3 Dodgers who won't survive roster crunch when Betts, Muncy, Edman return from injury

The cavalry is heading to Dodger Stadium. Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edman are all making great progress on their returns from injury, and Betts even has an exact date for rearrival: Aug. 12, when the Dodgers head to the Midwest for four games against the Brewers and three against the Cardinals. Muncy, since experiencing a "breakthrough" from his oblique strain, shouldn't be far behind him, and Edman is expected to began a rehab assignment in Triple-A soon.

It's exactly what the Dodgers need right now, but it also means that they'll have to clear three roster spots for them. Over the next few weeks. A couple of candidates immediately come to mind, but the team also might need to make some difficult decisions and eat a little bit of money in order to fortify the lineup into one that looks postseason-ready.

3 Dodgers who won't survive roster crunch when Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edman return from injury

Nick Ahmed

Much like Cavan Biggio before him, Ahmed was grabbed by the Dodgers as a last resort after Miguel Rojas was sidelined with injury and LA was left without decent options for shortstop. He was released by the Giants prior to signing a major league deal with the Dodgers, and even hit a home run in his first series in Dodger blue — against the Giants.

Unfortunately, this definitely won't be enough to save him from another release when Betts returns, as the Dodgers have (ridiculously) confirmed they'll be sending him back to shortstop with Rojas as a backup. Betts is expected to return before Muncy or Edman, so Ahmed will almost certainly be the first to go.

Ahmed has hit .243/.263/.324 with a homer and two RBI in his 12 games with the Dodgers so far, which would probably spell the end for any player, even if their sole purpose wasn't to be an interim solution. He's been exclusively a shortstop throughout his entire career, with very rare ventures over to second base, but he just won't fit into the Dodgers' picture at all when the time comes.

Kiké Hernández

This one will be painful if/when it happens, but it does feel necessary at this point. Although Hernández has always been a fun clubhouse presence and popular guy with his teammates, he's not contributing enough to the lineup to keep him around, especially when Muncy comes back to occupy third base, and Edman is there to jump around all over the field with more versatility than Hernández can offer.

Hernández has been hot lately, with a .292 average over his last seven games, but that represents a flash in the pan compared to his overall .209 average and .599 OPS on the season. He's still grading pretty well as a defender and a baserunner, but that's exactly what Edman will be good for when he makes his Dodgers debut.

Contract-wise, letting go of Hernández would be one of the smarter moves anyway. He's on a one-year, $4 million deal, which would be easy enough for the Dodgers to eat. They could also ship him off to another team after a DFA, though they probably wouldn't get much at this point.

Chris Taylor

The Dodgers letting go of Taylor might be a stretch, since they probably already should have done it if they were going to do it at all, but it feels like the most logical thing to do despite the money attached to him through 2025 (the Dodgers also have a club option for 2026). Brent Honeywell and Anthony Banda are honorable mentions here, but they've been doing good work out of the bullpen, and the 'pen can't really afford to lose anymore arms, especially when the three players coming in as reinforcements are position players.

It would also be a bit of a cutthroat decision on the Dodgers' part to let go of Taylor, who has been on the 10-day IL with a groin strain since July 25. However, Taylor occupies pretty much the exact same role as Hernández as an infield bench bat, a position that will be made close to obsolete with Edman's arrival. Odds are, if they don't ditch him entirely, they'll at least have to entertain moving him to the 60-Day IL and kicking the issue down the road, opening up a roster spot more conventionally.

Taylor has very little to show for his 2024 season; he had a biblically bad April, when he batted .045. Even if another team takes him, the Dodgers will probably have to agree to pay through most of the rest of his contract; he did heat up in June, but declined again in July before declining once more and getting hurt.

Jason Heyward could be Taylor's saving grace, as he's in a very similar boat to Hernández, with a cheap one-year deal and almost identical offensive numbers on the year, but then the Dodgers would lose one of their primary outfielders when they're already running low on them. Would they really demote Andy Pages to save themselves a CT3 headache? Can they afford to?