The Dodgers have declined outfielder Andre Ethier’s $17.5MM club option for 2018 in favor of a $2.5MM buyout, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports (on Twitter).
Moving on from Ethier at that lofty price tag was an easy decision for the Dodgers, who saw the 35-year-old deal with significant injury issues over the past two seasons and combine for a mere 64 plate appearances. In 2017, back problems kept Ethier out until September and prevented him from contributing to the Dodgers’ fifth straight NL West-winning effort, but he was able to partake in his eighth postseason with the club. Ethier totaled 15 playoff plate appearances this season, including six in the Dodgers’ World Series loss to the Astros. In what is likely to go down as his final at-bat with the franchise, Ethier picked up a pinch-hit RBI single in LA’s 5-1 loss in Game 7 of the Fall Classic.
Prior to the past two seasons, Ethier was a consistent offensive presence for the Dodgers. The 2003 second-round pick debuted in 2006 and proceeded to slash an impressive .286/.359/.464 with 159 home runs through the 2015 campaign. The success Ethier had early in his career led the Dodgers to sign him to his most recent deal, a five-year, $85MM extension, in June 2012.
With his Dodgers tenure in the rearview, the lefty-swinging Ethier will head to the open market, though his age, recent health troubles and longstanding woes against same-handed pitchers will work against him in free agency. Still, Ethier was a terrific offensive player as recently as 2015, slashing .294/.366/.486 in 445 PAs, and could garner interest from teams looking for a designated hitter.
Knew it was coming he will always be me. Clutch
Im sorry about your screen name..
Lol
Lol
The dodgers are a bunch of stupid pansies!
Chalk this up in the “Duh,” column.
Not a surprise. Always liked watching him, but injuries keep taking him out. I’m not sure where he could end up. Teams are going younger/cheaper and i dont see an AL team really needing a DH with his current capabilities outside of Tampa maybe
White Sox could use a DH and veteran presence to help all the kids.
I was thinking the same thing. Plus, he’s a left handed hitter which the Sox need.
Better options to try in left handed department may be Bruce, Santana, Moreland, Duda, Gonzalez.
don’t think Bruce or santana will want to spend time on a losing club for the next few years
Good point, only saying I think Sox would go for them first because they’re better options and have some money to spend.
I also thought the same thing. They’ll be looking for someone like him, Ichiro, or maybe even Granderson on a relatively cheap one year deal and hope to flip them mid season.
Nobody wants to play for the white sox. Hopefully good players that go there don’t get sucked into their vortex of mediocrity because anybody having a good season will certainly be traded to a contender at the deadline. It’s a good way out of there. If he took a one year low money contract with the White Sox and had a good year, he could see himself on a playoff team by the year’s end. The gamble is on whether or not Ethier is capable of a good year.
Bring Ethier back to the A’s for Milton Bradley!
In other news, the sky is blue.
And you have proof?
That’s funny coming from Mr Blue Sky himself.
Well at least somebody got it, maybe.
I’m waiting for a retort from RedDawnRobert….
Lol
Possible bounce back candidate. Tigers could use a bargain LH OF, though I am not sure how much he’d be useful out there.
Yes, but not an injury prone one, please!
Then why do you even make a stupid comment like that if you don’t believe after you said it that he may not be useful? Talk about a circular statement
Huh?
Well now that Andre is on the scrap heap will DD and the Orioles finally add him to the team?
Hope not. We have plenty of DH candidates as it is. Don’t need another Dh playing an outfield spot.
Hopefully he ends up on the bench or in the front office somewhere, Dodger for life
Yeah, another front office clown
Lol
Great point, can you please reveal what sources you’re pulling this information from? Oh wait I know exactly where you pulled this out from…damn troll
If only the NL would adopt the DH rule a lot more of these aging players would have a chance
You still have to be healthy to DH
Hope they never do. I enjoy real baseball in the NL. It’s bad enough you now can’t take out the second baseman on double play balls or take out the catcher on a play at the plate. Please let there be any real baseball somewhere.
You can still take them out, but you just can’t go out of your way to do so.
More or less. The baserunner isn’t allowed to deviate from running a path directly to the plate in order to initiate contact with the fielder covering home. This part of the rule doesn’t make a lot of sense given what the runner is normally trying to accomplish. The only realistic scenario where he might deviate is to break up a double play and we know how infrequently home plate is involved in a double play. The purpose of this part of the rule is to make it consistent with the contact rule for the other bases. A fielder covering home who doesn’t provide the baserunner with a clear path is likely going to be ruled as defensive interference.
I love Ethier, he’s been fantastic for the Dodgers. But we don’t need to be finding ways to reward people who can only play one side of the ball.
Perfect DH.
The Angels could platoon him with Pujols at DH.
Or just bench Pujols. I love Albert but he’s only playing because of the money (and I don’t blame him). His feet are so painful it is painful to watch him “run.”
Minor league deal with spring training invite and performance escalators to increase earnings. Would have to prove health and competency and perhaps be amenable to AAA to prove he’s healthy enough to add to major league roster.
Under above context he would fit on a rebuilding team on one year deal. Build up his value to become mid season trade candidate to contender.
Ethier will find a MLB deal. His base salary will probably be relatively low but he’s worth a Mlb deal. Dodgers kept him on their postseason roster. He’s a major league caliber hitter. Prime candidate for an incentive laden deal contract but he doesn’t have to go to AAA.
Wow, this is shaping up quite nicely for the Tigers. First, the Jays decline Bautista’s option. Second, the Marlins decline Ichiro’s option. Now, the Dodgers let Ethier go. The Tigers don’t have anyone to play in the outfield and here is a cast of old guys who would be entertaining to watch and cheap to pay. They could easily field the 2008 all star team.
Jose Bautista was an all star in 2008?
I see the Astros making a play if he’s sitting there late.
Andre would be an excellent Left-handed DH, 4th outfielder & pinch hitter for the Angels
I think Ichiro should go back to the AL. Not sure where though. I think Bautista will go to the white Sox. I think ethier either retires which is a long shot or he signs with some outfield needy AL team such as the tigers.
That was a no brainier!
Ethier is still an excellent hitter, but due to those back issues (which never really go away once they’ve manifested), no team should look at him as much more than a DH or PH with limited spot duty in the OF. This will limit him to AL teams. Maybe DET, TEX, TB, or OAK are possibilities on a 1-year deal.
Was extremely happy to see this.. Ethier is garbage and washed up..he won’t be missed by real fans. Only girls who think he’s hot and guys who live in 2010-2011 regular season