It’s been an odd offseason for the Dodgers, that mainly rested on the sidelines as various other groups went down thousands of numerous bucks on the free-agent market. Los Angeles is anticipating rather of a young people motion, so it made good sense to a level that they would not invest a lots of cash changing Trea Turner when they anticipate Miguel Vargas to be the substitute (in the schedule, anyhow, with Gavin Lux moving to shortstop to change Trea on protection).
Still, as the group heads into spring training today, there are inquiries. Every group has inquiries now in the period, which is why The Athletic composed a write-up concerning each group’s most significant inquiry, however it appears like the Dodgers have a couple of greater than normal.
For Fabian Ardaya because post, however, the most significant inquiry boils down to that will certainly change Cody Bellinger.
Who is the center fielder? The most tried and tested big-league alternative is Chris Taylor, that had his worst year as a Dodger in 2022 as he began a four-year, $60 million bargain. Trayce Thompson was efficient down the stretch, however just how much of that is lasting after years of jumping on and also off lineups? Then there’s James Outman, a top-100 possibility with the devices to be successful, however simply 16 major-league plate looks to his name. All 3 would most likely fit much better defensively behind-the-scenes, however that end up in center?
Ardaya’s last sentence may be one of the most essential. He states James Outman, Chris Taylor, and also Trayce Thompson all healthy defensively much better in left field than in center. Whether that holds true of Outman continues to be to be seen and also can be the distinction in between a beginning task and also a bench function (or perhaps a Triple- A job) for the novice. Someone needs to play center field, and also possibility experts are divided on exactly how well Outman would certainly do there.
Outman promises to obtain an opportunity to win the task, since if he’s not mosting likely to be a major-league center-fielder, there’s very little factor in the Dodgers maintaining him. And if he is mosting likely to be a major-league center-fielder, currently is the moment for it to occur.
If Outman stops working to win the task, they have a handful of various other choices that are much better fit to limbo readily available. But those need to just come into play if and also when Outman stops working to win the task.
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