Dodgers make aggressive position switch as Gavin Lux shortstop experiment fails

Just days after Gavin Lux proved that he wasn't ready to be the Dodgers' Opening Day shortstop, LA has decided to do the weirdest possible thing to give him some more time to develop and get more fielding reps in.

Did they vow to start Miguel Rojas, an elite defensive shortstop, there and work on his bat through the rest of spring training? No. Did they tap Kiké Hernández or Chris Taylor, who were already expected to spend time at short? Also no.

The Dodgers are sending Mookie Betts, who they swore would be their everyday second baseman, to shortstop, in what has to be one of the more mystifying and inexplicable moves of the Dodgers' otherwise incredible offseason.

Lux will reportedly move to second, where he's always been stronger defensively. The switch is "permanent for now," which doesn't even make sense.

Mookie Betts moving to shortstop for Dodgers after Gavin Lux fumbles

If you were worried about Betts' move to second base seeing that he's spent most of his major league career as an outfielder, you'd be even more correct to worry about a move to shortstop, which he never played until last season. Even then, he only appeared at short 16 times and turned out -2 outs above average.

Sure, Mookie Betts is Mookie Betts and no doubt he'll try very hard to readjust (again!) to a new position despite spending all of camp so far trying to get used to second. However, what might be more confusing is the Dodgers' seemingly unyielding belief in Lux. Putting an incredibly dependable, veteran shortstop like Rojas at the position seemed like the most plausible answer. It would've even been understandable for the team to just cycle between Rojas, Hernández, Taylor, and occasionally Lux, but otherwise kick him to the bench for a while.

Maybe the Dodgers are trying to make sure that Lux's trade value is in tip-top shape before the trade deadline so they can finally pry Willy Adames out of the Brewers' hands. After a yearlong absence and only decent-to-good but not great seasons prior, being so stubborn about Lux staying on the roster defies logic at the moment.