After Max Muncy was forced to leave the Los Angeles Dodgers' win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night with a scary-looking knee injury — Michael A. Taylor slid head first directly into Muncy's knee as he was trying to cover third base on a steal attempt — both the team and its fans were fearing the worst.
The good news is that further testing has ruled out the worst-case scenario; Muncy managed to avoid any structural damage to his knee and has been diagnosed with a bone bruise, according to FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray. The bad news, though, is that even a bone bruise is expected to keep Muncy out of the lineup for six weeks or more.
Max Muncy said he’s looking at about six weeks out with the injury, which is about best case scenario considering how it looked at the time. pic.twitter.com/Qiar7cDLYu
— Rowan Kavner (@RowanKavner) July 3, 2025
That six-week timeline would have Muncy back at some point in the middle of August. That would still give him plenty of time to get right before the postseason, but it's also far enough away that the Dodgers have to be at least a little bit concerned about how they'll cover third base in his absence. (Not to mention whether Muncy, one of the hottest hitters in the league over the last month or so, will be able to come back without missing a beat.)
The only other internal options the Dodgers have are Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas. The former is better served as a utility man at this point in his career, while the latter simply isn't an everyday player. L.A. could feasibly slide Tommy Edman to the hot corner, but that raises more questions at second base, where Edman has become a mainstay. Maybe the emergence of Hyeseong Kim will allow the Dodgers to get by with Edman at third and Andy Pages in center, but more likely is that the team will use the trade deadline to find at least some alternative.
They need to be careful, though. Because while there's one obvious choice that fans will be clamoring for, it woudl be the worst thing for the Dodgers in the long term.
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Nolan Arenado isn't the answer after Dodgers' Max Muncy injury
On paper, at least, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado would seem to check a lot of boxes. He's an eight-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer, for starters, and he remains one of the better defenders at the position in the entire league. Plus, he's a Southern California native, drafted by the Colorado Rockies out of Lake Forest's El Toro High School, and he's made no secret of the fact that he'd love to play for the Dodgers at some point before his career is through.
While the Cardinals were looking to trade Arenado this winter, the Dodgers were one of a select few teams that he was reportedly willing to waive his full no-trade clause for, and it seemed like L.A. was much closer to the top of that list than the bottom. St. Louis has surprised some people this season, but they still don't look like a team that can really hang with the top of the NL, and you have to think they'd jump at the chance to get something in return for Arenado and the remaining two years and $31 million left on his contract.
The Dodgers should have zero interest in helping them with that, though. For starters, there's the money: Arenado is still being paid like a star, and he'll remain so through 2027, at which point he'll be 36 years old. Roll your eyes at the Dodgers crying poor if you want, but even L.A. has its limits, and they should be very careful before signing up for that sort of expense — one that could limit what they do in future offseasons.
And while Arenado is being paid like a star, he isn't playing like it anymore. He's in the midst of another middling year at the plate, with a .701 OPS and just 10 homers in his first 80 games. He simply doesn't hit the ball hard anymore, and he has a hard time pulling it in the air the way that he used to. His defense still brings some value, but that's about the only value he brings at this point, and how much longer will he remain able to handle the hot corner?
Arenado doesn't give L.A. the sort of short-term boost it would need in order to take on the long-term risk of a player in his mid-30s who's already declined precipitously as a hitter. His defense isn't all-world anymore; it's merely very good, and when you combine that with a bat that's already mediocre and isn't a great fit for Dodger Stadium, you have a player who would be adequate but not enough of an upgrade over what the Dodgers have to be worth the money. If Muncy were out for the year, maybe a more permanent solution would be a pressing need. As is, though, Los Angeles should only go for one if it's a genuine difference-maker like Eugenio Suarez.