You can buy a lot of things in this world for $1.4 billion. But as the Dodgers are discovering, you can’t buy an entire 26-man roster.
Yes, the Dodgers will probably need at least one hitter and one reliever at the trade deadline, and that’s assuming there are no more injuries. Their lead in the NL West is five games. Their twelfth consecutive postseason appearance is practically a fact. But even after their $1.4 billion offseason, adjustments will still be necessary in their quest for a World Series title.
When owner Mark Walter recruited Shohei Ohtani, he mentioned that he views his 12-year tenure running the club as a failure on the field, despite the team’s championship in the shortened 2020 season. Everything about the Dodgers this season ( every pitch, in-game decision and roster move) aims to maximize his chances in October. So while the team’s current five-game losing streak and slide to 7-9 are nothing to worry about, they are nonetheless a significant snapshot, one that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman almost certainly won’t ignore.
The Dodgers’ bullpen woes should ease as their four injured right-handers (Evan Phillips, Ryan Brasier, Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly) return to health. Even then, they could probably use one more closer type to pair with Phillips in the late innings, someone perhaps, like his old friend, Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen.
Kenley Jansen has a 3.06 ERA in 18 appearances and nine saves. Could the Dodgers look to reunite with him to boost the bullpen? (Charles LeClaire/USA Today)
The offensive addition, or additions, will be more complex and may determine whether the Dodgers keep Mookie Betts at shortstop for the rest of the season. The best guess at this point is yes, largely because a high-caliber shortstop might not be available. But Gavin Lux’s continued offensive struggles at second base could force the issue.
Betts had a memorable line in spring training, saying he didn’t even bring an outfield glove or cleats to Arizona.
If the Dodgers make a move, he would seem much more likely to move to second than return to the outfield, even though the team’s outfield production without him is very poor.
The outfield is part of the Dodgers’ biggest problem: their offensive uselessness at the sixth through ninth spots (or seventh through ninth when third baseman Max Muncy, one of 12 Dodgers players on the disabled list, returns from his right oblique strain).
The black hole at the bottom of the lineup doesn’t erase the impact of the three future Hall of Famers at the top (Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman), the underrated star at the cleanup spot (Will Smith) or the team’s RBI batting leader. fifth (Teoscar Hernández). But after ranking third in the majors in runs per game in March/April, the Dodgers began the week ranked only 11th in May. And not because of their best hitters.
Some of this will correct itself. Over the last 16 games, the Dodgers are hitting .187 and slugging .284 with four-seam fastballs, both ranking 26th in the league. Their hitters are simply too good for that to continue, even if Hernandez is just 5-for-29 (.172) on pitches 95 mph or faster, well below the league mark of .229.
Freeman, in particular, hasn’t really caught on yet. As his 35th birthday approaches, she is incorporating core and weighted ball work into her pregame drills. At some point she might need to consider taking a few days off from time to time; He has appeared in all 55 of the Dodgers’ games so far and has missed just 11 games total over the past seven seasons. But for God’s sake, Freeman isn’t the problem.
No, the problem is the supporting cast.
Chris Taylor, in the third year of a four-year, $60 million contract, is hitting .101 with a .338 OPS and a nearly 40 percent strikeout rate. Jason Heyward and Kiké Hernández, less expensive veterans, have also been unproductive. And younger position players have ups and downs, as young players often do. James Outman is back in the minors. Andy Pages cooled off after a good start. The outfield as a whole, even with Teoscar Hernández as producer, began the week ranked 25th in the majors in OPS.
Then there’s Lux, whose left-handed bat became even more important in Muncy’s absence. Knowing that Lux missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his right knee, manager Dave Roberts said in April that it wouldn’t be fair to judge him until he had 150 at-bats. Currently, Lux is at 141 and said that in the last two weeks he has started to feel more normal. However, the results are still not entirely clear. After a brief resurgence, Lux is 8-for-37 in his last 10 games and hitting .206 with a .542 OPS overall.
So what is the solution?
Ideally, at least two of a group of four outfielders (Heyward, Pages, Outman and Miguel Vargas) will emerge as solid contributors. Even then, the Dodgers would be wise to explore the market for outfielders, who at the deadline typically have ample supply. Tommy Pham of the White Sox, a favorite of some in the organization, would be a possibility. The Dodgers can’t add a designated hitter with Ohtani filling that spot, and it would be shortsighted to ask Ohtani to play the outfield when he’s rehabbing from elbow surgery as a pitcher.
It will be more difficult to acquire a shortstop, except that a lot can change in the two months before the deadline.
The Brewers, who lead the NL Central by 4 1/2 games, value shortstop Willy Adames as an everyday player and clubhouse leader, and almost certainly won’t trade him like they did Josh Hader in 2022. Disappointing Blue Jays could move Bo Bichette. , who unlike Adames, a potential free agent this winter, would come with an additional year of control. But it’s not a given that the Dodgers will like the fit and/or the price, particularly when they remain optimistic about shorting Betts.
Before last season, Betts hadn’t played the position since 2013, when he was in A-ball with the Red Sox. Last week, he described his transition as “very, very difficult.” He seemed almost exhausted by the extra work, the nuances he needs to master. But in an interview I did with him on Saturday for Fox Sports, he made it clear that he’s not too frustrated.
“I’m in a good place mentally,” Betts said. “Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy doing it. But it’s hard, man. It’s hard. Challenges like this are reasons why I enjoy things, I enjoy the game, I enjoy coming to work every day. “I have to come here and be prepared to work and learn, because it is certainly a different animal.”
Is this what he is now, a shortstop for the present and the future?
“Right now, it’s for the time being,” Betts said. “If the opportunity presents itself to be able to do it every day for the rest of my career, then I will definitely accept that challenge. That won’t make it easy, will it? It’s still going to be difficult. I will continue to work and take care of my business. I will do whatever it takes to win. “If that’s me playing short, that’s me playing short.”
Mookie Betts described his transition to shortstop as “very, very difficult.” (Kiyoshi Mio / USA Today)
Betts’ first three steps to each side are excellent, Dodgers infield coach Dino Ebel said, and he reaches balls other shortstops can’t reach. Most of his mistakes have come on throws, as a result of learning the different arm angles needed in the position. Ebel described him as “obsessed” with getting better. Other Dodger players never expected him to be this good so soon.
That being said, things in baseball often change abruptly. Betts’ return to short, spurred by Lux’s pitching problems at the position in spring training, was precisely that kind of spontaneous move. Therefore, a midseason position change for Betts cannot be ruled out, particularly when he is clearly willing to do whatever it takes to help the team.
As for relievers, Friedman has routinely added under-the-radar guys (Tony Watson, Dylan Floro, Adam Kolarek, Chris Martin) who had excellent performances as Dodgers. Yes, the price for Watson included Oneil Cruz, but few in the game thought a 6-foot-7 shortstop could succeed, and Watson was brilliant in the 2017 postseason, with a combined six scoreless innings in the ALCS. of the National League and the World Series.
The odds of Friedman meeting the A’s price for Mason Miller, who missed nearly four months last season with a UCL sprain in his right elbow, appear slim. But the Dodgers will get someone. They always do it. And if starting pitchers Bobby Miller, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May return from injuries, he will give the team more options.
For $1.4 billion, you’d think the Dodgers had it all covered. Unfortunately, it was never going to be that simple.
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo of Mark Walter, left, and Andrew Friedman, right, introducing Shohei Ohtani after signing with the Dodgers: Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via /Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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