Tommy Edman's elusive injury status could be derailing Dodgers' offseason

Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández's offensive downturns in 2025 were so sharp and dramatic that they hid another worrying regression from the lineup: Tommy Edman's.

Edman had such a surprisingly hot start to the season — he hit five homers in the Dodgers' first nine games — and then was sporadically injured, so his career-worst numbers sort of fell by the wayside. But a guy who was supposed to be a contact-first bat hit .225 with a .274 OBP. Those five homers in the first two weeks would make up almost half of his total on the entire season.

And the injuries didn't let the Dodgers use him all over the field like they had intended. Although certainly impacted by missing over 60 games with injury, his 1.1 bWAR made him the least valuable player behind only Michael Conforto.

Edman is rehabbing after an ankle surgery this offseason and doesn't really have a timeline to return yet. David Vassegh cast doubt on his readiness by Opening Day, given how carefully the Dodgers like to treat their players coming back from injury. GM Brandon Gomes would only go as far as to say that he was optimistic Edman wouldn't miss a "significant chunk of the early season."

And the indecision, or rather lack of knowledge, around Edman is definitely muddying some things for the Dodgers' offseason.

Dodgers need to figure out what's going on with Tommy Edman before they can get anything else done

There's an obvious answer for how the Dodgers handle their middle infield if Edman is sidelined at the beginning of the season: put Miguel Rojas at second. That could also free up some playing time for Hyeseong Kim and infield prospect Alex Freeland. They could put Andy Pages in center field, Hernández in right (though everyone knows that's not ideal), and Dalton Rushing or Ryan Ward in left.

But losing Edman for any amount of time restricts the Dodgers' defensive flexibility. Rushing does need more playing time, but Opening Day starter in left field is far from ideal. Kiké Hernández's return to the club is more likely than not, but he won't be available for some time after undergoing an offseason surgery of his own.

The sooner the Dodgers can actually figure out what's going on with Edman, the sooner they can address the need for a bench utility player either in free agency or via trade. This has been slightly alleviated by the Dodgers' addition of infielder Andy Ibáñez on a major-league deal, but it'd be far more comforting to know when exactly Edman will be back to reclaim his everyday role, rather than be stuck with a reclamation project indefinitely.