The Los Angeles Dodgers received bad news on Monday when it was determined that All-Star shortstop Corey Seager will miss the remainder of the 2018 season because of a strained UCL in his right elbow that requires Tommy John surgery.
The elbow injury is something that Seager has been dealing with for almost a year now. It wasn’t until a couple throws over the weekend against the San Francisco Giants in which he felt more pain than usual. That prompted Seager to undergo an MRI that revealed that it was finally time to go under the knife.
Currently, there is no timetable for Seager’s recovery, although the hope is that he will be ready by Opening Day in 2019. The Dodgers now face the prospect of replacing one of the team’s best position players and hitters.
Filling the void Seager leaves won’t be easy, though the organization does have some internal options available. As for potential external options, Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi largely ruled out a trade and noted it would need to be for an impact talent, via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
Farhan Zaidi: "We’re going to have a pretty high bar, if we go outside the organization. We’re still digesting this news right now, too. And we still feel good about the lineup we can field on an everyday basis."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) May 1, 2018
The obvious name who could be available on the trade market is Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado, who is set to hit free agency at the end of the year.
Los Angeles likely would not be willing to give up what it takes to acquire a player of Machado’s caliber if he is just a rental. They will have some money to spend this winter though, so Machado could be a possibility then.
The Dodgers’ internal options include Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez, who both are natural shortstops but have played all over the diamond. The current plan is for Taylor to be the everyday shortstop with Hernandez seeing expanded time in center field.
