With Mookie Betts out, here are 16 players the Dodgers could target

The Dodgers' two gut-wrenching losses to the roster this weekend overshadowed their two wins on the field, as the most expensive pitcher in baseball and the leading National League MVP candidate suffered significant injuries on consecutive days. 

On Saturday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched two innings before departing with a strained rotator cuff. One day later, Mookie Betts fractured his left hand on a 98 mph fastball that ran too far inside and left him writhing on the ground in agony.

The injuries will put $690 million worth of commitments on the shelf for an extended period, a perilous reality made more challenging by the fact that both players were in the midst of trying something new. Yamamoto, 25, was learning how to pitch stateside. Betts, 31, was learning how to play shortstop for the first time in his decorated big-league career. 

The Dodgers were learning, too, with every inning logged. Everything they do now is with October in mind. 

On the bright side, the timing eases some of the sting. Neither injury is expected to require surgery or be season-ending, according to manager Dave Roberts, who tried to strike an optimistic tone regarding the future of his first-place club. 

"We're going to be fine," Roberts said. "We have really good players, and we have to move on."

Still, the injuries necessitate questions for a Dodgers team that just spent more than $1 billion this offseason to revamp the roster coming off back-to-back stunning first-round exits in an effort to win their first World Series title since the shortened 2020 season: Can Yamamoto overcome his shoulder issue in time for the Dodgers to trust him as a playoff starter? Can Betts, who was working tirelessly pregame every night to handle the rigors of