The Los Angeles Dodgers made every MLB fan except their own groan when they landed Kyle Tucker, but there are still a few spots on their roster they could upgrade to make baseball even more upset.
Two of those places? Their middle infield positions.
Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly offers a trade deadline solution that sees the Dodgers land Washington Nationals All-Star CJ Abrams. Abrams could take over second base, or he could make Mookie Betts shift to second and handle shortstop himself.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, but five years after Andrew Friedman swung a massive trade that allowed him to acquire Trea Turner from the Nationals, he’ll again land another gifted middle infielder from Washington. Paul Toboni—the new president of baseball operations in D.C.—seems to be tearing things down to the studs, as evidenced by the deal sending ace MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers last week. Washington’s pitching was already bad, and without Gore, they look like a club headed for 100 losses in 2026…If the Dodgers traded for Abrams, he could take over at shortstop and push Mookie Betts—who is now 33—to the less stressful position of second base. Or the Dodgers could keep Betts at shortstop and have Abrams, he of the minus-45 career outs above average at shortstop, over to second base.”
This past season, Abrams slashed .257/.315/.433/.748 with 35 doubles, 19 home runs, 60 RBI, and 31 stolen bases in 144 games. Hide him in a lineup of All-Stars, and his numbers are sure to improve since he can’t be targeted as easily.
He’d also be relatively cheap for the Dodgers, even though they don’t really care about cost. He’s going to make $4.2 million this season, and on top of that, he has two years of team control left.
The way I see it, if the Dodgers are good enough to the point where they don’t need to make any deadline trades, that’s ideal. But if they do need to make a move, this one would probably upset the MLB fanbase the least.
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