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With the information that Gavin Lux will miss the entire 2023 season with a torn ACL, the Dodgers at the moment are left to determine their recreation plan so far as who will start at short for them this 12 months. Lux was lastly in line to be the starting shortstop after 4 years behind Corey Seager and Trea Turner, however the 25-year-old former high prospect must wait one other 12 months for that.
Los Angeles has inside choices, most notably Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas, they usually’re prone to go that route, not less than at first. They might additionally revisit makes an attempt to trade for Willy Adames of the Brewers or Tim Anderson of the White Sox. However there are nonetheless just a few free brokers left available on the market, so let’s take a look at these choices.
In line with MLB, listed below are the 5 shortstops nonetheless available on the market, with their mixed FanGraphs Wins Above Substitute over the previous two seasons in parentheses:
- José Iglesias (32, 2.7)
- Alcides Escobar (36, 1.1)
- Andrelton Simmons (33, 0.6)
- Dee Unusual-Gordon (35, -0.3)
- Didi Gregorius (33, -1.1)
That’s not a fantastic group. For the document, Rojas’s mixed fWAR the final two seasons is 3.3, and Taylor’s is 4.9. However let’s take a look at the professionals and cons of every of those 5 “choices.”
José Iglesias
Iglesias was once an elite defender at quick, however he couldn’t hit. Then he turned a mediocre defender who hit fairly nicely, however only for one quick season in 2020. The final two years, he’s settled in as a barely above-average defender who hits higher than he did early in his profession however remains to be nicely below-average with the stick.
Iglesias would solely make sense if the Dodgers’ team of hitting coaches thought there was one thing in his swing they might unlock. However whereas they often appear to be magicians, they will’t simply flip a mediocre hitter into hitter except the potential is there. The one vote in his favor could be if LA wished to go together with Rojas at quick and usher in Iglesias because the utility infielder, but when you have already got Miguel Rojas within the lineup, you most likely don’t additionally need the poor man’s Miguel Rojas, too.
Alcides Escobar
Look, I watch plenty of baseball and attempt to maintain myself abreast of what’s occurring, however in the event you had instructed me ten minutes in the past to put in writing a paragraph about Alcides Escobar, I’m nearly constructive the primary 5 phrases would have been “Former massive leaguer Alcides Escobar.” However apparently he’s nonetheless within the league, having performed 119 video games over the previous 4 seasons. He was respectable for the Nationals in 2021, posting a 105 OPS+ in 349 plate appearances, the one season in his profession wherein his OPS+ was larger than 96.
His 2022 season was nearer to his profession numbers, although, as he put up a 58 OPS+ (profession mark: 74) in 131 plate appearances. He didn’t play after July 16, and the Nats launched him on August 3.
Andrelton Simmons
Simmons was probably the greatest defensive shortstops in baseball historical past early in his profession, and he has a stretch the place he was a adequate hitter to be a authentic star. However his OPS+ during the last 5 seasons is 68, and his protection is now not adequate to justify placing him on a baseball area.
Dee Unusual-Gordon
Unusual-Gordon, who started his big-league profession with the Dodgers, has performed simply 55 video games within the final three years, and he’s been above common offensively simply as soon as in his profession, when he led the league with a .333 batting common in 2015. Dee’s lack of ability to take a stroll limits his offensive worth and his baserunning worth, and whereas he’s been a stable defensive second baseman at occasions in his profession, the Dodgers initially moved him from shortstop to second as a result of he wasn’t as much as the duty defensively. If he couldn’t deal with quick defensively at age 25, it’s unlikely he can do it at 35.
Didi Gregorius
Gregorius had a stretch the place he was an excellent ballplayer, taking part in stable protection with good offense. That stretch lasted three or 4 years (his OPS+ from 2017-20 was 110, however there was a awful 2019 within the combine). The final two years, Gregorius has posted a 67 OPS+ and performed awful protection at shortstop. There’s a motive he’s on the backside of the listing, and there’s a motive he’s nonetheless a free agent. A retirement announcement is a thousand occasions extra possible than the Dodgers signing him.
Yeah, the Dodgers most likely gained’t be hitting the free-agent market to fill this gap. Inner or commerce it’s!
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