The Dodgers have agreed to a one-year deal with second baseman Chase Utley, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports tweets. The deal is believed to be for around $7MM, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that a deal was close. Utley is a client of the Wasserman Media Group.
The 36-year-old Utley joined the Dodgers after an August trade with the Phillies and batted a modest .202/.291/.363, a line consistent with the notion that his hitting has declined steeply in the past two seasons. However, he had a very low .230 batting average on balls in play for the 2015 season, suggesting there’s room for him to rebound next year, and he was worth 4.4 fWAR in 2014 even as his hitting numbers declined. The Dodgers might be hoping he improves somewhat offensively, combining to produce sufficient value with his hitting and his solid glove.
The Dodgers also have a pair of interesting young second base options in Enrique Hernandez and Jose Peraza. Hernandez hit .307/.346/.490 in a super-utility role for the Dodgers in 2015, and though his minor-league track record suggests it’s unlikely he can keep up that kind of production, he does have pop in his bat. Peraza, acquired in the Dodgers’ three-team trade with the Braves and Marlins in July, lacks power but has youth, outstanding speed and a top prospect pedigree on his side.
By re-signing Utley, then, the Dodgers are giving themselves another option at second, quite reasonably hoping that one of their second basemen, or a combination of them, will produce. Such a signing would, however, suggest that they are unlikely to re-sign 2015 second baseman Howie Kendrick, who figures to be significantly more expensive and to require multiple years. By signing Utley, the Dodgers can clear the position for Peraza in 2017 if he shows he’s ready.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
he’s not a younger 2B.
No, but Hernandez and Peraza are.
“getting younger” means not making long-term commitments to guys in their mid-30s, it doesn’t mean you have to go all logan’s run and purge everyone over 30 from your roster. utley’s a cheap one-year deal to provide a stopgap / backup plan to guys like peraza.
Plus Dodgers IF is already young aside from utley and agon everyone else is like under the age of 30.
Haha, thank you for the Logan’s Run ref… “there is no sanctuary.”
Not a bad depth piece but it sure doesn’t fix the rotation or make the team younger.
Hes a stopgag for Peraza.
The Dodgers don’t need to fix the rotation, they need to fix the bullpen.
Kershaw, Ryu, Anderson, Wood and McCarthy/Bolsinger/Frias is fine, its the bullpen thats the problem.
As a dodger fan, I agree with you. The rotation wasn’t really the problem it was the bullpen, but I also point towards the lack of good hitters too. The Dodgers still need to sign a starter this offseason due to the questions surrounding the rotation.
No they seriously need to fix the rotation. After Kershaw you have nothing but injuries and unsustainable numbers.
Ryu: He’s probably the safest bet to return to health but even then no guarantee
Anderson: well its Anderson so its a timebomb
Woods: With his arm action thats another TJ waiting. He already had one at UGA
McCarthy: Well we saw what happened
Bolsinger: Came back down to earth
The sheen coming off of Kershaw/Greinke is blinding yes but that rotation is even worse off than before. That by no means is a playoff rotation and they know it. Thats why theyre scrambling.
1. You can’t just assume Anderson is going to get hurt.
2. Wood is a timebomb, but that doesn’t mean its this year
3. And? McCarthy is going to be healthy at mid season
4. “coming back down to earth?” He had a few bad starts in September. His ERA was under 3 on September 10th…
5. The Dodgers aren’t a starting pitcher from contending, if any other team in the NL West was half decent, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs.. If the Yankees can make the playoffs with their embarrassment of a rotation last year, the Dodgers can make it this year with what they have. The difference is that the Yankees had a bullpen.
Those aren’t assumptions, Anderson tends to get hurt. A lot. Thats why everyone was so shocked the Dodgers gave him so much money the first time around. So like Woods hes a timebomb.
3. and? and McCarthy coming back midseason means nothing if he doesn’t come back and immediately earn the money shelled out for him.
4. Ok so Bolsinger had a “few bad starts” then I’m making that same excuse for Shelby Miller and I want you to agree
5. The Dodgers are actually definitely at LEAST 1 starting pitcher away and thats at teh very least and I haven’t even touched their bullpen
2/5 is coming back from injury, a third was abysmal in his small tenure in Dodgers blue that leaves Kershaw and Anderson. None of that sounds appealing and most Dodgers fans agree.
Shelby Miller had a bad half a season. Bolsinger had a bad 2 weeks.. very different..
No man lol. A bad second half would be Alex Woods. Shelby’s worse month all year was September where his ERA ballooned to 5.40 for the month. So yeah he had a bad few weeks too
So which one of Anderson’s recent injuries look chronic to you?
Where did I say chronic? Oh thats right I didn’t. Brett Anderson is Brett Anderson. Sometimes people have bad luck and Brett Anderson has a whole lot of it with regards to injuries. It would be foolish to sit there and not have a question mark over his head.
Oh I see, he has a chronic case of bad luck. Sorry for questioning the logic.
That rotation outside of Kershaw is hardly inspiring. Who knows how Ryu will come back as well. The big x factor is of course Urias. If he makes an appearance for the Dodgers this coming year, no reason why he won’t, he could be a stud for them out of the gate.
I have serious doubts Peraza will ever be a stellar player. He seldom walks and requires a high BABIP to be on enough for his speed to make him a force. How more time should he need in AAA? I’m not saying he won’t have spurts of nice success but only that those he will have will probably be tempered with similar spurts of much disappointment.
Ace, health issues, health issues, inconsistency, health issues, inconsistent, inconsistent, is how I would label the Dodgers rotation. I call that outlook a problem.
I think its clear the dodgers believe they need one more good rotation arm. Greinke was the priority, now Iwakuma is reportedly being targeted.
