The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to the variety of get started you’d hope right after investing more than $1 billion in the offseason — rating in the best of MLB in many hitting and pitching classes.
But the team does have a single significant perceived weak spot: its defense has a middling -2 outs earlier mentioned ordinary ranking as it has opened the year with six-time Gold Glove outfielder Mookie Betts attempting to turn into an each day shortstop, pure first baseman Max Muncy manning third foundation and inquiries lingering over in which next baseman Gavin Lux may be capable to adhere.
As a result, the workforce might be on the lookout to make an infield acquisition by using trade, as projected by Mike Axisa of CBS Athletics.
“The clear trade goal would be Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, a gifted defender who can lead on offense,” Axisa wrote. “Other trade candidates like, say New York Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza or Pittsburgh Pirates youngster Alika Williams would provide a good quality glove, even though the Dodgers now have a glove-initially shortstop in (Miguel) Rojas.”
Willy Adames Has Been Linked to a Trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers
Adames has been a preferred trade applicant for the Dodgers as their need to have at shortstop is apparent and he ranks as the second-all round defensive shortstop in MLB so considerably this period, per FanGraphs. His bat would also in shape into the tail-conclude of the Dodgers’ daunting batting buy as he’s a career .248/.321/.440 hitter with 119 homers in seven major-league seasons.
Additionally, the Brewers declared by themselves as probable sellers when they traded ace Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles. Adames is established to hit unrestricted totally free company following the time, creating him very likely to be a trade chip for a group that does not seem to be poised for a playoff operate this calendar year.
“A trade at shortstop is hardly out of the question for the Dodgers — if not by Opening Day, then at the deadline,” Ken Rosenthal reported for The Athletic. “Willy Adames remains an evident focus on, and the Milwaukee Brewers’ probabilities of contending diminished with the information that nearer Devin Williams will miss out on about three months right after remaining identified with two pressure fractures in his again.”
Oswald Peraza, Alika Williams Could Be Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers
Peraza and Williams are also persuasive candidates for the Dodgers, however they really don’t have the background of defensive prowess that Adames does.
Peraza has been sidelined to begin the time with a shoulder pressure, but he’s experienced a ideal fielding percentage in 17 begins at shortstop with the Yankees in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Williams has a .964 fielding share in 34 begins at shortstop for the Pirates in 2023 and 2024.
Finally, the determination to go for a trade and which candidate these a transaction may include things like will arrive down to how the Dodgers’ infield protection develops from below and irrespective of whether or not Lux can show himself as a worthy member of an daily infield part.
“For now, the infield defense stands out as an difficulty for the Dodgers, even if it hasn’t damage them in the standings yet,” Axisa concluded. “There’s nothing at all they can do with Muncy other than dwell with him at third. Actually, it’s on Lux to show he deserves to remain in the lineup.”
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