The Dodgers announced that Andre Ethier has suffered a broken leg, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The fractured right tibia will sideline the outfielder for 10-14 weeks. Luckily, the outfielder will not require surgery.
Ethier, 34 in April, slumped to a .249/.322/.370 slash line in 2014 but rebounded in a major way in 2015. Last year, Ethier slashed .294/.366/.486 with 14 homers across 445 plate appearances, primarily as a platoon bat. After he restored his value, the Dodgers received trade interest on Ethier this winter, including some bites from the White Sox. With a crowded outfield, the Dodgers probably could have afforded to part with the two-time All-Star, but Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi shot down that talk in February, referring to Ethier as a “really important part” of the team. Indeed, after his bounce-back campaign, the Dodgers were looking forward to seeing what Ethier’s left-handed bat could do in 2016. Now, they’ll have to wait until the summer to find out.
For his career, Ethier has a strong batting line of .286/.359/.464 across ten seasons for the Dodgers. He has two years remaining on his contract and is owed $38MM, including a modest buyout on an option for 2018. Aside from Ethier, the Dodgers have outfielders Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Scott Van Slyke, Trayce Thompson, and Enrique Hernandez on the 40-man roster. Ethier’s 10-and-5 rights kick in next month, but Zaidi has publicly said that he is not concerned about that happening.
Suddenly Carl Crawford has become important for the Dodgers.
Until he pulls his hammy on opening day. I’d rather see van slyke out there anyway.
Crawford is a joke. They need to give most of the playing time to Van Slyke and give Thomspon some playing time. I like Kike Hernandez but he can be used in Center and in the infield when needed. I’d has Van Slyke and Thompson and Kike over Crawford. He sucks and he can never stay healthy. Tired of the same old story with that guy. I wish they’d just cut him and let someone else have playing time that is actually valuable to the teams future
His 10-5 rights vest on April 21.
Should of traded him
Which one of the little green men told you he was going to fracture his tibia on a foul tip? We may need that name for future reference.
You don’t need a little green man to tell you ethier is going to miss some games with some sort of injury.
The result does not always validate the theory.
Anyone can take a ball to the shin and break their leg. That’s not an Ethier-specific issue, that’s a hitter-specific issue.
Do you have a phone number for the little green men? Most of us can’t reach them by telepathy.
LOL That is a funny one.
It’s not a theory that ethier misses a number of games each year because of injuries. Just look at his games played each year of his career. The numbers don’t lie.
little green men don’t diagnose ethier’s annual health issues. You should, instead, call the men in white scrubs.
I am looking at his # of games each year.
Since his rookie season:
153, 141, 160, 139, 135, 149, 142, 130 & 142.
Only significant injuries he’s had are this (foul ball to the shin), and broken pinky from a HBP.
You’re right, the numbers don’t lie – averaging 143.5 games per year. That’s fine.
The one that has the common sense to know that injury plagued players get injured, just because that was a fluke injury doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have gotten an injury a different way
Anyone can get injured at any time.
As has been pointed out above, since his rookie season (9 year sample) he’s averaging over 143 games per year.
Ah, that good old common sense. Why didn’t I think of that? Hey, maybe we need a new stat: FoFI.
Because, you know, everything can be quantified.
Go ahead, ask. I dare you.
Why didn’t you think of that?
It wouldn’t be satire if everybody got it. Thanks for proving that old rule.
This makes no sense at all. He didn’t get hurt because he was a Dodger, it was just an unfortunate injury that could’ve happened no matter what team he was on.
It makes perfect sense. Instead of Dodgers trading him, saving maybe half of 18 million a year salary, getting something in return, they held on to him. Regardless of if someone could have predicted injury or not I would think most front office guys would take the salary relief and maybe some lower prospects for a guy that is a platoon bat, aging, approaching no trade rights, and that can be quite a punk.
