Manager Dave Roberts said on MLB Network Monday that the plan is to have Betts serve as the everyday second baseman next year.
If Betts is playing second, the team may have the chance to bring in another outfield bat to fill out their lineup as well.
According to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, the team is planning to move the former MVP right fielder to second base full time in 2024.
Roberts first made the announcement during an interview Monday afternoon on MLB Network, saying,
“I think it’s pretty safe to say No. 50, Mookie Betts, is going to be our everyday second baseman.”
Later, during a chat with reporters at MLB’s annual winter meetings, the eight-year manager doubled-down, explaining that after conversations between himself, Betts and the front office,
“we all just kind of felt that … for him to look at himself primarily as a second baseman is where we want him to start, as opposed to looking at himself primarily as a right fielder.”
Dave Roberts said that Mookie Betts will be the @Dodgers every day second baseman in 2024
via @MLBNetwork pic.twitter.com/udMHl3qcU6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) December 4, 2023
Entering the offseason, the Dodgers had intimated that Betts would split his playing time between second base and right field, similarly to last season when he would typically start at second base against right-handed pitching (left-handed hitting Jason Heyward would play in right field those days) and at right field against left-handed pitching.
Roberts, however, pointed to several potential advantages of keeping Betts at second base full time — even though the 31-year-old is a six-time Gold Glove winner in right.
First and foremost, Betts has made his affinity for second base abundantly clear in recent years, relishing even part-time opportunities to return to the position he played growing up.
“Yes,” Roberts said when asked if Betts gets more excited about playing games at second base. Roberts also believes the move will keep Betts healthier long term (since the position is less physically demanding than right field) and more engaged in the game pitch to pitch. “It keeps him on the field the most,”
Roberts said, noting Betts would need fewer off days at second.
“I think you get a better Mookie Betts by playing him at second base,”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Furthermore, Roberts reasoned that Betts’ uptick in offensive production last season — when he hit .307 with a career-high 39 homers to finish second in National League MVP voting — was a byproduct of his increased time at second base.
“I think you get a better Mookie Betts by playing him at second base,”
Roberts said.
Roberts didn’t completely close the door on Betts playing occasionally in right field. But Roberts made clear that Betts wouldn’t reprise his split-role from last year, when the perennial All-Star made 74 of his 151 starts on the infield (including 12 games at shortstop while the Dodgers were battling injuries) and 50 of his final 79 starts at second base.
"It's pretty safe to say that Mookie Betts is going to be our everyday second baseman."
– Dave Roberts on #HighHeat pic.twitter.com/yMzvPepWNy
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 4, 2023
With Heyward expected to face mostly right-handed pitching again next year, the Dodgers could pair other right-handed bats like Chris Taylor or Miguel Vargas with him in a right-field platoon.
That would leave an opening in left field — where the Dodgers could attempt to make a splash signing (they have shown interest in Teoscar Hernández, one of the top outfielders on the market this year) but would more likely opt for lower-cost additions that could also platoon (which would be similar to last season, when David Peralta and Kiké Hernández shared playing time down the stretch).
For now, the team’s manager made only one definitive declaration: Betts will be the team’s everyday second baseman next season, in line for a potential switch back to his original position. He played right field, second base, and shortstop in 2023.
It should be noted that Betts was already expected to play more second base in 2024. It looks like Lux’s double-play partner will consistently be Betts though, according to manager Dave Roberts.
On MLB Network’s High Heat, Roberts said Betts will be the Dodgers starting second baseman to begin the 2024 campaign, via Alanna Rizzo of MLB Network.
Barring a change though, second base will be his primary position. Betts expressed a desire to play second base with Team USA during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
The biggest names in the league are there, including Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Roberts spoke to the media on the first day and revealed some shocking news to some, saying that All-Star Mookie Betts will be their new everyday second baseman.
Roberts explained why he feels the change in position for Mookie is the right decision.
“It keeps him on the field the most and we feel it gives our roster the most optionality,”
Roberts said.
“We all just kind of felt that … for him to look at himself primarily as a second baseman is where we want him to start, as opposed to looking at himself primarily as a right fielder.”
It’s not like Mookie will never see right field again, but we will see the former MVP in the dirt a majority of the time, next to his former MVP teammate, Freddie Freeman.
Fans reacted as follows:
I’m not a dodgers fan. But why are mlb teams moving outfields infield? Like Harper. Now him?
— Wolfpac17 (@Extreme1777) December 4, 2023
That still leaves a gap in R. Field when the Dodgers go against lefties. Who fills in and will this be an upgrade? Is a trade in the works?
— John Fatland (@JohnFatland1) December 4, 2023
Mookie can play wherever or whatever
— CannaCrack12 (@CannabisCracky) December 5, 2023
It’s quite irritating how everything this team does, minor or major moves, it’s amplified, it’s magnified, it hurts the team ultimately boosting their egos to the point of anxious failure. All for your page to be revelant. Calm it down, be respectful.
— AVG (@avgraub) December 4, 2023
He can’t win a golden globe in RF any more .. #nando
— Sergio (@burrosolis) December 4, 2023
Dave Roberts is the worst manager in the MLB. How that clown hasn’t been fired yet is mind boggling. Hate everything about that loser.
— | (@FredThePet) December 4, 2023
