On Monday morning, the Los Angeles Dodgers received news that serves as a devastating blow to their World Series hopes this season and also represented a major hit for fantasy owners. Shortstop Corey Seager is headed for Tommy John surgery and he will miss the remainder of the 2018 season.
Seager, who experienced and played through some soreness in his elbow late last season and the Dodgers took caution as they brought him along in the spring, will go under the knife to repair a torn UCL he must have suffered at some point over the weekend. In his absence, it's expected Chris Taylor fills in a majority of the time at shortstop.
Before the announcement, Seager was off to a slow start this season. In 26 games, the 24-year-old posted a .257/.339/.366 slash line with two home runs, 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored. Recently though, he started to turn things around at the plate with a .320/.407/.480.
The news will secure more playing time for Taylor when Justin Turner returns from the disabled list. Los Angeles will now be a candidate mentioned frequently as a team who could pursue a trade for Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado.
For fantasy owners who just lost Seager for the season, potential targets at shortstop depend on if you pursue one via the waiver wire or through a trade. On ESPN, Jose Peraza (29.4 percent), Eduardo Escobar (20.8 percent) and Daniel Robertson can be cheap additions to pick up in free agency. From a trade perspective, Tim Anderson and Andrelton Simmons could be targets who won't cost a lot but provide some decent production.