Does James Outman Still Fit into the Dodgers’ Plans?
Last season, James Outman was the Dodgers' starting center fielder. Now, Los Angeles has moved on and left him behind.
This time last year, center fielder James Outman was coming off a standout rookie season and appeared set for a long and successful career in Major League Baseball. Alas, a lot can change in a single season.
Now going into 2025, it’s hard to see where the 27-year-old fits on the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ roster — and that’s because the team has already moved on from him. Outman’s fall from grace last season was so dramatic that the Dodgers have seemingly written him off as irredeemable, and as a result, they spent the winter building a whole new outfield, effectively leaving him behind.
So where does that leave Outman?
James Outman’s Quick Rise & Sharp Fall
After being selected by the Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Outman made his major league debut on July 31, 2022. Although he only appeared in four big-league games that season, his six hits in 13 at-bats — including a pair of doubles, a home run, and 3 RBI — certainly made an impression, and a fierce spring training showing earned him a spot on the Dodgers’ 2023 Opening Day roster.
Going into his rookie season as Los Angeles’ starting center fielder, it didn’t take long for Outman to prove himself worthy of the role. He gave the Dodgers their first home run of the season on Opening Day, before posting two multi-homer games in three days and being selected as the National League Rookie of the Month in April. He won his second Rookie of the Month Award in August, becoming only the second player in Dodgers history — after Cody Bellinger in 2017 — to win two.
Outman finished 2023 with a promising .248/.353/.437 line in 567 plate appearances, including 23 home runs, 70 RBI, and 16 stolen bases to become the first rookie in franchise history to post 20+ homers and steal 15+ bases in the same season. His 12% walk rate ranked him in the 86th percentile of all qualified MLB hitters that year, and though limiting strikeouts was a struggle at times, Baseball Savant still ranked his Batting Run Value (BRV) in the 73rd percentile.
It wasn’t just Outman’s offense that was exciting, either. The center fielder posted 9 Outs Above Average and a Fielding Run Value of 8 to rank in the top 6% and 10% of MLB, respectively, while his 28.9 ft/sec sprint speed put him in the top 11%.
For his 2023 campaign, Outman finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting to mark the highest finish by a Dodgers rookie for the award since Walker Buehler’s third-place finish in 2018, making him the obvious choice to return to the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster as their starting center fielder in 2024.
Unfortunately, things went south from there — and quickly.
Outman started the 2024 season by recording a woeful .147 batting average with just 3 home runs through his first 36 games, resulting in the Dodgers optioning him to Triple-A on May 17. He was briefly recalled in July, but continued to struggle before being sent back down again, and spent the rest of the year being shuttled between the majors and minors.
In the end, Outman posted an abysmal .147/.256/.265 line in 156 plate appearances across 53 major league games last season, managing just 4 home runs and 11 RBI.
The Dodgers Have Moved On From Outman
At this point, it’s not a question of whether Outman could stage some sort of incredible comeback in 2025, because he won’t get the opportunity to try — he won’t even get the opportunity to be the Los Angeles’ fourth outfielder. The Dodgers have already moved on.
On November 29, Los Angeles signed Tommy Edman — who was acquired in a midseason trade with the St. Louis Cardinals — to a five-year, $74 million contract extension, and less than two weeks later, the team added Michael Conforto on a one-year, $17 million deal. On January 3, they brought back Teoscar Hernández on a three-year, $66 million contract, and with that, the Dodgers starting outfield was set with Conforto in left field, Edman in center, and Hernández in right.
Behind the three starters, Andy Pages is expected to see a significant amount of time in the outfield this season, especially if Edman is needed elsewhere. Chris Taylor will also be floating around as the Dodgers’ utility man, and could even end up in a platoon situation with Conforto or Hernández.
Los Angeles built a whole new outfield this winter and left Outman behind in the process. Last season, Outman was the Dodgers’ Opening Day center fielder, and this year, there’s not even a spot for him on the roster.
What Should the Dodgers Do?
The best option for the Dodgers is to trade Outman and hope to get a low-level prospect and/or Competitive Balance Draft pick in return. No player they get in exchange for Outman right now is going to offer any upgrade to their existing talent at the major league level, but they may be able to land a return that offers value in the future.
Last month, the Dodgers traded second baseman Gavin Lux — whose career was largely derailed by injuries — to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor-league outfielder Mike Sirota and a competitive balance pick in the 2025 MLB draft. Now it’s time to pull off a similar deal for Outman.
With just two seasons of major league experience, Outman doesn’t even hit arbitration eligibility until the end of 2026, and won’t be eligible for free agency until after 2029. Perhaps a new team and a change of scenery will help him rediscover his rookie-era form, and many years from now, he’ll look back on 2024 as the season that almost ended his career. Or, perhaps he won’t.
Regardless, Outman’s time in Los Angeles has come to a close, and with Opening Day around the corner, the Dodgers will likely have to trade him away for pennies on the dollar. Still, if the team can get a return with any potential future value at all, it’ll be better than keeping Outman around on an indefinite and aimless stint in Triple-A.
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