Dodgers infielder Max Muncy missed the 2021 postseason after suffering a ligament tear in his left elbow at the end of the regular season, but the slugger tells David Vassegh of Dodger Talk on AM 570 that he expects to be ready to go whenever the 2022 season can finally begin (link includes audio of the full 13-minute interview). Muncy has already begun swinging a bat and says his rehab has been “progressing well.”
“I’m getting more time to get healthy,” says Muncy in reference to the ongoing MLB lockout, “but I’m not able to work with my guys on the [Dodgers’] staff. I can’t even talk to them, really. I’d probably be getting better treatment if I was getting worked on by them, but that’s just the unfortunate circumstances. It does give me a chance to get healthy, but I’m not getting the full extent of what I could be getting. I think even before the lockout, it was looking like I was going to be possibly ready for Opening Day. I think we’re still on that track right now.”
Although Muncy suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament, he adds that Tommy John was “never really on the table for me,” as every doctor who evaluated him agreed that surgery wasn’t necessary. Muncy notes that the injury was “really bad news, but it was the best bad news can get.”
A healthy Muncy is a vital piece to the Dodgers’ lineup — particularly now that Corey Seager has departed via free agency. The 31-year-old Muncy turned in a .249/.368/.527 batting line last season while notching new career-high marks in home runs (36), doubles (26) and plate appearances (592). With Seager now in Texas and Cody Bellinger in need of a rebound following a disastrous 2021 season, Muncy has become the Dodgers’ most reliable source of left-handed power.
Of course, the rumors connecting the Dodgers to Freddie Freeman have only increased throughout the offseason, and Muncy was more than happy to voice his support for that hypothetical match.
“Imagine how dangerous we’d be if we get him in that lineup,” said Muncy. “It makes me really excited. Maybe it’s not as much first base [for me], but I think I’ve told you several times I enjoy playing second base more. If we get the DH, that’s going to be a rotating position. We’re not going to have one set DH, so that’s a way we can utilize it — to get people off their feet and get them rest days without getting them out of the lineup. I don’t think we’ll have a set DH, but that just means we’ll be rotating all around the field, and that, to me, is when it’s really fun.”
Slotting Freeman into the heart of the order would likely mean more multi-position work for the likes of Muncy, Chris Taylor and Gavin Lux. With the expected implementation of the universal designated hitter, any of those names could see some time at DH, as could third base stalwart Justin Turner. Muncy and Taylor both have a good bit of experience at the hot corner, and Lux notched one game there last year as well (in addition to getting his feet wet in the outfield). It’s all hypotheticals for now, although the general expectation is that whenever the lockout lifts, Freeman will act quickly in choosing his next destination.
It’ll be interesting to see how the work stoppage affects the fantasy drafts. A player like Muncy, who might’ve been expected to miss a month, gets downgraded accordingly. If the season starts on May 1st, he becomes more valuable.
Who else had Freddy Galvis to make more than Freddie Freeman over the next two years?
Freddy Y 7.4MM Freddie ie 0.
The biggest salary distorter in MLB is the MLBPA.
What?
Drugs are bad, mmmmmmkay
Oh, I thought this was about Max Muncy of the Oakland A’s.
If the Dodgers had drafted the other Max Muncy they would have cornered the Max Muncy market.
…or, if the A’s had held onto Max Muncy they would have cornered the Max Muncy market.
Nobody was thinking that far ahead apparently.
Freddie won’t be a Dodger. Can’t imagine the Braves will screw that up.
They screwed it up for the month or so leading into the lockout, as well as the couple years before his deal ended. If they’re dead set that they don’t want to pay him $30M/yr into his late 30’s, I can see another team eager for a solid bat overpaying then to get him now.
@Barkerboy- Freddie really wants that 6th year, not saying he’s going to get it either. My guess is Freeman goes back to Atlanta with a 5 year deal and a club option for a 6th season. The Dodgers and the Yankees are obviously still in play for his services, with the Blue Jays a distant 3rd.
Freeman will put as much pressure on the Braves as he can (and he should) but I believe when the chips are all on the table Freeman will stay with the Braves even if it’s not the best offer.
