MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers after Corey Seager’s season out – what now?

After the season’s end of Shortstop Corey Seager, the Los Angeles Dodgers are facing an uncertain season. The big question is: How do you replace one of your best players? SPOX names internal and external alternatives and risks a forecast for the team from Chavez Ravine.

The news hit like a bomb: Shortstop Corey Seager will miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury. The so important sideband in the right arm is damaged and must be reconstructed by Tommy John Surgery. Rehab time: at least one year for pitcher. Position players could be faster, as Yankees-Infielder Gleyber Torres, who suffered a similar injury last May and was already back for spring practice, shows.

But that won’t help the Dodgers in any way in 2018! Seager, an annual all-star and one of the best players of this organization, is no longer available and somehow needs to be replaced. And it hits the Dodgers even harder as they are already in a bad position and with a score of 12-17 games behind the leaders of the National League West, who have Arizona Diamondbacks. This is their biggest backlog in the West NL since the beginning of the divisional division in 1969.

But how can this loss be compensated? After Seager struggled with similar problems towards the end of last year and suffered in terms of productivity, he looked like the old man again in 2018: Since April 16th he had a powerful OPS of .991! And that needs to be replaced first.

However, if the Dodgers stood for one thing in their current successful run of five division titles in a row, then of course for their enormous depth of squad. No team has been so good at replacing players lately as the Dodgers. And that seems to be the immediate plan.

Since Seager’s end of the season Chris Taylor took over the post of shortstop. Taylor can play anything and has recently established himself as the clear number one in the center field. Since he is an indispensable starter anyway, it would now only be about who would take his place in the center field.

Several alternatives could be considered, above all Kike Hernandez, who has improved against right-handers this year and could be more than just a platoon player. But even if he only convinces against Lefties in the end, he would be a possibility, as the other options – Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles and Alex Verdugo – all beat from the left.

Hernandez himself was another option that was already effective on many occasions in the 2017 playoffs. It is a so-called “plus defender”, which means that it is significantly better than the average shortstop in the field. Over 320 innings as a shortstop, he has 8 defensive runs saved and an Ultimate Zone Rating of 4, compared to 3 DRS and 0 UZR in more than twice the playing time, making him the average shortstop.

(Source: FanGraphs)

However, when comparing both in the center field, the numbers are quite identical with 1 DRS and -2 and 2 UZR respectively. So if manager Dave Roberts wants to offer the best possible defense, Taylor would be the preferred shortstop in Center Field and Hernandez.

But those who know the Dodgers know that they are not afraid to change their lineup, depending on the matchup. Against right-handers, for example, Hernandez could sit outside while Taylor plays shortstop and one of the others occupies the center field.

Another option is a trade. But as General Manager Farhan Zaidi recently aptly said: “Our bar will be quite high if we look around outside the organization. We have to digest the message first. “And we still have a good feeling about the lineup that we can muster every day.”

With the current market situation, only Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles remains, given the high yardstick. The O’s are already down 8-21. Last of the AL East (13 games behind Boston, 11 behind New York, 9 behind Toronto) and Machado becomes free agent in winter.

Machado, who has only been a regular shortstop player in the MLB since this season – and is really brilliant at the same time – has apparently overcome his weaker year 2017. Currently he has an OPS of 1.124 – place 3 in the MLB. He’d be the king’s solution for the Dodgers in the current situation.

There is, however, a catch! Machado’s one-year contract has a total volume of $16 million. Of this amount, he is still entitled to almost 13 million, which would be fully included in the luxury tax calculation of the Dodgers in the event of an imminent trade. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have worked hard to cut costs in this respect. They currently stand at 182 million, the limit for the luxury tax is 197 million.

And the Dodgers absolutely want to stay below that this year, after their tax rate for salary is above the limit as a repeat offender at 50 percent. Finally, there will be some attractive free agents on the market that Los Angeles will also be interested in – just think of national superstar Bryce Harper or his own Ace, Clayton Kershaw. The latter could withdraw from his contract after the season.

So with a machado trade, L.A. would be just below that limit. In addition, Pitcher Kenta Maeda still has performance bonuses in his contract that can reach between five and seven million dollars. By then at the latest, the border would have been crossed. Possible promotions of minor league players or necessary further obligations during a long season are also not yet included in the calculation. A Machado deal would deprive the Dodgers of the flexibility to make further improvements later this year.

From a purely sporting point of view, however, Machado would certainly make the team better. In addition to the financial burden, however, there would also be the trade equivalent. If the O’s give up their superstar, then only against a decent compensation in the form of highly talented players. Players who would sell the Dodgers essential for a rental player until the end of the season.

It also seems impossible for Machado to switch to the Dodgers in winter, because the team simply has no place for that. Seager will return and on third base, Machado’s secondary position, star player Justin Turner is seeded. Due to the potential change within the season, the Dodgers could also not make him a qualifying offer and thus also not pocket any compensation in the form of a draft pick next year.

Remained short stops from other teams. Here, however, the supply of available forces is extremely limited. Whoever comes into question there would by no means be an upgrade to the players the Dodgers already have in the squad – especially in the constellation with Taylor at Short and various other candidates in the outfield.

At the end of the day it seems more sensible for everyone involved to maintain the status quo and rely on internal options, especially as the sporting situation already seems difficult in view of the huge gap behind the snakes in the West.

Do you really want to pay the high price for a player who should be gone by the end of the season anyway?

This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.