Blockbuster Trade Proposal Sends Shortstop With 30-HR Upside to Dodgers

Getty The Red Sox have a hole at shortstop after Trevor Story's injury. Could Brewers infielder Willy Adames fill the void?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been busy this winter. After spending $1 billion on player salaries, they’re projected to easily get back to the postseason. Following two straight early exits, though, could the club continue pushing the envelope with win-now moves? If so, Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames might be an option.

FanSided’s Zachary Rotman cooked up some Adames trade proposals on February 14. Of the three scenarios he presented, one had the right-handed hitter heading to Hollywood in a three-player swap. Here are the details:

• Dodgers receive: shortstop Willy Adames
• Brewers receive: shortstop Gavin Lux and right-handed pitcher Michael Grove

Grove appeared in 18 games (12 starts) for Los Angeles in 2023, struggling to a 6.13 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. Lux is a former top prospect and is currently penciled in as the Dodgers’ 2024 starting shortstop, per FanGraphs’ Roster Resource. He last played in 2022 and missed all of 2023 because of an ACL tear.

Swapping Lux for Adames would give the Dodgers a known big-league commodity at shortstop, as well as proven power. Adames hit 31 homers for the Brewers in 2022 and followed it up with 24 dingers in 2023.

Brewers Aren’t Desperate to Offload Adames

All eyes have been on the Brewers recently. After signing first baseman Rhys Hoskins to a two-year, $34 million deal, it was assumed Milwaukee would hold onto its players to try and compete in the National League Central. But then, starting pitcher Corbin Burnes was traded to the Baltimore Orioles.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvey reported on February 1 that the Brewers “wouldn’t shut any conversations down at this point in the offseason” regarding players they’d be willing to trade. Two of their most attractive players include Adames and reliever Devin Williams.

Acquiring Joey Ortiz from the Orioles in the Burnes deal has made Adames a trade candidate. That’s especially the case since he’s set to become a free agent after 2024. But even with that in mind, Milwaukee isn’t in a rush to make a deal, per a February 4 report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

He said that while Milwaukee has made the shortstop available, a deal doesn’t have to happen before Opening Day. They could wait until the trade deadline or simply let the 28-year-old walk at season’s end.

Dodgers Appear Committed to Lux in 2024

At the start of the offseason, the Dodgers and Brewers seemed like natural trade partners when Burnes was still available. Of course, that was also before Los Angeles signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto, traded and extended Tyler Glasnow and signed James Paxton to revamp the rotation. (This doesn’t include re-signing Clayton Kershaw or Shohei Ohtani pitching again in 2025).

Packaging Burnes and Adames in a hypothetical deal would’ve solved multiple issues for the Dodgers earlier in the winter. As of a January 2 report from MLB.com’s Juan Toribio, though, Lux is expected to “get every opportunity to prove he can be the shortstop this spring.”

Lux’s offense was trending upward after a solid 2022. He racked up 471 plate appearances in 129 games, both of which were new single-season career-high marks. That resulted in a .276/.346/.399 line with 33 extra-base hits (20 doubles, seven triples and six home runs), 42 RBI and 66 runs scored. His .745 OPS and 109 OPS+ were both the best of his young career.

The Dodgers have proven they can make any kind of acquisition they’d like. But based on how the lineup is projected to look in 2024, it’s a good opportunity to give the 26-year-old a shot to be the long-term answer at shortstop for Los Angeles.