It appears that the Dodgers are going to be without the services of Gavin Lux. Now what?
I know there are many out there that wanted the Dodgers to sign one of the premier SS free agents.
- Carlos Correa – AF was not going to sign him. Right or wrong, it was not going to happen.
- Trea Turner – I do not think AF was going to beat the Phillies. Turner wanted East Coast and close to his wife’s New Jersey family.
- Dansby Swanson – 7 year $177MM – $25.286MM AAV – This was an overpay that AF was not going to match. Swanson’s wife is also a star with the Chicago Red Stars, a National Women’s Soccer League team.
- Xander Bogaerts – He was probably the one SS that the Dodgers thought they would have a chance. Except, San Diego went waaaaayyyyyy out with an 11 year $280MM deal. That was about $100MM more than the Red Sox offered. Would (should) the Dodgers have gone to $300MM+++ to sign Bogaerts? Recognizing what San Diego reportedly offered Trea Turner and Aaron Judge, it is likely that San Diego was not going to be denied.
The Dodgers believed they had a viable option at SS in Gavin Lux, but as I have written often, very little if Lux were to go down. Now we get to find out what Plan B, C, D, E…for AF are.
At the present time, what are those options?
- Miguel Rojas – Good field, little offense option. He is a veteran, and likely will be a good mentor for Miguel Vargas.
- Chris Taylor – CT3 was the primary SS when Corey Seager went down in 2018, before the Dodgers acquired Manny Machado. He did not hurt the team, but the Dodgers clearly missed Seager.
- Yonny Hernandez – He is an option, albeit not a realistic one.
- Bryson Brigman – The Dodgers just signed the free agent SS to a MiLB contract. He is reportedly a good fielding SS, but has limited offensive skills. Brigman is a career MiLB player.
- José Iglesias – Would the Dodgers consider signing Iglesias?
- Trade? It seems a little too late to get a significant SS in a trade before the trade deadline…if then.
As I am writing this, we have no idea just how serious Gavin’s injury is. We should learn more on Tuesday AM. So while it may not be a season ending injury, it does appear to be serious enough that Gavin is going to miss significant time.
In the interim, all we can do is pray for a quick recovery for Gavin, and when he does return, he comes back better than ever.
What do you think the Dodgers should do…now? The offseason misses are now over.
Lux stated that he heard a pop. That usually is not a good sign. Defensively, Rojas is more than capable of handling the job. I would think the plan will be to give Taylor some time there also. Hernandez is no option. If they feel the need, they will see what the market looks like come deadline time. Iglesias is good, but not an upgrade defensively over Rojas, and he is not all that with the stick either. Brigman is going to be at AAA. Former Angel, Albie Pearson passed away. I saw Pearson play a couple of times. Just 5’4″, he was a solid defender.
From my Athletic Training and Sports Medicine/Sports Kinesiology classes, taken about 50 years ago, a pop in a hypertension of the knee is most often the Posterior Cruciate ligament. Yes, the ACL and MCL can both go but it is the PCL that keeps the tibia from sliding behind the femur. Whatever, it will be remarkable if Lux plays again this year.
Yes, now what. Shortstop was Taylor’s natural position so for now my guess is he plays there. I’ve never heard of Brigman but that doesn’t mean anything. Iglesias make some sense. Yonny doesn’t to me. I have no idea what AF may have in mind.
Let’s hope for the best and hope Lux won’t be out for long.
It’s clear to me you give Rojas the full-time job, leaving Taylor in the OF and maybe this opens the door for Yonny to the bench.
No, Yonny has no shot making this team. What I think it does is open the door for Busch to make the team as the utility guy replacing Rojas. Taylor is the back up SS. They need another lefty infield bat with Lux gone. It does not look good. I think he tore an ACL.
Then why did we trade for Yonny?
Well, for emergency backup in case of injury?
My head hurts.
He is #3 on the depth chart. Taylor and Rojas can share the duty. Hernandez is a no hit slick fielder. They need at least some offense. He provides NONE
What did Hanser provide?
Personally, I hope we let CT3 take over at SS. He’s a solid defensive SS and the bat is likely better than Rojas (of course, Rojas likely gets to play 30% of the time at SS).
I think it’ll be easier to stabilize the outfield as we have more options out there. Who knows, one of Heyward/Peralta might get a shot, or maybe Pages earns his way on the team.
Current depth charts have Heyward, Williams, Outman, Peralta, Thompson to play everywhere but right. Taylor goes to short, Friedman goes to the phone.
Oneil Cruz. Pirates have Liover Peguero ready to take his place. Or maybe trade for Liover Peguero because they have Cruz blocking him.
That would be nice. But either of those guys would cramp Rojas.
I think I see what you did there.
Torn ACL. Out for season. Rats!!
I’m probably more of a Rojas fan than most. I think he’ll really stabilize the in field defensively and may hit better than expected because he’s now playing for a team whose games mean something.
That said, we have no idea what the future holds for Lux and I don’t see either Rojas or CT3 holding down the shortstop position for the next 5 years.
Baltimore and Cincinnati have an overabundance of middle infield prospects and we have lots of good young pitching prospects. Why not see about a trade for a shortstop prospect who, if not ready now, could possibly take over next year. We really have very little in the system that’s close to MLB ready at ss.
Bums idea for one of Pittsburgh’s young shortstops is intriguing, and could play long term, but I don’t know how much better they would be this year. We may have what we need to cover that position short term, but there still appears to be holes offensively. Clearly the veterans will have to step up. Without Turner, Lux and Turner, this offense is sure going to look different.
While I am a Dodger fan, I still need players that are fun for me to cheer for. Lux and Outman were going to be the guys I wanted to cheer on. Freeman and Betts are more of a given and Smith is also right there with them.
I’m not into Muncy and Taylor. Hopefully Vargas becomes a favorite for me. Heyward is a rental and might not play much. Oneil Cruz would be lots of fun. Pirate fans think so too.
I’m not opposed to moving Betts to second, Heyward to RF, and Vargas to the Pirates along with ? for Oneil Cruz. Next year Betts can move back to RF and Lux to 2B.
I think giving Heyward a full time job would be a mistake.
I do like Cruz, but doubt Pittsburgh would trade him.
At this time I have no real suggestions other than hope for the best and prepare for the deadline. We will know what we have, much sooner than that, but what to do to improve could be uncertain until those veterans on non contending clubs become available.
After 3 games not a whole lot to be excited about.
I dunno, can you really find a need to trade for a 1 year stop-gap?
On one hand, I could see the viability in trading for myriad of SS that the Guardians, Rockies or Reds has/have.
On the other hand, But why? None of those are sure things, none will be attained at a value.
It’s one of those times, I’m glad we have smart people to make this decision for me as a fan.
Rojas is the one-year stopgap.
And Yonny is now the bench depth.