LOS ANGELES — President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has quite a few catchphrases he likes to deploy when talking about roster decisions. A popular one in his repertoire is his preference to “kick the can down the road” when major ones are looming.

That’s not to suggest Friedman is a procrastinator. If anything, the long-time executive knows that pending roster crunches often figure themselves out. But with Mookie Betts set to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup Monday ahead of a four-game set at home against the San Francisco Giants, the can cannot be kicked further. The Dodgers will need to make their first difficult roster choice, and there’s no perfect formula to arrive at a conclusion.

“We’ve got a tough decision,” manager Dave Roberts said ahead of the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. “All of the options, potentially for the corresponding move, these guys have done a great job and served a very good purpose for our club. It’s a good problem in the sense of where we’re at. But it’s a (tough) conversation.”

When Betts landed on the 10-day IL on April 5 with an oblique strain, the Dodgers elected to platoon the middle infield but anointed Alex Freeland the starting second baseman. The platoon mostly applied to shortstop, where Hyeseong Kim and Miguel Rojas split time, leaving Santiago Espinal as a utility option off the bench. The reasoning behind that decision was similar to the rationale behind Freeland making the Opening Day roster over Kim in the first place: With Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández also on the IL, the Dodgers saw a rare window to give Freeland everyday playing time and see what he’s capable of producing.

The Dodgers will now have to choose between optioning Kim or Freeland, or designating Espinal for assignment. There are a variety of factors at play. Given the finicky nature of oblique injuries, Betts isn’t expected to play every day through at least his first week back. Roberts is planning for Betts to be in the starting lineup Monday and Tuesday, with a scheduled off day Wednesday before playing again Thursday. If the Dodgers think there is ample playing time for both Freeland and Kim, that could buy both players a few more days on the active roster.

But Betts’ staggered playing time will only last so long, and the Dodgers would like to refrain from having both Kim and Freeland on the bench. The club must also configure what’s most valuable in the long term. Often, that means everyday playing time, even if that comes in the minor leagues.

“I think you’re circling around it as far as who’s going to get the lion’s share (of time), how much is Mookie going to play, the value of somebody going to the minors and playing more versus having some optionality with the roster,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot of different kind of ways you can go about it. We’re in the process of having those conversations now.”

The Dodgers also value the role of a true 26th man on their roster, a player whom they don’t have to worry about giving consistent reps to and can simply plug in when needed. That’s why they signed Espinal to a one-year, $2.5 million deal in spring training, to essentially serve as a depth piece until Edman or Hernández returns. The Dodgers included an advanced consent clause in that deal, per multiple league sources, a provision that permits a team to release a player within the first 45 days of a contract without paying the remainder of the player’s owed salary. According to those sources, that deal was restructured and the deadline extended.

That would indicate that the Dodgers are planning to keep Espinal, at least for now, leaving the decision down to Freeland or Kim.

Kim has impressed the Dodgers since coming up from Triple A, while Freeland’s production has mostly mirrored what it was in 2025. Kim was challenged early in the season to improve his pitch selection and general approach after posting a strikeout rate north of 30 percent last season. So far, so good in that regard. Kim’s chase rate is down nearly 10 percent (from 35.3 percent in 2025 to 26.3 percent this season), and he’s almost halved last year’s K-rate to 18 percent. The walk rate is also up to 9.8 percent compared to the 4.1-percent clip he posted last year. These are all trends that suggest the change in his approach is sustainable.

“I think that he’s done a much better job of controlling the strike zone,” Roberts said. “I think that’s something that we felt he could be exposed to balls at the top, spin down below. He’s done a much better job of managing that.

“That’s probably the biggest thing. He’s got the ability to put the bat on the ball, get hits, steal bases, play good defense. And I think he’s done all that. The plate discipline piece has been much better.”

Alex Freeland has not shown significant strides at the plate early on this season, hitting .235 with a .646 OPS. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

The Dodgers also believe Kim will still see enough opportunity — either at second base or backing up Betts at shortstop — for him to continue making strides. It’s hard to make the same argument for Freeland. The Dodgers could argue that Freeland, who is hitting .235 with a .646 OPS, would be best served going down to Triple A, where he can play every day. His approach is not the issue — Freeland’s 20.9 percent chase rate is in the top 10 percent of all qualified major-league hitters. It’s the lack of overall production that the Dodgers would like to see improvement in. Establishing that in Triple A could be the best long-term solution for Freeland’s development.

When Betts returns, he will join a slumping lineup that has dragged over the last three weeks and scored two or fewer runs in seven of their last 11 games. He will hit either second or third, Roberts said, and the hope is that by plugging him back at the top of the lineup, the Dodgers can restore some better production through the rest of the order.

“Mookie’s DNA is to get on base, to get base hits, occasional slug,” Robert said. “He’s just a threat, versus right-handers, versus left-handers. When he gets back in there, you feel good about moving guys down a little bit, just lengthens (the lineup).”

Whatever the Dodgers decide to do with Betts back, a similar decision awaits two weeks from now. Hernández (left elbow surgery) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday. He is eligible to be activated off the 60-day IL on May 24. The Dodgers are looking at a target date of May 25. The organization will again have to debate how to set its middle infield when Hernández returns. That, at least, is a conversation Friedman and the Dodgers can indeed kick down the road.