{"id":383378,"date":"2026-01-02T10:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/383378\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T10:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:45:13","slug":"dodgers-2026-infield-think-blue-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/383378\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers 2026 Infield? | Think Blue LA"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 2nd, 2026 at 7:00 am by Jesse Pearce <\/p>\n

On the surface, the Dodgers infield appears to be set for the 2026 season, with future Hall of Fame players Freddie Freeman<\/a> (first base) and Mookie Betts<\/a> (shortstop) anchoring the group. If he isn\u2019t needed in centerfield, Tommy Edman<\/a> should be the second baseman and third base is the current domain of Max Muncy<\/a>. The current reserve infielders are unproven Hyeseong Kim<\/a> and rookie Alex Freeland<\/a> (more about them when we consider the Dodgers bench).<\/p>\n

However, as the Dodgers retool the roster for next season, infielders age and injuries must be considered. When the 2026 post season begins, Freeman will be 37 years old, Muncy 36, and Betts 34. Edman will be the youngest at 32. And, each of those players spent time on the injured list during the 2025 season, with Edman\u2019s injured ankle frequently keeping him on the bench day-to-day. Notably, Muncy has only played in 53% of the team\u2019s regular season games in the last two seasons (2024-25) because of many assorted injuries.<\/p>\n

\"\"Muncy spent considerable time on the injured list in 2025. That said, he also slugged
19 home runs and drove in 67 runs in the 100 games in which he appeared.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea)<\/p>\n

Although the Dodgers recently exercised their $10M, 2026 option on Muncy, they may consider ways to get younger and healthier at third base.<\/p>\n

Free agency has become an important tool for Dodgers roster building. The team could once again tap into Nippon Professional Baseball \u00a0(NPB) for third basemen Munetaka Murakami<\/a> (26 next season) or Kazuma Okamoto<\/a> (will be 30). Murakami is the higher profile player, a lefty slugger, but with high strike-out rates and marginal fielding at the hot corner. Okamoto is a more disciplined, right-handed hitter, with power, and a better fielder who can also play left field. Both players are in their respective 45 day window to sign with an MLB team.<\/p>\n

Although a bit older, Okamoto may be the better fit for the Dodgers. The Dodgers value positional flexibility and he could be used in left field when Muncy or Freeland is playing third base. Should the team sign free agent, lefty-slugger Kyle Tucker<\/a> for right field (more about Tucker when we consider the outfield alignment), Okamoto would balance the righty\/lefty lineup.<\/p>\n

The other acquisition option is for the Dodgers to trade for a younger, experienced third baseman. Perhaps the best option for the Dodgers, regardless of their free agent signings, is St. Louis Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan<\/a>, the lefty hitter who can play third base, second base, left field, and shortstop in an emergency. Donovan, who will turn 29 in January, would also be an ideal number nine hitter in front of Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, and is rumored to be available as the Cardinals continue their rebuilding program.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYou can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 2nd, 2026 at 7:00 am by Jesse Pearce On the surface, the Dodgers infield appears to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-383378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}