SAN ANTONIO — The Los Angeles DodgersWHO won the World Series just a week ago, wasted no time scaring all of his peers on Wednesday afternoon at baseball’s annual general managers meetings.
The Dodgers revealed they plan to move six times Gold Glove Winner Mookie Betts back to the infield, GM Brandon Gomes said, creating an opening, of course, in right field.
So, just which right fielders are available to fill Betts’ spot?
Well, there’s a certain right fielder on the free agent market going for $700 million or so that really fits the bill.
If the Dodgers call, you think Juan Soto should hang up just because they’re on the west coast?
A Soto-Dodgers marriage might be as unlikely as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump toasting each other, especially since the Dodgers just proved they can win a World Series without Sotobut it’s a reminder of how deep and talented these Dodgers happen to be these days.
Who else could just shrug that presumptive MVP Shohei Ohtani just had surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder, making it unlikely he’ll be ready to pitch in time for their March 18 season opener against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo – and unclear exactly when he will be fully recovered.
“The prognosis is really good,” Gomes said. “We’re going to take this time to make sure he’s obviously going to go through his rehab. But the big picture is good that it’s his left shoulder that doesn’t pitch and the back axle to swing. So it’s a good combination on that front.
“We’ll see how he gets through this phase and take it step by step because it’s complicated with someone who’s also hitting. We’re just going to make sure we check every box to make sure he’s in the right position health-wise. …
“But we expect him to be ready for spring training.”
DODGERS WIN WORLD SERIES: Celebrate with this anniversary coffee table book!
Still, with or without Ohtani pitching, this is a team that projects to enter April with a six-man rotation consisting of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw or Bobby Miller, and yes, maybe even 23 -year-old Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who just turned down the Chiba Lotte Mariners’ offer, is heavily favored to sign with the Dodgers if he is posted. Still, even with their depth, the Dodgers have interest in bringing back free agent starter Walker Buehler, Gomes said, and maybe even others.
“We went into the season with 12 (starters) last year,” Gomes said, “and it wasn’t enough. We’ll definitely explore the pitching market.”
And now with the news that Betts is returning to the infield, most likely to second base where he was expected to be last season, it has GMs wondering if the Dodgers will heavily pursue free agent shortstop Willy Adames, re-acquire All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, pursue Soto, trade infielder Gavin Lux, or possibly go with an outfield of Tommy Edman, Andy Pages and either James Outman or Chris Taylor.
“The beauty of Mookie,” Gomes said, “is that he’s the most unselfish superstar we’ve ever been around. And that permeates the team.”
Gomes made it clear that bringing Hernandez back is one of the Dodgers’ biggest priorities. He hit 33 homers and drove in 99 runs after signing a one-year, $23.5 million contract last winter with the Dodgers, who offered him a qualifying offer of $21.05 million this week.
“Teo was a big part of what we accomplished this year on the field,” Gomes said. “You could very clearly see a huge impact in the clubhouse with younger guys, and his energy. So we’ll be having talks with Teo and his group ASAP.”
So many options and so many headaches for everyone else in the NL West hoping to stop the Dodgers’ runaway freight train. The Dodgers have reached the postseason 12 consecutive years and won 11 division titles, four NL pennants and two World Series titles.
And just think, next year could be the Dodgers’ best team yet during their dynasty.
“I mean, I say this every year, my expectation is that the Dodgers are going to be better,” Arizona Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said, “because they have been almost every year. I can’t do anything about it. That’s what it is. I’m still going to maintain my position of playing them, that they’re the best team in the National League — either on paper or officially — that if we can compete with them, (it) puts us in a better position in the long run term.” ‘
No wonder San Diego Padres GM AJ Preller turned off his TV and didn’t watch a single postseason game in October after they had the Dodgers on the ropes, but lost to them in the NL Division Series. If the Padres had just gotten past them, they might still be trying to get the confetti out of their hair after winning their first World Series championship.
“We felt like we had a team that could have won the World Series,” Preller said. “You always think about that possibility, but in the end it didn’t happen, and now we have to get better. At the end of the day, the NL West is really a strong division.
“We played in the NLCS in 22. The D-backs played in the World Series in ’23. And the Dodgers won the World Series in ’24. The names and faces may change a little bit on those rosters, but it’s always a challenge in the NL West.”
It’s no different in the AL East, where everyone always looks up to the New York Yankees – who haven’t had a losing season since 1992 and just won the AL pennant.
“I think you always have an eye on the big team,” said Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations. “In the American League, it was always the Yankees year in and year out. I would think it’s the same way with the Dodgers.”
And now, four months before Opening Day, the Dodgers are clearly the team to beat again in 2025.
When you can win the World Series with 40 different pitchers and have 15 pitchers on the injured list, just imagine how powerful you can be when you get the band back together?
“From a talent perspective, with the number of injuries that we endured,” Gomes said, “just those guys coming back will be a huge boost to the talent level of the starting pitching. As we play this thing out, we’ll see how best to complement the offense .
“But our expectation is that we will be back there, competing for a championship next year, and to be a better team than we were this year.”
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This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Dodgers free agent rumors: What Mookie Betts’ return to the infield means
