Don't Expect Potential Dodgers Willy Adames Deal Until Trade Deadline, Says MLB Insider

Mookie Betts is the permanent shortstop for now.

The potential for Willy Adames to finish the 2024 season in a Dodgers uniform hasn't completely vanished.

However, one national reporter believes no movement will happen on that front — if at all — until the annual summer trade deadline approaches.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi told Doug McKain of DodgersNation.com that Milwaukee Brewers are unlikely to deal Adames, their starting shortstop, between now and then.

“I’d be a little surprised if they made that move right now. And I think that if it was going to happen, it would’ve happened by now. … I tend to think that they’ll revisit that conversation around the trade deadline time.”

— MLB Network's Jon Morosi,

via Doug McKain of DodgersNation.com

The Dodgers gave Mookie Betts the second base job over the winter, after moving him between right field, second base and shortstop throughout the 2023 season. The positional flexibility certainly helped the Dodgers — and helped Betts finish second in National League MVP voting.

Meanwhile, Gavin Lux was re-installed as the starting shortstop in spring training after missing all of last year recuperating from knee surgery. Lux's return to the field flopped.

That prompted speculation that the Dodgers would pursue external help. As recently as a week ago, it was reported the front office remained interested in Adames specifcally.

For now, however, Betts is the Dodgers' shortstop. Lux's move to second base won't be re-evaluated until after the season. And Adames remains a Brewer.

Presumably that won't change until or unless Milwaukee's front office decides 2024 is a rebuilding season. The National League Central race is more wide-open than perhaps any year in recent memory, with the Brewers having traded Corbin Burnes to Baltimore and lost pitcher Brandon Woodruff to shoulder surgery.

The Dodgers have their own reasons for putting the trade on the back burner.

“I’m sure they’re still open to the conversation. I’m just not sure that we’re going to see it happen right now, especially because if the Dodgers make that trade, they’ll probably have to give up some of the pitching depth that they need right now. So, for a lot of reasons, I don’t see it happening. Never say never. But I would say, check back with that conversation some time in July.”

— Morosi,

via Doug McKain of DodgersNation.com

If Lux and Betts click in the field and at the plate, perhaps the trade rumors will disappear altogether.