Dodgers are seemingly planning for Mookie Betts to be moved off of shortstop upon return

Mookie Betts' recovery from a broken hand seems to be going blessedly well. That injury, incurred when a Royals reliever nailed him with a 98 MPH fastball on the hand on June 17, was a nasty one, and as soon as Betts crumbled, it was clear that he was going to be out for weeks.

We've gotten a few updates on his progress since then: he's been out of a brace since mid-July, when he also started fielding drills on the field at Dodger Stadium. On July 19, his grip strength was reported to be around 40-50%, and the Dodgers said that he could be cleared to swing a bat when he got to 85%. Three days later, he was doing just that, and Dave Roberts said he could take BP "soon" about a week later, on July 28.

This is great news for the Dodgers, who have had to deal with setback after setback for other players (pretty much just Max Muncy) and have been employing some of their worst-looking lineups in years while Betts is on the IL and Freddie Freeman is on family leave.

However, the Dodgers have made additions in his absence. Although Miguel Rojas went onto the IL, LA quickly scooped up Nick Ahmed, a two-time Gold Glove winner, to replace him. They also went out and got Tommy Edman, also a Gold Glover, at the trade deadline.

In light of those moves, Roberts said that he was uncertain about Betts' future at short, even though Betts' rehab process has solely involved reps there.

Has the time to end the Mookie Betts shortstop experiment finally come after Dodgers trade for Tommy Edman?

While Ahmed hasn't looked like a long-term solution for shortstop at all, given his bat (and the fact that he's a free agent after this season), Edman is a different story. He's under team control through 2025, is younger, and has been a consistently better hitter throughout his career. Although Edman is still recovering from a wrist surgery last year and Betts might end up returning to the Dodgers before Edman makes his team debut, Edman had a career high 11 OAA at short in 2022 and 19 OAA at all positions played, literally making him the best defensive player in baseball.

That's a lot more than Betts has to say for his efforts at short this season, which have earned him a -4 OAA. While it's great that he was so willing to step up for the Dodgers when they needed him to, it would be crazy of them to think that he can be their shortstop through the rest of the season and into the future now that they have much better options.

Move Edman to shortstop, Betts back to second or even the outfield if the Amed Rosario looks good enough to supplant Gavin Lux at second, then option Lux back to the minors. We salute Betts for his efforts, but now's the time to put a stop to the experiment.