The Los Angeles Dodgers have long had one of MLB’s premier shortstops, beginning with Corey Seager in 2015, to Manny Machado in 2018 when the former was injured, and then back to Seager through 2021 before turning over the position to Trea Turner for the 2022 season.
But now as the Dodgers set their sights to the 2023 season, the biggest question facing the front office is who will be playing shortstop as Turner joined the Philadelphia Phillies on an 11-year, $300 million contract.
The 29-year-old had another fantastic season where he hit .298/.343/.466 with 21 home runs, 27 stolen bases, a 128 wRC+ and 6.3 WAR, which makes him tough to replace. He is also a career .302/.355/.487 hitter with 124 homers, 230 stolen bases and a 124 wRC+.
In addition to Turner, two of the other top four available shortstops have signed, with Xander Bogaerts joining the San Diego Padres and Carlos Correa joining the San Francisco Giants.
In-house shortstop options
The first in-house choice to replace Turner is Gavin Lux, who was drafted as a shortstop and played the position for much of his time in the Minor Leagues. However, Lux has serious defensive concerns, specifically with his arm, that could make him a liability.
The Dodgers have expressed a willingness to play Lux at shortstop, and it seems to be the most likely scenario of the current options, but there is also a lot of risk with playing him there.
Chris Taylor could be a potential option on their Major League roster as well, but he only played one game there in 2022 and 23 games there in 2021. He is also coming off a poor season and provides the most value when he’s utilized in a utility role.
Making Taylor the full-time shortstop would remove his best asset as the player who can play anywhere, and he may even end up being their best option in center field and left field too.
Still, Taylor is the safest option to play shortstop on their Major League roster, but even he is no guarantee after a down 2022 season.
Jacob Amaya is also a potential option after his stellar play at Double-A Tulsa earned him a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City last season. He is a glove-first player with offensive concerns, but he has shown flashes of upside with the bat.
Amaya is already on the 40-man roster, but he still projects best as a super-utility player long-term and likely needs more time to develop his game.
Free agent shortstops
The only star-level free agent shortstop still available is Dansby Swanson.
He is the best defender among the free agent shortstops this offseason with an outs above average in the 100th percentile of players at the position, and he is coming off a breakout offensive season. However, Swanson has an offensive track record far below what he produced during the 2022 season, which makes him a risky signing.
On the other hand, he produced as much value as Turner did this season and will likely come at a cheaper price, which could be enticing to a smart front office. You don’t get the same star power with Swanson, but he is a very solid player who most teams would be happy to start at shortstop.
The Dodgers have checked in on him, but they will likely be unwilling to pay what other teams would be willing to offer. It’s also risky in general to pay a mega contract for a player whose best value is his defense.
Some of the other free agent options include Elvis Andrus, who is coming off a strong season but has been mostly ineffective the past few seasons, José Iglesias, Alcides Escobar and Andrelton Simmons. If they sign any of these options, there would still be a long-term need at the position.
Potential Dodgers trade targets for shortstop
Although the Chicago White Sox have said Tim Anderson is unavailable, they are in a tough spot this offseason as they are stuck between contending and rebuilding.
Anderson has two option years remaining on his deal, which makes it the perfect time to maximize his value in a trade, and after an 81-81 season with the ninth-largest payroll, the club may look to shed some salary and re-tool their team.
Anderson spent much of the 2022 season on the injured list, but he was still a quality player when healthy. And prior to that he had three consecutive seasons as one of baseball’s better offensive shortstops while bringing a ton of energy and passion to the field.
It’s more likely Anderson may be available at the trade deadline, which would give the Dodgers time to evaluate Lux at the position.
Willy Adames could be another potential option as he is in his second year of arbitration, which means he is going to get a significant raise and the Milwaukee Brewers tend to keep their payroll down. However, they have already shed some money with a few other trades this offseason.
Adames is more of a long shot as the Brewers are a potential playoff contender, but they are also the team that traded Josh Hader with one and a half years of control during their playoff push to save money, so it’s hard to rule out a deal for any of their players.
On the cheaper side for trades, they could look to acquire Amed Rosario from the Cleveland Guardians. He is in the final year of his deal and he’s coming off a solid but unspectacular season.
Rosario is also only 26-years-old and as a former top prospect, he has some pedigree and the Dodgers could potentially help him unlock some of that ability. The Guardians do seem to be trying to compete, but they have an in-house All-Star option in Andrés Giménez who could easily slide over from second base.
There’s a chance they could get creative and try to acquire prospect Ronny Mauricio, who is mostly blocked on the New York Mets roster, by taking back the contract of James McCann, but Mets owner Steve Cohen has placed an emphasis of building up the farm, so they may be unwilling to trade a prospect to clear salary.
The rest of the shortstops under contract are either not going to be traded or they likely won’t make enough of an impact to make a deal for.
Conclusion
The options are limited for the Dodgers at shortstop following an already busy offseason around MLB, but there are still a few players who makes sense. Still, Lux is likely going to be the starting shortstop on opening day as the Dodgers try to stay below the luxury tax threshold.
If things go poorly with Lux, Taylor would likely step into that role and either hold it for the rest of the season or until they make a trade at the deadline to upgrade. Amaya could eventually be an option, but he would need to take a significant step forward offensively.
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