Glasnow stay healthy enough to pitch for them in the postseason this year after he missed last year’s World Series run.
Turning back to the position player side of things, veteran infielder Miguel Rojas joined Freeman in playing through injury during the postseason and underwent sports hernia surgery after the season concluded. As noted by Ardaya, Rojas spoke about his recovery process during today’s fan event and revealed that he suffered from a post-surgery infection that delayed his ability to rehab for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, that now appears to be behind him as Rojas indicated he remains on track to be fully ready for Spring Training when it begins later this month. The addition of Kim in conjunction with Betts’s move back to the infield leaves Rojas without an everyday role headed into 2025, but he managed to carve out a role for himself in 103 games under similar circumstances last year despite a trip to the injured list.
As for players who aren’t expected to be ready for Opening Day, Ardaya notes that right-hander Emmet Sheehan provided an update on his recovery from Tommy John surgery for the first time since he went under the knife last May. The right-hander has resumed throwing off a mound at this point in his rehab and added that he hopes to start pitching in rehab games come May or June. That timeline would put him on the mound for those games just over a year after his surgery, putting him more or less on track for a normal recovery and to be a depth option out of the rotation or bullpen for L.A. in the second half this year.
Dodgers Still Planning To Use Betts-Lux Middle Infield
The Dodgers added to their middle infield with the signing of KBO second Hyeseong Kim to a three-year contract. That fueled speculation about Los Angeles dealing one of their other infielders.
General manager Brandon Gomes downplayed the notion that adding Kim will spur another trade. “I think it’s more that we’re adding a really talented player, and [then we’ll] see where things play out,” Gomes told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). “It’s helpful to have really strong pieces at a lot of different areas. So that’s how we’re viewing it right now.” He added that the team’s “mindset” remains a middle infield pairing of Mookie Betts at shortstop and Gavin Lux at second base.
Before Gomes’ media session, Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic reported that the Dodgers view Kim as a utility player. Los Angeles values defensive flexibility as much as any team. The 25-year-old Kim has primarily been a second baseman but has experience in left field and at both positions on the left side of the infield. L.A. already has Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor as veteran utility options. Tommy Edman can also play either middle infield spot but is expected to be the everyday center fielder between Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernández. Assuming a four-man bench, Kim and backup catcher Austin Barnes would round out the position player group. That’d push outfielders Andy Pages and James Outman, each of whom has a minor league option left, to Triple-A if everyone’s healthy.
Rojas underwent postseason hernia surgery, but there’s no indication that’ll keep him from participating in Spring Training. Taylor is coming off a .202/.298/.300 showing. The organization clearly places a lot of emphasis on his versatility and clubhouse presence. L.A. designated former top prospect Diego Cartaya for assignment as the corresponding move for Kim. That suggests the Dodgers see a path to carrying all of Kim, Rojas and Taylor on the roster.
There could be an element of gamesmanship to Gomes’ comments. It wouldn’t do the team much good to proclaim they’re trying to deal a middle infielder even if they were. That said, it’s not surprising that the Dodgers don’t feel Lux’s situation changes much after the Kim signing. The latter’s three-year, $12.5MM guarantee is a modest investment that suggests MLB teams generally viewed him as a utility player rather than a regular.
Lux hit .251/.320/.383 with 10 homers while playing slightly below-average defense in more than 1000 innings at second base last year. He had a fantastic second half, hitting .304 with seven homers in 61 games after the All-Star Break. He has been a league average hitter over nearly 1500 MLB plate appearances. Evaluators question how much Kim will bring to the table offensively. It’d be risky for the Dodgers to deal Lux and expect Kim to handle the keystone.
The Dodgers also don’t have glaring weaknesses that they need to address via trade. There’s little reason to deal Lux for prospects. The Dodgers could open the season with a rotation including Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They’re expected to bring Clayton Kershaw back. They might sign Roki Sasaki. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are returning from injury. The bullpen is the relative weak point, but Ardaya writes in a separate column at The Athletic that the team prefers to address that through free agency rather than trade.
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.
Dodgers To Exercise Club Option On Miguel Rojas
The Dodgers are picking up their $5MM club option for the services of shortstop Miguel Rojas in 2025, as reported by KPRC2’s Ari Alexander. The option came with a $1MM buyout, meaning that L.A. is committing a net $4MM to bring Rojas back into the fold.
The move hardly comes as a surprise given Rojas’s strong performance this year. The 35-year-old veteran delivered one of the strongest offensive seasons of his career in 2024, slashing .283/.387/.410 with a wRC+ of 111 in 337 trips to the plate this year. Rojas began the season in a bench role behind middle infield duo Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux, but a hand fracture suffered by Betts in June provided the opportunity for Rojas to step back into the daily lineup. Rojas was subsequently hampered by forearm and groin issues throughout the season and into the playoffs but nonetheless managed to hit a respectable .286/.343/.392 while providing strong defense at shortstop in his final 62 games of the regular season.
By picking up Rojas’s option, the Dodgers maintain the flexibility to utilize him as their primary shortstop headed into 2025. With that being said, that role appears to be far from guaranteed to the veteran even after a strong season this year. After all, Rojas will play all of next year at 36 years old and the injury woes that plagued him in 2024 don’t appear to be going away; Rojas has already acknowledged that he’ll need to undergo surgery this winter due to a partially torn adductor muscle in his groin and a sports hernia. It’s not yet clear if Rojas will have enough time to rehab and get ready for the season in time for Opening Day next March, but even if he does it would hardly be a surprise if the Dodgers decided to push Rojas into a part-time role as they look for ways to improve this winter.
Perhaps the most straight forward way to do that would be acquiring a shortstop. Willy Adames is the top shortstop available in free agency this winter, and Ha-Seong Kim could be another potential upgrade over Rojas at the position depending on how his recovery from shoulder surgery goes. Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette stands out as a plausible trade candidate, though his down 2024 season makes him somewhat unlikely to move this winter. Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner has shortstop experience and saw his name floated in trade rumors late in the year, but his recent flexor tendon surgery may put an end to that possibility.
Adding a shortstop isn’t the only way the Dodgers could upgrade at the position over Rojas, however. The club dealt for versatile switch-hitter Tommy Edman at this summer’s trade deadline, and Edman offers quality defense all over the diamond, including at shortstop. Edman figures to handle center field for the Dodgers in 2025 as things currently stand, but it’s possible that the Dodgers could go out and acquire a center fielder like Chas McCormick, Cedric Mullins, or even Luis Robert Jr. this winter on the trade market who would then push Edman back onto the infield.
If Rojas were to be moved back into a bench role by the club’s moves this winter, it would leave them with valuable infield depth capable of covering not only shortstop but also second and third base effectively while helping to balance out a heavily left-handed infield. Of course, it’s also possible the club simply sticks with Rojas at shortstop, relying on Edman to serve as depth at the position with Andy Pages and James Outman among the internal options who could step into center field on days Edman shifts over to shortstop. Such a plan could allow the club to be more aggressive in filling their vacancy in left field and bolstering a pitching staff that was once again wracked with injuries this year.