Dinosaur Dodgers stuck like rock in a hard place: Why youth movement is unlikely
Freddie Freeman, Tommy Edman, Mookie Betts and Max Muncy in the infield.Will Smith at catcher.Kyle Tucker, Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández in the outfield. Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter.Meet the probable 2027 Dodgers – the same team as the 2026 Dodgers.Just older.And probably without Tarik Skubal in the starting rotation.The Dodgers know they have an aging roster.They know they have to incorporate younger players into their lineup before too many of their cornerstones become too old to remain competitive.The problem is clear.
The answer isn’t as obvious.The team is too good to blow up, but also too old to keep together and expect next season to end any differently than this one.The Dodgers were the oldest team in baseball this year, and they could be even older next year.Depending on when next season starts – owners are expected to lock out the players on Dec.
1 and the work stoppage could extend into the season – the Dodgers could field an opening-day lineup in which every one of their players outside of Tucker and Pages are 32 or older.Freeman will be 37, Muncy 36, Betts and Hernández 34.So much for a youth movement.On the surface, this might seem like an easily-solvable equation.The Dodgers’ farm system has a number of high-level prospects, headed by 21-year–old outfielder Josue De Paula, who was called up to the major leagues in September and made the playoff roster as a pinch hitter.In practice, the situation is more complicated.The Dodgers could address their long-term concerns by replacing their aging players with prospects, but they can’t do that without compromising their short-term goal of returning to the World Series.“We’ve talked about the challenge of a team with our expectations, of how to phase in young players,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.“It’s really difficult because you can’t phase in three guys (and) expect them to hit the ground running.”There are no guarantees with prospects.As...