Aaron Judge is set to hit free agency and the Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly in on the Yankees slugger and would make a bold move to get a deal done.
On Sunday night, it was Mr. 62 home runs that made the final out of the New York Yankees‘ season as Aaron Judge grounded out to the pitcher to give the Houston Astros the ALCS sweep. And now comes an offseason in which Judge will be the biggest topic of conversation — as he was for the second half of the regular season — as he hits free agency.
The Yankees are expected to push to re-sign him and it’s been long suspected that his hometown team, the San Francisco Giants, along with the Mets, Cubs and many more will be involved. And now there’s another player reportedly ready to get in the mix, one that should be of no surprise to anyone: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, the Dodgers could be “serious players” in the Aaron Judge market this offseason. But while that might not surprise some fans that a team that seemingly makes one superstar-sized splash after another will pursue Judge in free agency, there is an interesting note attached to a potential LA push for Judge that involves one star already on the roster: Mookie Betts.
Dodgers rumors: LA in on Aaron Judge and could move Mookie Betts to 2B to make it happen
In addition to reporting the interest in Judge, Feinsand says that the Dodgers would also be willing to talk to Betts about a possible move to second base in order for Judge to take over in right field should he come to Los Angeles.
Betts played second base as a prospect but has spent almost the entirety of his MLB career with both the Red Sox and Dodgers playing in right field. So it would remain to be seen if the superstar outfielder would be willing to change that title to superstar infielder in order to make way for another big name in the City of Angels.
At the same time, though, there could be alternative solutions, potentially moving Betts to centerfield in the place of the oft-struggling Cody Bellinger. Or there could be a rotation that involves the now-in-place DH spot for the National League.
Whatever would happen, though, this is all conjecture at this point. The Dodgers are just another high-profile team that will be in hot pursuit of Aaron Judge in free agency, but we have no way of knowing at this point of which franchise will actually win the sweepstakes for the new AL home run king.