Discouraging Tommy Edman update would have Dodgers regretting contract in another life

Tommy Edman's injury status has been totally unclear throughout the offseason, even though he underwent surgery on his ankle shortly after the end of the World Series. Will Edman be ready by the start of spring training? By Opening Day? Even sometime in April?

No one has really known, and the Dodgers have taken a few steps accordingly by re-signing Miguel Rojas and signing Andy Ibáñez, who will surely be off of the roster when both Edman and Kiké Hernández are back to full health.

GM Brandon Gomes offered a little more insight into Edman's status when he told The Athletic that the Dodgers didn't expect him to be ready by Opening Day. Okay, there's a little bit of clarity.

This season will be the second of Edman's five-year, $74 million contract extension, and a bounce back after a disappointing 2025 is already being delayed by a nebulous recovery timeline.

$74 million ($12.1 million for 2026) is basically nothing to the Dodgers, and that simple fact reemphasizes exactly how high they've flown. Any other team would already be regretting this contract, but the Dodgers can afford to just shrug it off and find alternatives in the interim.

Any team but the Dodgers would be regretting Tommy Edman's contract right now

Edman is an ideal No. 9 hitter on paper. He can bat from both sides of the plate to help the Dodgers defend against an opposing team's bullpen machinations, and he's a slap-hitter who's also a tough at-bat (career .392 OBP in full counts; respectable .242 average and .704 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position). Even with two outs, it's supposed to be easy to rely on Edman to get on base one way or the other and set Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts up for an RBI opportunity.

But that sort of disappeared in 2025, between stints on the IL. He had a .263 OBP in full counts and a .216 average and .617 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position in 2025. Outside of his flash-in-the-pan power surge in the first few games of the season, he really couldn't be depended on in high-leverage throughout the rest of the season.

The Dodgers have long loved Edman and certainly believe that he'll be able to get back to his old ways when he's healthy. But their lack of urgency is a luxury that not everyone can afford.