Dodgers may finally be ready to close the book on Gavin Lux as trade suitors emerge

The Los Angeles Dodgers' surprise signing of KBO utilityman Hye-seong Kim last week immediately put two 2024 World Series champions in jeopardy.

Reports were quick to assert that Kim would fill a superutility role on the bench, which would leave Kiké Hernández out of a job (he's currently a free agent but has said his priority is re-signing with LA) unless the Dodgers can find someone who will take Chris Taylor in a trade.

However, it also spelled potential danger for Gavin Lux, who the Dodgers stood by against all common sense throughout the 2024 season. Even with his defensive disaster of a spring training, it was understandable why the Dodgers would want to give him, their No. 1 prospect in 2020, more time to settle in after he lost an entire year to an ACL tear.

Lux's defense improved after he was moved to second base, but he finished the year with a .251 average and .703 OPS at the plate, which made him the glaring odd man out on a lineup as stacked as LA's.

The same reports that said Kim wasn't expected to be an everyday player also reiterated that the Dodgers have already said they'll be sticking with Lux at second next season. However, new rumors immediately contradicted that sentiment. Pat Ragazzo reported that both the Yankees and Mariners had shown interest in Lux.

Yankees, Mariners interested in Gavin Lux after Dodgers' Hye-seong Kim signing

Ragazzo added that the Mariners have been more aggressive in recent weeks, while the Yankees' interest is older and it's unclear how invested they still are. Seattle lost their everyday second baseman, Jorge Polanco, to free agency this offseason, and despite Lux's overall numbers, he did have a nice second half of the season and has two years of team control left before free agency. The Mariners land in the bottom half of teams in terms of projected payroll next year and have yet to make an expensive major league signing, so a cheap trade for Lux sounds like it'd be more their speed.

With Lux gone, the Dodgers could shift Betts back to second base and split time at shortstop between Kim and Miguel Rojas, or just put Kim at second, where he played 5,156 2/3 innings in the KBO for a .978 fielding percentage.

Kim is obviously an unknown quantity in MLB, but if he translates well from the KBO, where he had a .304 career batting average, he'll a more reliable presence in the lineup than Lux. The Dodgers' faith in him over the last year was often frustrating, but they it looks like they might be ready to let him go.