The Los Angeles Dodgers’ glaring hole at second base, a position that produced a combined slugging percentage of just . 676 and dragged down an otherwise potent lineup, has suddenly become the cheapest and most logical fix on the market. According to a report from the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, the Miami Marlins are willing to listen on infielders Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards, two players who would immediately transform the weakest spot on Los Angeles’ roster for a fraction of the cost of a superstar free agent.
The timing is anything but coincidental for a franchise that just watched its offense sputter to a four-game sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers are projected to carry a staggering $390 million tax payroll for 2027, a figure that sits a whopping $143 million over the competitive balance tax threshold. With five players—Kyle Tucker, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Mookie Betts, and Tyler Glasnow—already consuming $192. 3 million of that total, the front office has virtually no room for another massive contract.
Yet Lopez and Edwards are projected to earn just $5. 4 million and $3. 5 million respectively in arbitration next season, meaning Los Angeles could theoretically acquire both for less than the cost of a single mid-tier reliever.
In a market where the Dodgers are desperate for production, that kind of financial flexibility is nothing short of gold.
The numbers paint a stark picture of just how broken the second base situation was in 2026. Six different players manned the position for Los Angeles, and none of them could produce at a league-average level. Tommy Edman posted a .
714 OPS, Alex Freeland managed just . 652, and Heesung Kim checked in at . 651, combining for a meager 3.
2 wins above replacement across the entire season. Miguel Rojas, who hit . 703 before officially retiring, is now gone, leaving no reliable veteran presence to fall back on.
The Dodgers’ lineup was elite everywhere else—Ohtani finished with an . 889 OPS, Max Muncy at . 837, and Betts at .
811—but the second base hole was an outlier so glaring that it arguably cost them the postseason.
Lopez, in particular, looks like a potential difference-maker after a breakout 2026 campaign where he slashed . 305/. 349/.
437 with 191 hits, the most in all of baseball. He stole 34 bases, posted a 5. 9 WAR on FanGraphs, and was even named a Silver Slugger finalist at shortstop, a testament to his offensive emergence.
His hard-hit rate climbed from 38. 4% to 43. 4% in a single year, suggesting the production is tied to real improvements in his contact quality rather than luck on bloop singles.
Against left-handed pitching, he posted a monstrous 1. 084 OPS in 51 plate appearances, though the small sample size warrants caution. The concern, and it is a legitimate one, is that Lopez’s track record prior to 2026 includes two consecutive sub-.
700 OPS seasons, raising questions about whether this breakout is sustainable or a career year outlier.
Edwards offers a different profile but perhaps a safer bet. He hit . 280 with a .
360 on-base percentage and walked at an elite 11. 4% clip, though he slugged just . 371 with six home runs.
His hard-hit rate has improved steadily across three seasons, climbing from 24. 4% to 29. 6% to 36.
8%, indicating a hitter who is getting stronger even as his overall OPS fluctuates. He has a 1. 050 OPS against fastballs but a glaring .
583 mark against breaking balls, a clear vulnerability that pitchers will exploit. Concerns about his defensive decline at second base this season add another wrinkle, but his 7. 1 WAR across 2024 and 2026 combined shows a player who consistently contributes in multiple facets of the game.
His projected $3. 5 million salary makes him the more affordable option, and his steadier three-year track record suggests he is the lower-risk acquisition.
The Marlins, however, are not in a position of desperation, and that is the crux of the challenge facing Dodgers general manager Andrew Friedman. Miami finished the season 80-82 after a brutal 12-game losing streak, yet there is no financial pressure forcing them to shed payroll or expedite a rebuild. The report from Jackson explicitly notes that Miami will listen if teams offer a lot, but they are not actively shopping either player.
At the trade deadline, the Marlins rejected Boston’s overtures for Lopez over a demand for elite prospect Franklin Arias, signaling that their asking price will be steep. Los Angeles possesses the prospect capital to make a deal work—they still boast the number one overall prospect in baseball in Josiah Pala, along with other top-100 talents like Max Roda and Ardo Quintero—but they will have to decide whether that price is worth paying.
The context of the Dodgers’ recent trade history suggests they are not afraid to part with young talent for immediate help. In July 2024, they acquired Tommy Edman in a three-team deal that sent Miguel Vargas, Raul Perez, and Alexander Albertus to the White Sox, a move that paid dividends in the playoffs. The franchise has also been aggressive in past offseasons, and Friedman stated in October that they plan to be active this winter.
Yet contradictory signals have emerged, with reports suggesting they might lean on internal development in some areas. Both approaches can be true simultaneously, but a move for one of these second basemen would be the clearest indicator of which direction they are really heading.
The urgency is compounded by how the 2026 season ended. The offense was already fading in the second half, and that trend reached its nadir against the Brewers, where the lineup simply never got going. Strikeouts plagued the Dodgers at second base—Freeland struck out at a 27.
5% clip and Edman at 20. 2%—while Lopez and Edwards are contact-oriented hitters who put the ball in play at elite rates. Lopez struck out at just 13%, placing him in the 93rd percentile league-wide, while Edwards struck out at 14%, good for the 88th percentile.
In a lineup that goes cold for extended stretches, adding bats that consistently make contact could be the antidote to the October swoon that has now plagued them in consecutive postseasons.
Even beyond the financial fit, the positional flexibility makes this an ideal scenario for Los Angeles. With Betts expected to remain at shortstop after the impact of Rojas’s leadership on his defensive positioning, a natural shortstop like Lopez would simply slide over to second base without issue. That is not a problem but a luxury, allowing the Dodgers to deploy their best defensive alignment while upgrading the offensive output at the keystone.
Edwards, likewise, has experience at second and would slot in seamlessly as a table-setter ahead of the middle-of-the-order mashers like Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. Neither player would require a shift in the defensive alignment, and both are under team control through the 2029 season, providing long-term stability at a position that has been a revolving door all year.
The alternative options on the market are less appealing. C. J.
Abrams has been mentioned as a trade target with two arbitration years remaining, but his asking price is likely to be significant. Bo Bichette could be available but comes with a high price tag and questions about his fit. Jazz Chisholm Jr.
is a free agent after a 19-home-run, 41-steal season, but he will command a multi-year deal that the Dodgers cannot afford given their tax situation. Even if Los Angeles were to pivot to those names, the math remains brutal: a $30 million second baseman is not a realistic plan when they are already $143 million over the tax line. The cheap, controlled, and productive options are Lopez and Edwards, and that is not a coincidence.
What remains to be seen is whether the Dodgers will act decisively. The Marlins have cracked the door open, but they have not thrown it wide, and they are under no obligation to move either player if the return does not meet their standards. Los Angeles has the prospect capital to meet that price, but they also have to weigh whether giving up an elite young player is worth the upgrade from a .
676 OPS to something significantly better. The answer, for a team in championship-or-bust mode, should be an emphatic yes. The Dodgers just watched their season end in a sweep because the bottom of their lineup could not carry its weight, and the cost of fixing that problem is suddenly within reach.
Whether they pounce on this golden opportunity or let it slip away will define their offseason.
