Dodger free agent musings

Phil Gurnee ♦ November 2, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

The Dodgers have six free agents this year.  I would be comfortable with none of them returning.  Since I can’t speak for the Dodger front office I can only say what I think I’d do.

Chase Utley – his postseason failures the past two years have negatively impacted the opinion of his solid regular seasons.  I’ll have to look at the options available for left-handed second baseman but I suspect there aren’t many options. I do think Logan Forsythe is the everyday 2nd baseman next year as Dave Roberts got more and more comfortable with him, so we are just looking for someone who can give him a break against some tough right-hand pitchers.  His defense might not be worth the average offensive output. His intangibles are hard for me to quantify but I’d say after two years with Chase they should have learned everything they needed to learn from him.  I have loved watching Chase play for the last two years, I will miss him but at this point, I think I say later gator.

Yu Darvish – hard pass. I wanted to trade for him to help the team in the postseason. He kind of did that, but he also killed them in the World Series. When he shit the bed in game three it directly affected the rest of the World Series.  He’s 31. He’s inconsistent. And yes, even with all he’s done, you could say he’s still a project.  Let him drive someone else crazy. I’m very interested in seeing who he signs for and how much. I don’t think anyone with his pedigree has ever been a free agent after being such a bust in a World Series.

Brandon Morrow – I’d like to be on the Morrow train but I can’t drive it. I love everything he did for the Dodgers this year, but he’s going to get paid this offseason and I don’t want to be the team overpaying for one great season out of five.  Maybe he’s the guy from this point on who stays healthy and brilliant now that he found his role in relief so I’d offer him a contract but I wouldn’t go crazy.   He thrived here, he may want to re-sign here, I’d re-sign him to a two-year max, anything else, bye bye.

Tony Watson – Watson did exactly what the Dodgers wanted when they traded for him. I don’t think he’s any better than Luis Avilan. With Tony Cingrani already in front of him on the left-handed relief depth chart, he is another part of the bullpen that I’d let go if someone wants to overpay in years and money.   I’d offer him a contract and expect him to turn it down and find someone else to dance with.

Franklin Gutierrez – I expect him to retire but even he doesn’t,  later gator.

Curtis Granderson – they had a need, he did not fulfill the need. They won’t have the need next year. later gator.

Andre Ethier is not technically a free agent but he will be as soon as the Dodgers execute the 2.5M buyout.  The Dodgers have basically played two full seasons without Andre while paying him 35M for a handful of games. If Alex Verdugo can’t do what a 36-year-old Andre Ethier can do,  then he was highly overrated as a prospect.  When the Dodgers do execute the buyout, Andre will get the column he deserves. In his prime, he was always underrated,  and over time might have to be considered one of the top three Dodger left fielders of all time.