Lux’s Career at a Crossroads: Team Weigh Options on What to Do with Struggling Infielder

If you thought the Los Angeles Dodgers would keep the status quo just because they won a World Series, you’d be sadly mistaken.

Even on the heels of a championship, the team got right to work making the roster even better once the offseason began. And when it comes to upgrades, we all know the Dodgers target those among the top in their category.

In true Dodger form they started off by bringing in one of the top starting pitchers available on the market. Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell was signed by Los Angeles in late November to lead the starting rotation for at least the next five years.

Most recently, the Dodgers also went out and got one of the top international free agents. No, not starting pitcher Roki Sasaki, who is still narrowing down his options and will look to make a decision on where to sign toward the end of the month.

In fact, it was Hyeseong Kim who decided to sign with Los Angeles this week. The 25-year-old infielder from Korea signed a three-year contract on Friday, his first deal in the U.S.

The acquisition of Kim gives the Dodgers a pretty deep infield, and in baseball, depth is never a bad thing. Still, with so many pieces, it raises questions as to the fit and future of one infielder in particular, 2024 starting second baseman Gavin Lux.

What should the Dodgers do with infielder Gavin Lux?

The 20th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Lux has been a staple of the Dodgers infield for three out of the last four seasons. The exception to that, of course, was 2023 which he lost entirely due to an ACL injury.

Lux has provided defensive flexibility for the Dodgers over the years. While a majority of his appearances have come at second base, he filled in at shortstop early in his career and has made a handful of appearances in the outfield as well, at least one at each position on the grass.

But the middle of the infield is his bread and butter and that’s where the Dodgers now have a ton of options. Former All-Star Mookie Betts and veteran infielder Miguel Rojas each made over 80 appearances at either second or short in 2024 and now Kim also joins the mix.

For now, it appears that Los Angeles will look to utilize all of those pieces. GM Brandon Gomes hinted as much when he stated, “It’s helpful to have really strong pieces at a lot of different areas,” when he spoke about the Kim addition to Jack Harris of the LA Times.

Is that the best move to address the Dodgers’ infield logjam?

Kim was a coveted international player not just due to his defensive flexibility and age, but because of his improved offensive abilities as well. He has a career .304 average and .766 OPS in eight KBO seasons, but he has blossomed in his two most recent seasons, hitting .331 with a .842 OPS from 2023-24.

Additionally, Kim is now the Dodgers’ second-best stolen base threat. Shohei Ohtani was the only L.A. player with over 20 steals last season. Meanwhile, Kim had at least 20 steals in all but one of his eight KBO seasons with a career high of 46 back in 2021.

We all know the special things Betts can do on offense and even Rojas is holding up well at the plate at his age. But of the middle infield pieces that the Dodgers have, Lux is easily the lightest hitting member of that group.

Lux has hit decently for his career with a .252 average and has gotten on base okay at a .326 clip. But he has just a 96 OPS+ for his career (100 is considered an average hitter), doesn’t offer much for power with 28 career homers in 412 games, and doesn’t provide much speed on the basepaths either with 19 career steals.

Two options make the most sense when it comes to the Dodgers and Lux. You don’t bring in a player like Kim just to be a utility guy, so if L.A. does decide to continue forward with their packed middle infield, having Kim start alongside Betts a majority of the time with Lux serving as utility man would be the ideal move.

Otherwise, exploring a trade for Lux could be the way to go. He’s 27, has two years of control remaining, and despite being a lighter hitter than other Dodgers middle infield options he might still be an offensive upgrade for other teams, especially if he improves at the plate as he hits his prime.

Lucky for the Dodgers, there really is no wrong answer here. Either they keep Lux and stay deep on the infield or trade him and improve other areas of the team. If only every team had such tough problems to solve.