Dodgers' 3 biggest remaining needs after signing J.D. Martinez

1. The Dodgers desperately need another outfielder

The Dodgers non-tendered Cody Bellinger, who signed with the Chicago Cubs. It appeared that the team's first choice to replace Bellinger was Kevin Kiermaier, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.

To be fair, the Dodgers already have their Bellinger replacement on the roster (and it's not Jason Heyward or Bradley Zimmer). James Outman is ready to make an impact at the big-league level and he most likely will be better in 2023 than Bellinger was in 2021-2022. That's not a hard threshold to cross, but the ceiling is high for Outman, who should be taken seriously for National League Rookie of the Year.

The need for an outfielder remains, however. Mookie Betts is locking down right field, but left field is still up in the air. The team's current options are Trayce Thomspon and Chris Taylor ... but Taylor is best used as a versatile utility infielder. With Trea Turner gone, he'll likely spend more time in the middle infield depending on the lineup.

Thompson was a nice story last season but he absolutely shouldn't be trusted to be an everyday left fielder. His strong performance in a small sample size is a bit misleading and the numbers under the hood are concerning. It's hard to trust a guy who has been a journeyman his entire career and had a 36.5% strikeout rate last year.

It doesn't have to be a superstar, but getting someone who can be a more reliable option than Thompson would be ideal. Thompson should be a bench bat/rotational outfielder, not your everyday left fielder.

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