If he’s all of what you mentioned – why would anyone trade for him and give the Dodgers salary relief? You just argued that they should have done it, and went on to explain why it would be hard for them to do it.
Ha-ha. Point!
I said most front office guys. That doesn’t mean all. It only takes one interested team. Apparently White Sox were pretty interested. Not every trade or signing make sense for all sides. Remember Vernon Wells being traded to Angels? I’m pretty sure Blue Jays didn’t have teams lining up to give up a player of Napoli’s ability or even more importantly willing to take on as much money as Angels did. But the Jays found that trade partner and pulled the trigger. You and I don’t know what White Sox and Dodgers talked about specifically as far as money/players but I’d think most people believe there was something to those talks (it is after all, why we come to this site).
I agree with a number of your points there. I do believe the likes of the Vernon Wells trade are the exception rather than the rule – we can’t expect moves that are widely panned and seen as some of the worst in history, to be anything near the norm – but I see what you’re saying.
I’ve not been a massive fan of Andre Ethier for a number of reasons in the past – and I openly admit I was one of the many that were calling for him to be shipped off this time last year. Although, coming off the back of a starting gig – 136 OPS+ over 445 PA’s last year – he was hugely valuable to the Dodgers.
Even with regression taken into account, he was still slated to be a contributor to this team. The injury derails that.
Trading Andre Ethier for anything less than a solid return would have created an unnecessary void for the Dodgers. Despite his flaws, trading him for 10 cents on the dollar makes very little sense. This isn’t a team that needs salary relief – they need production Production over pennies.
If there is anyone that should have been moved to pinch pennies, it should have been Crawford – mostly due to the fact that he provides next to nothing in terms of production. That is where a dollar saved is a dollar worth it – when it doesn’t impact the teams performance negatively.
The white Soxs weren’t interested it was pretty clear they floated that rumors hoping Cespedes and Upton would react quickly. Most people know those inquiries weren’t serious. This front office holds things close to the vest so they wouldn’t have floated that rumor.
To add onto that Ethier is not the 18 mill player he was signed too, but his liabilities diminish his overall return. He can’t hit lefties so he essentially is not an everyday player further limiting what he could possibly get back. His decline is notable but he was finally healthy. His performance portrayed that last year. Ethier was their only consistent Of last year. Would it have been great to trade Ethier for Springer or another young stud, sure but it’s not realistic. The OF free agents along with Bruce and Revere dictated the market. Glad SVS and Thompson are available as depth. The overcrowded OF has always seemed to work itself out.
Does this mean Trace Thompson makes the opening day roster? That could be interesting.
Thompson was already in the mix, so now that hand will be forced. Looking forward to a full squad of reserves on opening day. SNAFU.
Another Dodger bites the dust. Who is next?
Depends on whether you’re counting Yasmani in the already damaged group, or still waiting to hear that he’s damaged group.
Not everybody who gets dinged up in spring training ends up on the DL but this spring training it would be easier to count the number of players on the roster who aren’t dinged up.
White Sox tv crew just mentioned this, and seemed surprised. He’d apparently been on crutches and the initial x-ray was negative, but a bone scan revealed the break. Unfortunate.
Brutal.
This is where depth is huge – Dodgers really being tested and the season hasn’t started yet.
It’s nice to know all these contract things, but how did he break his leg?
Fouled a ball off his shin and fractured his tibia.
Thanks
Was exactly what I was wondering.
“Ethier’s 10-and-5 rights kick in next month, but Zaidi has publicly said that he is not concerned about that happening.”
It reads as if Ethier WILL be moved before attaining the 10-5 rights.
Because teams are always lining up for players who can’t play.
Don’t know why my comment never posted but as I said but it never posted. They need to cut their losses with Crawford. Let Van Slyke have more playing time finally and give Kike and Thompson playing time in the OF also. Why waste any more time on someone isn’t part of the future like those younger guys? Crawford is garbage. He can’t stay healthy if his life depended on it and I’m personally fed up