This still doesn’t help fix their rotation
Still think the dodgers should have gone in for Hamels when they had the chance. Coulda at least gone to the world series witn him.
Not when your pen can’t keep leads.
Well they are spending the kind of money on a pen you’d expect to be great. Dodgers will finish third in the division in 2016.
I think trading any top prospects while Mattingly was the manager would have been a mistake.
People these days are just not smart. Look everyone knows he ain’t young, He’s just signed for depth and a stopgap for Peraza for 2nd until he’s ready. You people these days just overreact for something minor.
People are flipping out because when they see that type of player name, they don’t see him signing A “stopgap” kind of contract.
Let’s see what they sign him for. It’s a stopgap if he’s signed for a couple years at a reasonable AAV.
If they give him 4 years and $80m people can flip out.
Its for one year, and its probably a lot less than his 15M team option that the Dodgers declined.
That was my point.. When the story first broke there were no details and people were getting upset. Now that it says 1year for 7 mill, that is not horrible. But when you think of a vet like Utley signing a contract, late career or not, you fear he got paid for his past
Good signing for Dodgers. They can platoon Utley with Peraza at 2B. Also signals that Kendrick is gone so now the Dodgers will net 2 comp picks to go with their 1st rd pick and the comp pick they get back for not signing Funkhouser.
So Dodgers can now sign a couple players with draft pick compensation tied to them and still have 3 picks within the 1st 50 picks.
So it not a starter or pen help.they still got to fill other needs. Utley a nice fit with a young IF.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers unload Ethier and then make a play for Justin Upton or Heyward now that they will get 2 comp picks. They can afford to give up their 1st round pick (No. 25) now.
I think trading for a starting pitcher is more likely than freeing up funds for another outfielder, they are stacked with outfield options.
The notion that the rotation is fine is laughable. After Kershaw and Greinke the Dodgers played .500 ball and now more than half of those wins are in Arizona. There’s no way of knowing how Ryu will be either. The Bullpen is still a major concern. The Dodgers seem content on watching every good pitcher sign elsewhere. While I completely understand why they let Grienke go, I don’t get why they are watching everyone go everywhere but Los Angeles.
Everyone, he’s a stop gap to Peraza, who will see ALOT of playing time, as well as kike. He will also platoon 3rd and give turner rest. He’s a veteran guy on a youthful club, he plays hard and has great work ethic. This is what the team needs for the club house and for short term. A trade will come next week for a solid #2 starter. Shelby Miller is insanely priced, Padres still want to dump James shields contract, and Jose Deleon could be an option after ST.
It funny how because it the Dodgers people think they need top of the line pitchers. Most any other team the rotation they have now would be fine.bisdes if the pen doesn’t get better it won’t matter who the starting pitchers are
Deal for Porcello for puig looks like a go
Hey the Dodgers got someone finally – lol But they did get a new manager. At least that is better than the “Bad News” Bears. lol – So that dude that said the Dodgers will make a major move this Winter, I apologize your right.
Utley’s basically Greinke, right?
Chack Gruntley
OMG. Stop bashing the signing. It’s a good signing. He has been here before. He can play 2B, 1B as well as 3B(as seen last season). He has a great attitude and is an established veteran.
Rollins is a FA too.
John Rocker is a FA too. Might as well get him too if you’re building the “no class whatsoever” squad. Maybe swing a trade for Aroid while you’re at it?
Rollins a free agent and I doubt he resign
Chase Utley does have a great attitude, if you like dirty players. Ruben Tejada or Jedd Gyorko can tell you all about it.
The Dodgers deserve everything they get with him, again, because they apparently refuse to learn from their mistakes. The Dodgers have still yet to figure out that all the money in the world does not give you one bit of class or dignity, and they’ve done nothing to earn any.
Here’s hoping they do trade for Chapman, so he can be part of the next miserable playoff performance and worst team that 300M can buy. Then once the WS is over, they can watch him sign with the Giants.
Might be a sign of things to come. They now have extra infield pieces to use for a trade. A couple of young talents and Puig could land them a decent starting pitcher and/or bullpen help.
But it all depends what the other team wants. Dodgers aren’t about to trade just anyone to get a pitcher
Well, given that they have Major league ready young players, Puig and a good farm system and money I’m sure a package can be put together. Maybe get Fernandez out of Miami
But they would trade just about anyone to get the right pitcher if the deal worked…there interested in Harvey or DeGrom, Strassburg, they have the pieces needed to get the Mets or Nationals attention.
In a trade for Puig, the only pitcher the Mets would be interested in dealing is Jonathan Niese. They need a CF platoon partner for Lagares, but the corners are filled by Granderson and Conforto. Neither of those guys is going anywhere, so if they trade for an OF, it’s a CF who can hit RHP’s and plays good defense. It will not be for a slumping prima donna who plays lousy defense.
I called this signing. It allows for a platoon season with Utley/Hernandez/Peraza were are getting younger and providing opportunities for the young bucks. Also, by letting Kendrick sign elsewhere that means LAD will have 4 first round picks.
You and me both. MLBTR had him going to Anaheim but the fit with the Dodgers was just too tight to overlook.
i wonder how many comments have gone into moderation on this thread because they tried to talk about enrique hernandez using his nickname and triggered the forbidden words machine
I like this
always been an Utley fan, but i was surprised by the apparent interest for Utley at this point- his knees are shot, he really can’t hit anymore, and he’s a poor defensive second baseman at this point- i really thought he might call it quits after last season.
I hate the users on this site. If comment upvotes/downvotes was equivalent to run differential its be -400 on every thread.
7 million $ a year for a guy that should have retired 2 years ago, and will be around the mendoza line when he is healthy enough to play. Makes perfect sense for the team that couldn’t find the extra money to keep the co-face of the franchise from signing with a division rival.