The worst-kept secret in the Cactus League was that the Los Angeles Dodgers could no longer trust having Gavin Lux as their everyday shortstop, and just five days before leaving for South Korea, they pulled the plug.
They are now moving All-Star Mookie Betts to shortstop despite not having played the position on an everyday basis since he was a senior at Overton High School in Nashville, Tenn. Lux is moving to second base.
It’ll be fascinating to see how long the experiment lasts without the Dodgers going out to find another shortstop. They have expressed strong interest in Willy Adames of the Milwaukee Brewers.
You don’t spend $1.1 billion in free agency and go into the season simply hoping you’re best all-around athletic player can suddenly learn a new position in the course of a big-league season.
Betts saw action at shortstop in 16 games with the Dodgers last season. He played 13 games in 2012 at shortstop at Class A Lowell with the Boston Red Sox.
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And this was the first year the six-time Gold Glove right fielder was going to be the Dodgers’ everyday second baseman.
Can he do it?
“Never done it,’’ he told reporters, “so I don’t know. We’re about to find out together ….
“Everything is tough about playing shortstop, but somebody’s got to do it.’’
Betts has played 1,176 career games in the outfield, 100 at second base, and 16 at shortstop. Nobody in MLB history has ever played 1,000 games in the outfield and 100 games each at shortstop and second base, per MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
The Dodgers now have to find out whether Lux can even play second base with his defensive deficiencies. He has struggled this spring after missing all of last season after undergoing knee surgery.
The Dodgers can always play Miguel Rojas, Kiké Hernandez or Chris Taylor at shortstop, and moving Betts to second base, but the Dodgers want Lux’s bat in the lineup.
“He’s just such a threat offensively,” Dodgers manager Roberts told reporters. “So, for us as an organization to do anything we can to find a way to get him in the lineup I think is a smart thing to do.”