News Analysis: With Gavin Lux gone, how the Dodgers might deploy a more versatile lineup in 2025
By removing a key piece from their puzzle this week, the Dodgers might have made their roster picture somewhat clearer.
Gone is Gavin Lux, the homegrown infielder who, after years of trade speculation, finally was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for a prospect and draft pick Monday. What remains is a lineup trait the Dodgers desire most, having enhanced the “optionality,” as Dodgers brass likes to say, of a position player group that can be mixed and matched in a number of new ways.
With Lux, the Dodgers lineup seemed somewhat cemented. He and Mookie Betts would’ve been up the middle at second base and shortstop, respectively. Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy would’ve played every day at the corner infield spots. And Michael Conforto, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández would have been locked into the three outfield spots.
That was a potentially potent collection of talent.
Days after signing Hyeseong Kim, the Dodgers trade Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for a competitive balance pick and prospect Mike Sorota.
But when the Dodgers landed Korean utility infielder Hyeseong Kim last week, they seemingly were limited in how they could deploy their vast arsenal of versatile weapons. That’s why, even as general manager Brandon Gomes maintained public support for Lux in the wake of the Kim signing, a trade involving the former first-round pick — or one of the other numerous middle infielders — always appeared likely.
So, while the team will be sacrificing potential offensive upside in Lux, who came to life late last season in his return from a torn knee ligament, it is banking on the versatility of the roster, turning what once looked like a largely defined lineup into much more of a blank canvas.
Come opening day, Freeman and Muncy still will be the corner infielders. Hernández and Conforto still will be in right and left, respectively. But up the middle, the Dodgers could toy around with different combinations and experiment with myriad ways to maximize production.
So far this offseason, the team has remained committed to giving Betts an extended run back at shortstop, where he started last season before returning to right field. In a perfect world, Betts will continue to develop defensively into a legitimate everyday shortstop. But if he doesn’t, the club will have a much simpler fall-back plan, capable of sliding him over to second base, which he has handled more capably in recent seasons.
In the meantime, Kim could take over Lux’s role at second base, at least as a platoon option against right-handed pitching. And if a need at shortstop arises, Kim also could contribute there — something the Dodgers seemed more hesitant to do with Lux, after his defensive struggles at the position.
Lux’s departure also could alter Edman’s role. Instead of being locked into an everyday spot in center, there might be more infield opportunities for the smooth-fielding utility man, who served as the Dodgers’ primary shortstop in last year’s World Series run.
Where second-year outfielder Andy Pages previously seemed boxed out of consistent playing time, he might now have a pathway to more at-bats against left-handed pitching. There also should be more playing time for Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor as well.
The Dodgers sign Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim for three years and $12.5 million and formally recognize Teoscar Hernández’s return on the same day.
The cost of all this is the loss of Lux’s potentially dynamic bat. Though the former top prospect never consistently met the sky-high expectations that accompanied him over his five-year Dodgers tenure, he showed flashes near the end of last season, batting .304 with a .899 on-base-plus-slugging percentage over the second half.
There might not be any one player to compensate for that, including Kim (whose bargain $4.2-million salary suggests uncertainties about how well his bat will translate to the majors).
And even if the Dodgers make another addition before the start of the season (a reunion with free agent Kiké Hernández, for example, seems more feasible than it did before Lux’s departure), any offensive gains the Dodgers make likely will have to come from the aggregate.
It’s a situation, however, the team is comfortable with. For years they have emphasized the value they place on versatile players and having options. And by dealing Lux, they’ve given themselves more of that, making their lineup more fluid and adaptable and the pieces interchangeable.
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