Dodgers Analyst Feels There Will Be a Major Roster Overhaul This Offseason
Even if the 2022 Dodgers had won the World Series, there were going to be some major question marks heading into the offseason. Between pending free agents, underperforming former stars, and guys getting old, this was shaping up to be the most eventful Los Angeles offseason in recent memory even before L.A. got bounced in the NLDS by the Padres.
Former Dodger and current SNLA analyst Eric Karros was on AM570's Petros and Money show on Tuesday morning talking about the potential shakeup coming in Los Angeles.
"It's gonna be different, there's no question. I think there's gonna be some significant difference as far as what Dodger fans have been accustomed to. And that's just a guess, right, and the first thing you have to find out is who's playing shortstop. Is Trea Turner gonna be playing shortstop for you or not? And then you kinda go from there. There's some other [shortstops] out there, or are you gonna move Gavin over to his natural position, play him at short?
"What are you gonna do for the pitching staff, the starting staff? Are you gonna try and trade? What's [Clayton Kershaw] doing? You hope that Kersh comes back. Julio [Urias] is a number one, and you've got [Dustin] May and [Tony] Gonsolin.
"What are you gonna do with the outfield? Mookie [Betts] 100 percent is playing right field, and then what do you decide? Cody [Bellinger] — do you still run him back out there? It's tough to give up on a guy or move on, he's [27] years old, he's a great talent, but on the flipside, where do you go? You didn't play him in Game 4, you didn't start him... What does left field look like?
"What are you doing with [Justin Turner]? That's one year. For me, I'm bringing him back, but there's so many decisions, and it all starts at short, right?"
It's kind of wild that a team that won 111 games in the regular season could come back next year with only a few of the same starters they had this year. Freddie Freeman will be the first baseman, Mookie Betts will be the right-fielder, Will Smith will be the catcher (most likely), and Max Muncy will be playing somewhere. Throw in the pitching staff, and there are a lot of questions heading into this offseason.
And again, the most notable thing is that, for the most part, all these questions would have existed even if the Dodgers had steamrolled their way to a World Series title like they should have. It was going to be an eventful offseason no matter what.
