Jimmy Rollins is still having a career-worst campaign at the plate this season, which has spurred speculation regarding the promotion of top prospect Corey Seager. However, the team values Rollins in more ways than one.
The veteran shortstop is batting a dismal .200/.263/.341/.603 with 29 runs scored, 7 home runs, 18 RBIs and 6 stolen bases in 60 games. Those numbers have remained in that ballpark for the entire season and Rollins was dropped to eighth in the lineup.
So what are the Dodgers waiting for? It's pretty clear Rollins is serving as a stopgap for Seager, and he even admitted it earlier in the season. The 21-year-old Seager was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the beginning of May after a dominant 20 games at Double-A Tulsa. He's batting .297/.356/.459/.815 with 23 runs scored, 4 home runs and 19 RBIs in 37 games at Oklahoma City.
It's been said the Dodgers are open to the idea of promoting him, but fans are still waiting.
"Jimmy Rollins is great in the clubhouse and at shortstop, but it's fair to wonder whether his offensive struggles could lead to a call-up of Corey Seager, who may be baseball's best prospect now that Astros shortstop Carlos Correa is up," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "An NL scout said Seager is ready now, but [general manager Farhan] Zaidi said they are happy with Rollins despite the low batting average and aren't currently discussing a callup for Seager."
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman weighed in on the matter over the weekend as well.
"We feel like he's in a really good place to be a really good major league player for a long time, but when that is will be determined by when he's ready to do it, when we feel like it will put him in the best position to be as good as he can be as quickly as he can be," Friedman told Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Perhaps Los Angeles is more concerned with their starting rotation and bullpen. Their offense ranks sixth in the MLB with 273 runs scored and they're slowly getting some players back from injury. Yasiel Puig made his return last week and Carl Crawford is expected back soon. In their absences, outfielders Andre Ethier and Alex Guerrero picked up the slack and provided good run production.
The need for Seager's bat isn't immediate. Rumors suggested yesterday that the Dodgers are exploring a big acquisition for a starting pitcher before the trade deadline and could actually use their surplus of hitters and minor-league pitching to get a deal done. The losses of Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu, and also the possibility Zack Greinke hits free agency after the season, have the team checking out other top options on the market.
The Dodgers rank fourth in ERA, but a number of injuries have put the pitching staff's depth into question.
Either way, Seager still isn't far off and has a good shot to make his MLB debut in 2015. It probably just won't be in a full-time role.
"He is a level closer to the majors, the Dodgers are struggling at shortstop and third base, and Seager continues to defend up the middle," writes Chris Mitchell of RotoExperts.com. "... It had appeared the Dodgers were willing to move on from Jimmy Rollins or replace the hot-hitting Justin Turner with Seager, but it doesn't seem likely at the moment.
"Seager could be promoted any day now, but the likelihood is that he continues at Triple-A," Mitchell added. "When he is promoted it is unlikely that he gets full time at-bats, so temper expectations for 2015. In 2016, however, he will break camp with the major league team and it looks like shortstop is going to be his position."
"While the Dodgers will need to make some difficult decisions in order to make the move, it seems all but inevitable that Seager will make his major-league debut this year," says Chris Cwik of Yahoo! Sports. "He's already one of the top prospects in the game, and he's got little to prove in the minors. That's the perfect recipe for a call-up."
At 36-25, the Dodgers don't have to make any hasty decisions. They sit atop the NL West and lead the San Francisco Giants by 2.5 games, so the front office is likely looking at the big picture right now.