The only way he leaves is if the Braves only offer something insulting, which I don’t think is the case. I bet Freeman will sacrifice that 6th if the Braves never offer it even if another club does.
Remember when the A’s gave him up for a pack of peanuts?
Gotta feed Stomper.
I think Freeman will end up on the Padres.
@prov356- Freeman isn’t going to the Padres, unless they can move Hosmer and Myers in a trade which is highly unlikely. They will have to attach a prospect or two do to so.
Exactly. The Padres have been trying to move Hosmer for a couple years now. They are done with him and will sweeten the deal if it means they can score Freeman. I think they will try it at least. If not the Padres, the Dodgers. But until it’s done, I think the Padres will do what it takes.
@Prov356- I’ll tell you what. If you guys pay half of Hosmer’s contract and give us Hassell and Campusano we’ll give you Torres, Voit, Aaron Hicks, Gil or Schmidt. What do you think? Then you can sign Freeman with the $ left over. Unless you guys trade for Matt Olson. You definitely have the pieces to get that done. What would be the Padres offer for Olson if they don’t sign Freeman? Hearing the A’s want Abrams in a package.
I sincerely doubt that package would be agreed upon by either side.
I have doubts about Cody Bellinger’s ability to adapt at the plate. There’s having a bad year, then there’s looking completely lost at the the dish. Queue the Dodgers fans who will tell me that for six days in August he hit .324 off righties in night games after a rainout when the relative humidity … Bellinger has lost his way entirely.
He had an abysmal year, no doubt. If he is just as bad this year, I’ll write him off, but I don’t put much stock in 2020 numbers and I’m willing to let a guy have an off year, even a really, really off year. My guess is he bounces back to an OPS+ of 110 or so. Certainly not the MVP level he was at, but enough that he’s still a valuable player.
I know that’s tongue-in-cheek and all, but it would be a heck of a thing for you to prove (or disprove). This year, we have two ground-zero cases in JBJ and Bellinger (likely more). As soon as Mr. Adams and Mr. Franco get tired of writing pro-player articles, it could be a really impressive article to find out when, and when not, reversion is in the works.
Bellinger is a 3+ WAR player if he reverts only to 2020. Same with JBJ. He was 2 bWAR or better straight seasons. If he reverts to a 2+ WAR player, excellent deal. But another .497 OPS, and he isn’t even bench-worthy.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. He threw away his career by celebrating a fake pennant.
Please point me to where MLB refers to it as a fake pennant?
Pro-player articles? Four owners are the hold ups. And one of them is Moreno. The idiot who overrode his own front office to sign both Hamilton and Puljols.
Now that jackhole wants to install league rules to prevent HIMSELF from spending like a moron.
Screw the owners. They profit just by owning the teams whether they win or lose. And even more so as they hide revenue by making the team pay for leasing the parking lot etc. of course THEY also own the parking lot. But they can then claim that the team is losing money.
I’ll come over to your side after a single owner goes bankrupt from owning a franchise.
Well to be completely accurate, Frank McCourt went bankrupt, or at least his Dodgers did. He ran the team on the cheap and used it as a personal piggy-bank. For his sins McCourt was turned into a billionaire a couple of times over. Yes, it’s really rough being an owner. It’s almost possible to be stupid enough to not make money at it, but not quite.
4 owners are the hold up? Source, please. I don’t think the post about 4 owners not wanting to raise the tax higher said what you think it said…
Yeah, Bellinger went from MVP to nobody in nothing flat. Couldn’t have anything to do with the shoulder surgery, he just completely forgot how to play the game.
Next!
Pitchers adjusted to Bellinger and his long swing halfway through his MVP season. He’s not yet made appropriate adjustments in return. I hear a lot of excuses for Bellinger. The JBJ comparison fits, many Sox fans are determined to neglect the five months of the season when JBJ looks completely lost, too. I wish Bellinger well, but he’s up-against-it. JBJ? I’d personally drive him to any one of the other 29 teams’ front door.
