Andrew Friedman Hints at Dodgers Not Adding Shortstop This Trade Deadline Due to Mookie Betts
The Los Angeles Dodgers are definitely going to be active come trade deadline season, but it may not be to fill the position that we think.
Since Gavin Lux went down with a torn ACL early in spring training, all the talk has been about the Dodgers adding a shortstop. However, as we enter the third month of the season, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman isn't so sure that's the direction they'll go.
Alongside Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor, the Dodgers have started to deploy Mookie Betts at the shortstop position.
Betts has appeared in just eight games and logged 50 innings at short this season, but he's more than held his own as he's played an above-average shortstop.
Betts' ability to play in the infield has given the Dodgers a ton of flexibility, something Friedman plans on using as the trade deadline gets closer.
"I think (Betts at shortstop) provides a lot of flexibility, both to start a game and in-game, that has a lot of value," Friedman said to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. "What exactly that means in terms of how often, I think we’ll just keep assessing as we go. But let’s say we get to a point where, in July, we feel like we need to add a bat, it opens up the realm of options of what we can target, if we feel like he can do it well. We’ll continue to assess all of that."
So while all the talk this season has been about the Dodgers needing to add a shortstop, Friedman is instead saying they'll just add a bat, and the position doesn't really matter.
If the Dodgers feel like they can get a better bat who plays in the outfield, they won't hesitate to make that move. If they end up finding that the best bat they can get is a shortstop, then they'll do that instead.
But either way, Betts has given the team a lot more flexibility, something they weren't expecting to have when Lux went down with a season-ending injury.
"If you would have told me over the winter that Mookie would play short as well as he has, I would have been surprised," Friedman said. "But I guess it’s example 612 not to be surprised by anything that Mookie does."
