Struggling Dodgers rookie must confirm he's not Gavin Lux 2.0 in September
There’s a reason why infielder Alex Freeland is the No. 3 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and the No. 42 prospect in all of baseball.
Freeland does everything on a baseball field well. He does not have a single below-average tool on the scouting 20-80 scale. In the minor leagues, Freeland's ability to get on base paired with his elite defense and gap-to-gap power earned him an opportunity in Major League Baseball.
In 94 games at Triple-A this season, Freeland walked 75 times and hit 26 doubles. The Dodgers were smart to give him a chance, but his first month in the big leagues hasn’t gone as well as everyone hoped.
Freeland is hitting just .198 in 81 at-bats with the Dodgers this season. While his on-base percentage is still over .300, Freeland is still leaving a lot to be desired offensively. His OPS is .622 due to the low batting average and him only having five extra-base hits. Thanks to his defense on the infield, Freeland is still better than a replacement level player, with 0.3 fWAR on the season.
With a little development and a full season of playing time, there’s a reason to believe Freeland can be a quality regular at the big league level. But when it comes to playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he needs to be more than that.
Freeland needs to prove he’s not Gavin Lux 2.0 with Dodgers
Gavin Lux is a great example of this. Lux was a starter for the Dodgers in 2022 in 2024. He missed the entire 2023 season with an injury.
Lux was never a bad Dodger. In fact, his OPS was above .700 and his OPS+ was right at or above 100 in both of his seasons as a starter. He totaled 4.1 fWAR in those two seasons combined.
That being said, the standard in Los Angeles is higher. Being league average or a quality regular isn’t good enough to earn guaranteed playing time. The Dodgers are an organization that is always looking to upgrade, and they did so in the offseason.
The addition of Hyeseong Kim allowed Los Angeles to move on from Gavin Lux in a trade, shipping him to the Cincinnati Reds.
Lux has been fine with Cincinnati. He’s batting .274 with a 100 OPS+ and 0.4 fWAR, but the Dodgers aren’t really missing anything having traded him.
As the 2025 regular season winds down in September, Alex Freeland needs to prove that he’s more than an average infielder like Lux. That might be harsh for a rookie, but Freeland is already 24 years old and the Dodgers demand excellence.
He needs to find more of those extra-base hits that he had in Triple-A. The offense simply needs to improve. If not, the Dodgers will have no choice but to view Freeland as a plus defender, and slightly below average bat that can be replaced at the first opportunity in any offseason.
It’s a big month for the rookie to prove he belongs in Los Angeles.
Bulls Compromise On Reported New Contract Offer For Giddey
Josh Giddey‘s restricted free agency continues to hang over the Chicago Bulls. The playmaking guard has spent all summer holding out for a deal in the region of $30 million per year.
According to ClutchPoint’s Brett Seigel, the Bulls, who have been locked in at $20 million per year all summer, have now extended a new contract offer to their star guard. Seigel reports the new offer is in the $85 million to $90 million range. Therefore, it is a fair compromise between the two parties.
“Although they held firm on their offer of around $20 million per season, the Bulls have recently increased their proposed contract to try and end this stalemate,” Siegel reported. “Chicago has presented Giddey and his representation with a four-year contract in the ballpark of $85 million to $90 million, league sources said.”
Seigel continued.
“This is likely the last contract proposal the Bulls will offer this offseason, as it’s essentially a compromise from what both sides wanted. Whereas the Bulls entered the summer wanting to keep Giddey on a deal around $20 million per season, he wanted to be paid close to $30 million per year.”
Assuming the offer is at $90 million over four years, that would see Giddey earning $22.5 million per season. That is only a slight increase from Chicago’s original reported offer of $20 million per season.
Giddey Could Sign His Qualifying Offer
If Giddey isn’t pleased with the Bulls reported new offer, then the only option he has left is to sign his $11.1 million qualifying offer. Making that decision would allow him to hit unrestricted free agency next summer.
However, there has been very little interest in his services this summer. As such, he would be running the risk of turning down good and guaranteed money to bet on himself heading into a contract year.
Chicago clearly wants to keep Giddey around long-term. Therefore, if he did sign his qualifying offer, the Bulls would likely remain in the race to keep him next season. However, they would undoubtedly like to avoid that situation by inking him to a new deal ahead of the new season.
Bulls Still Expected To Reach Deal With Giddey
During a recent edition of ‘The Fast Break,‘ Bulls Insider K.C. Johnson explained why the Bulls are still expected to reach an agreement with Giddey.
“The Bulls traded Alex Caruso to acquire Josh Giddey,” Johnson said. “They liked the way Josh Giddey played basketball for them. They’re just putting a price tag that is indicative of his market on the table. They want Josh Giddey in a Bulls uniform long term. So I still see this reaching a positive conclusion.”
“The Bulls do have a long-term offer on the table… believed to be in the neighborhood of $20 million/year.”
On the latest episode of The Fastbreak, @KCJHoop dives into the Bulls’ contract negotiations with Josh Giddey ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zQjLZw1c78
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) August 19, 2025
With training camp and preseason on the horizion, Giddey and the Bulls must reach an agreement, one way or another. Of course, the hope is that he sticks with the Bulls long-term. However, nothing is guaranteed until he puts pen to paper.
No matter what happens, Giddey will be with the Bulls for the upcoming season. Nevertheless, he’s seen as a key part of the overall rebuild. Therefore, seeing him sign his qualifying offer would be a disaster.
Chicago will undoubtedly hope it’s done enough to avoid that scenario. We won’t need to wait too much longer to see whether that’s true.