Baseball is a game of constant adjustments, and I’ve heard nothing but nonsense theories about why Bellinger is one player simply can’t adjust. Shoulder surgery isn’t an excuse for last season, it’s a damn good reason. Some fans are in such a hurry to write off anyone who has a bad stretch, and completely discount the impact of recovering from injuries and surgeries on performance, even though we see it all the time. It’s just plain ridiculous.
@BlueSkies
Perhaps he’s been smoking pipes too much with the Hobbits?
Exactly my point. Bellinger has not made the required adjustments.
Next!
Repeating nonsense does not make it any less nonsensical, just repetitive.
30 Parks
Pitchers adjusted to Bellinger and his long swing halfway through his MVP season.
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No they didn’t. He had a .917 OPS in the second half of 2019. He had an .872 in the final two months of 2020.
My response is the same as it was to the RS that hated Beltre, and claimed that the pitchers ‘figured him out’. Unless you are injured, and can’t hit a particular pitch, or have gotten old and can’t turn on a FB, that doesn’t happen. It doesn’t take 2,000 PAs for pitchers to find a hole. It doesn’t usually take 200 PAs.
If his shoulder was/is still bothering him that much, he really shouldn’t be playing or at least not playing at the MLB level. I don’t know if that’s on him, the Dodgers’ trainers, the Dodgers’ front office or all of the above. I understand that players need to work their way back from injury, but he was hurting the team and really did just look lost.
Step 1 is cutting down on that swing. Until he does that no other adjustment he makes will matter.
Thanks coach!
Not even a magic lamp could bring the Dodgers a LEGITIMATE title in this era.
A small point that MLB and MLBPA should work out is a way for injured players to continue to get rehab while the lockout is in place. It help no one, not player or team, if a rehab is delayed. If the player’s under contract he’s going to get paid as soon as the CBA is resolved, but less ready. If he rushes to get back, he is probably more prone to re-injuring himself.
Honestly is it really such a big deal for MLB to let teams spend another $10-15 million that they’re going to keep canceling games? Unlike minimum salary and bonus pools, the CBT actually costs the league absolutely nothing. It just means that teams are allowed to spend slightly more.
I think the way MLB views what is largely a hard cap is that it potentially stifles overall salary growth. They can’t possibly be thinking that a player like Freddie Freeman will be signing with the Oakland or Tampa, because those teams don’t have that kind of scratch. But, as teams approach the CBT level, they become warier on virtually any type of contract, much less the expensive ones. That means they don’t compete for that player, and the player, having one less suitor, gets paid less.. But, there’s perverse incentive here…if a team near the cap needs to replace an injured player as they approach the trading deadline, they have no choice but to either bust the cap, or pay with higher rated prospects, and toss in a contract they already have. OK, superficially, MLB might like that…but they shouldn’t, because the teams with the most money can afford to take on the most salary, and so can afford to “buy” the most prospects. The league is so obsessed with salary growth that they encourage tanking and other behaviors that have the opposite effect then intended. If you really want to discourage salary growth at the top end, stop draft-pick penalties for signing free agents. A big spending team will buy what it can’t develop.
Yes it is a big deal. It allows only the largest markets to spend more, which is a disadvantage to the teams in small markets trying To compete. To keep the playing field somewhat level, it would require revenue sharing to increase, which the players are also against.
I’ve heard that if no one guarantees Freeman six years, he plans to retire.
LOL why would he retire? Even a three-year deal would get him decent money and he could stay with a contender in Atlanta.
@Cohn Joppolella- It definitely looks like he’s going to retire then, being that there’s no 6 year offers out there. Maybe, if the Padres unload Hosmer and Myers they will?
Set Freddie free!
26 doubles!!!! Don’t forget he also tied his career high of 2 triples
Good news, Max.
Of course MLB started a lockout. What else can you do when the players want the moon , sun and stars ? I do think this is the real final , final offer and the players will say yes…
“Freeman will act quickly in choosing his next destination.”
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Fabulous insight here.
Given that there will be a few weeks for everyone to get settled, once the CBA is settled, I feel comfortable that every single player in baseball will “act quickly”.