![\"Los](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_17,w_3600,h_2025\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/75\/01jrgmdk4za1ryh9p1h9.jpg\")
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The Dodgers were cruising along as the undisputed best team in baseball for eight straight games, but things immediately started crashing down on them when they headed on a road trip to the east coast.<\/p>\n
Six games \u2014\u00a0three against the Phillies and three against the Nationals \u2014\u00a0slapped them with four losses and slipped them down to third in the NL West.<\/p>\n
Sure, it’s early, but the Phillies and Nationals exposed\u00a0some major flaws in what looked like an impenetrable team for a time.<\/p>\n
While Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez, and Tommy Edman have been doing more or less what everyone expected them to (in Edman’s case, even exceeding expectations), there are some vulnerabilities in the roster that the Dodgers should replace sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
Pages was benched for the first time this season on April 7 after\u00a0a bleak defensive misplay\u00a0the night before, but his bat also wasn’t doing him any favors.<\/p>\n
Up to that point, he was batting .118 with a .415 OPS to make him a liability on offense. He homered in two straight games after he returned to the starting lineup (his first two of the season), but it probably won’t be enough to keep him around long-term.<\/p>\n
It’s seemed clear from the outset of the season that Pages’ roster spot is only temporary and will be ceded to Hyeseong Kim when the Dodgers feel like he’s ready for major league action.<\/p>\n
Kim is batting well in Triple-A and, notably, has been playing center field in Oklahoma City, so a swap with him and Pages feels like it’s just around the corner.<\/p>\n
Will the Dodgers\u00a0ever\u00a0find it in themselves to dump Chris Taylor?\u00a0Most signs point to no, but he’s already made it even more obvious that his four-year, $60 million deal from the end of 2021 is the Dodgers’ worst currently active contract.<\/p>\n
He was relegated to a bench role last season, which has continued into 2025, and in five games (two starts) he’s only gotten a single hit, hasn’t walked, and has struck out three times.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers owe him $13 million this year and have a $12 million club option in 2026 that they should under no circumstances exercise.<\/p>\n
It’s anyone’s guess why they’ve even kept him around this long, but it wouldn’t hurt to stop delaying the inevitable and ditch him in favor of a more effective utility player before his deal expires.<\/p>\n
2024 was the best offensive season of Rojas’ career, but that production has disappeared through eight games to start 2025, and\u00a0he’s already faltered on defense as well.<\/p>\n
He’s been doing what he usually does for the Dodgers’ defense, jumping around the middle infield behind Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, and Tommy Edman, but versatility can only get you so far. He has just three hits in his first 25 plate appearances, a single walk, and three strikeouts.<\/p>\n
He’s only making $4 million this year, after the Dodgers exercised their club option to keep him, so it’s not as unforgivable as Taylor’s performance.<\/p>\n
Still, there’s a theme here: the Dodgers’ bench guys don’t look good. If, knock on wood, something were to happen to any of the starting position players that would keep them out for an extended period of time, the Dodgers’ current substitutes are far from ideal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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