The Dodgers revealed last month, shortly after their World Series victory, that they planned to return the versatile star Mookie Bates He spent the first half of the 2024 season in the infield before returning to right field for the final stretch of the 2025 season. Now, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomez Betts made the plan more concrete on Monday by telling reporters, including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, that Betts will enter the 2025 season as the club’s starting shortstop.
As Aldaya noted, he missed several months due to a broken hand he suffered when he was hit by a pitch in June before returning to the outfield grass late in the 2024 season. At that time, the club decided to temporarily move Betts back to the outfield, in part due to Betts’ emergence Miguel Rojas and Tommy Edelman As a viable option at the position, but also because Betts was suddenly moved to shortstop before the season started, because Gavin Lux Struggling in position during spring training. Adaya noted that Betts struggled at times in the transition from outfielder to shortstop, but that Betts and the club are more confident that he can handle the position every day in 2025 now that he has a full offseason Time to prepare for the transfer.
Given Los Angeles’ apparent lack of interest in the shortstop market this winter, it’s perhaps not particularly surprising that they plan to hand the keys to the position back to Betts next year. Dodgers loosely tied to top free agent shortstop Willie Adams Earlier this offseason, he didn’t appear to be one of his most active suitors before he finally landed in San Francisco over the weekend against their division rival. cubs second baseman Nico Horner is a trade candidate who has drawn some attention this winter, with the Dodgers previously reaching out to him over the summer and having plenty of experience at shortstop himself, but there are signs that interest will carry over into the winter.
With Betts now officially a regular at shortstop, the club’s lineup appears to be starting to fall into place. Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas are set to share time at second base, and Aldaya said Lux’s strong second half performance should give him maximum playing time in next year’s cornerstone game. That’s how I left Max Muncy Continued to play third base regularly, while Tommy Edman served as the club’s regular center fielder. freddie freeman and Shohei Ohtani Of course locked in at first base and DH respectively, while the newly signed outfielder Michael Conforto He is expected to be an everyday player in the corner outfield for Los Angeles.
That left a glaring hole in the club’s lineup at corner outfield, a position that Conforto didn’t occupy. With numerous reports of both parties interested in a reunion, it appears the Dodgers are hoping to fill that void with a reunion Teoscar Hernandez. That being said, the two sides are reportedly facing a gap in contract negotiations, and numerous reports suggest there may be a strong market for Hernandez as the top possible outfield option Juan Soto Now off the market, there seems to be no guarantee he’ll be in Dodger blue next year. There are many other interesting options on the free agent market, such as Anthony Santander and Jurikson Profal It’s at least possible if the Dodgers miss out on Hernandez but the club decides to draft a group of in-house youngsters Andy Pages and James Altman Filling the last spot in the lineup.
