Insider’s intel on Alex Freeland hints his Dodgers future doesn’t look bright

2025 wasn't a good year to be a Los Angeles Dodgers top prospect making your big league debut. Dalton Rushing already had a tough road forward with superstar Will Smith locked up behind the plate for the better part of the next decade, and then he underwhelmed in every opportunity he received. Speaking of underwhelming, a wave of injuries gave Alex Freeland an opportunity, and the club's No. 4 prospect fumbled it, slashing .190/.292/.310 in the 29 games he was given to prove himself.

Freeland, unlike Rushing, has a more straightforward path to opportunities in 2026. The Dodgers' second base situation is somewhat up in the air, with Tommy Edman likely being the key. Left field is also a trouble spot, and if the Dodgers decide to use Edman more in the outfield in 2026, that will open up second base reps for Freeland and others.

Whether or not those reps actually go to Freeland is no guarantee, as Dodgers insider Fabian Ardaya notes in his mailbag column for The Athletic (subscription required).

Alex Freeland's future with the Dodgers is very much in question

Ardaya's suggestion that Freeland's role will depend on how reliable he proves to be seems to suggest that the 24-year-old will be beginning the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City as opposed to Los Angeles.

There, Freeland will have to prove several things. Ardaya wrote, "...much of it depends on where Alex Freeland shows his ceiling to be. He’s a switch-hitter, but the Dodgers appeared to only trust him as a left-handed hitter against big league pitching in his first stint in the big leagues. Freeland’s minor league numbers backed that up, with an .840 OPS hitting left-handed and a .676 OPS hitting right-handed."

In addition to proving his worth from both sides of the plate, Freeland will have to prove that he can consistently make contact in the strike zone at the big league level, noting, "his contact rate was 72.2 percent in the bigs last year, as opposed to 78.8 percent in the minors — then maybe his offensive profile plays a little bit better."

All of this is to say that while Freeland has talent, a lot more development is needed. Are the Dodgers really the kind of club that can wait around to see if he puts the pieces together while they have a three-peat on their minds? Furthermore, is the best course of action in terms of asset management to hold onto him and risk his value turning to dust instead of dealing him away to a team whose timeline he fits better while his value is still at a high point?

There's a decent shot the Dodgers get involved in the infield market, and if that happens it will be a referendum on Freeland. They were heavily interested in Brendan Donovan at the trade deadline, so while they haven't truly been connected to him this offseason, there's a chance they could jump into his market at the 11th hour.

Or they could set their sights even higher and swipe Bo Bichette in free agency away from the Toronto Blue Jays. If either of these scenarios comes to fruition, it likely turns Freeland into prime trade bait (and in the case of Donovan, perhaps Freeland is part of the package that lands him). At the end of the day, whether it's this offseason or at the trade deadline, it feels like that's the eventuality for the talented prospect who is still in need of some serious seasoning.