Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Andrew Friedman Does Not Envision an Immediate Trade After Losing Gavin Lux to Injury

The Dodgers’ spring training was hit with quite the speed bump when starting shortstop Gavin Lux went down with a season-ending torn ACL. While the news was devastating for Lux, it also took out a key player from LA’s everyday lineup.

Fortunately, the Dodgers had traded for veteran infielder Miguel Rojas a few months back, and his role, which at first was supposed to be one for depth, is now much, much larger.



However, now that Rojas is going to be an everyday shortstop, the only other player with experience at the position on the roster is Chris Taylor. And if Rojas’ bat struggles — and it has throughout his career — the Dodgers could be desperate for another move.

At Camelback Ranch on Friday, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman spoke to a scrum of reporters, including AM570 LA Sports Radio. He was asked if the team was more aggressively pursuing external options now that Lux is out.

“Yeah, I think that’s fair,” Friedman said. “I think coming into camp, we felt really good about our position player group. [We] felt like for the most part it was fairly well locked down with good depth behind it and now we feel less good about it. So we’ll definitely spend a lot more time talking about the various profiles that could fit because the more that fit increase the chances of being able to figure something out. Spring training typically is not the best time for those types of moves, but we’ll have conversations and see what is possible and what’s not.

He was asked if that potential move would be via the free agent market — where there are not very good options — or the trade market.

“If we’re going to add from the outside, it’s going to be something that either fit us differently or is just a more impactful player in our mind,” Friedman said. “It’s hard for me to get into free agent players. But my guess is that it will come from within or a trade.”

Does this mean the team is for sure going to make a trade? Definitely not. But Friedman, who usually remains tight-lipped, was pretty candid in the fact this team could look for an upgrade.

“The mindset is always, ‘how can we improve our team?’ In our mind, it was more difficult a week ago than it is today and it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come from within. There are a lot of really talented players that we feel like could fit really well. But, again, we’re going to spend more time on the right type profile and how it compliments the other 12 position players and if we feel like we have that here, great. If we feel like we have to go outside to fill, that’s something that we’ll do as aggressively as we can to line up on that.”

So, there you have it. While this is by no means a guarantee from Friedman that a move is coming, he definitely made it sound like a real possibility. As for some options, here are the ones I see the most likely.

It doesn’t sound like a move would come anytime soon, as the Dodgers seem very keen on at least giving Rojas a real shot. But don’t be surprised if by the middle of the season, the Dodgers have a new shortstop — or at least someone who can provide some more depth in the infield.

Do you want to see the Dodgers trade for another shortstop/infielder? And if so, who? Let us know in the comments below!

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Noah Camras

Noah is an Editor for Dodgers Nation. He graduated from USC in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and minor in Sports Media Studies. He's been a Dodger fan his whole life, and his all-time favorite Dodgers are Matt Kemp and Russell Martin.

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