Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Lineup Ranked as the Best in MLB Even Without Justin Turner

The Dodgers still have a few things to figure out with their roster before the 2021 season. Now that the Universal DH seems to be out of the league’s plans, they should be able to fill out the final details in the coming days. 

One of those details will likely end up being Justin Turner. While many believe that he will inevitably return to Los Angeles, the wait is suspicious. But even looking ahead at the 2021 roster, MLB experts think that the Dodgers have one of the best lineups in baseball. And those rankings came in assuming that JT does NOT return to the team.



The lineup projection put out by ESPN featured Edwin Rios over third base. That projection also had Rios batting way down at number 8 in the lineup for the Dodgers. They also had Chris Taylor at second base and AJ Pollock getting the start in left field. 

Related: The 7 Players Left From the Dodgers 2017 World Series Team

ESPN has the Dodgers lineup ranked ahead of the Mets, Astros, Yankees, and Blue Jays to round out the top 5. One thing to note is that they had the Padres in at number 7 since the projection does not include pitching. 

With Mookie Betts at the top of the lineup, the Dodgers are bound to be full of superstar potential heading into 2021. The only question seems to be whether they can make it all click without JT, but they may not need to worry about that for long. 

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6 Comments

  1. The current projected lineup is not or should not be at the top of rankings simply because without Turner or an added RHB, it’s too LH heavy and may struggle against the good LHP around the league

    1. Not much different than last year. You can’t count Hernandez as a starter. Pollock should get more ABs with Pederson gone

    2. Paul while I agree the Dodger lineup could use more balance Seager hits left-handed pitching well and Rios in small sample has also. The Dodgers have Smith, Polllock, and Betts as right-handed hitters. When you add Seager as a good left-handed hitter the lineup is more balanced offensively without a DH. Guessing Turner is not an option I would love to see the Dodgers use some Minor League talent and trade for a guy like the Indians Ramirez. If the Dodgers do not sign JT they can play Smith at 3rd part-time and bat Barnes or Ruiz to get better balance. They recently invited Amaya to Spring Training and he is a solid contact hitter with plate discipline.
      I think signing JT is the optimum choice but not to a longer deal than 2 years he is 36 and slowing!

      1. Well mainly Dodgrrs and most other NL teams won’t be quite as good without a DH. Having the pitcher batting does not do much for bottom half of lineup and not only that, just how safe is it for pitchers to bat after more than a year away from the batters box? Doug McCain was talking about how perhaps pitchers do not look forward to batting anyway. My biggest issue with MLB is the separate rules for each league. No other major sports have that as far as I know.

  2. Dodgers will try for Bauer (against Mets), but not non-pitchers. If they need an everyday player, they will let the season play out and trade during midseason using their prospects and younger pitchers as trade bait

  3. Suarez and Hader both may be under consideration by the Dodgers? Suarez hit 49 homers during the last full season and he is continually trending upward. With the great amount of talent in the Dodger’s organization, Hader and Suarez may still be trade targets. Both their contracts would not tax the payroll and are long-term. Suarez would cost roughly half the cost of Turner. As a Dodger fan of well over a half century, it is very comforting to have a management so blessed with competence and a willingness to do what it costs to field a winner. They are brilliant.

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