Dodgers: Mookie Betts makes more sense for LA than Francisco Lindor

Betts is a big upgrade, Lindor is not

While Mike Trout is the best player in baseball, the next best player just might be Mookie Betts.  Over the last three seasons, Betts has produced an OPS of .977 against southpaws and .907 against right-handed pitching.   In addition to his gold glove defense, Betts would provide the Dodgers with another potential thirty plus home run hitter and a new speed threat.  Mookie has averaged 21 stolen bases a season during his career.

The upgrade of Mookie Betts over Joc Pederson or A.J. Pollock would be substantial.  The case isn’t the same for Francisco Lindor.  While Lindor is a star in his own right, he has not been a huge upgrade over Corey Seager.  Since Corey Seager missed most of the 2018 season, let’s take a look at the 2016, 2017, and 2019 seasons of Seager and Francisco Lindor.

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Corey Seager has posted a wRC+ of 136, 127, and 113 for his last three full seasons.  In those same seasons of 2016, 2017, and 2019, Lindor has posted a wRC+ of 109, 116, and 114.  Lindor’s best wRC+ was 130 in 2018 but that still trails Seager’s best wRC+ of 136.  Corey came back from two major surgeries in 2019 as well but he still had an identical 2019 wRC+ rating to Lindor.

While there is some risk that Corey Seager never reaches his pre-surgery potential, he is still young and there is still hope he has a massive rebound season in 2020.  The only areas where Lindor is a clear upgrade over Seager come on defense and on the base paths.  Lindor averages close to 20 stolen bases a season and his defense is better than Seager but overall he is not that big of an upgrade.

Mookie Betts is the best fit for the Dodgers and he would be the biggest upgrade for the team both offensively and defensively.  If David Price comes along in a trade too then he can help the Dodgers cover innings lost by Hyun-Jin Ryu since youngsters such as Julio Urias and Dustin May could be on another innings limit in 2020.

Dodger fans should be happy if the club acquires either Betts or Lindor, but Mookie Betts makes way more sense.