SATURDAY: The Dodgers have announced the signing.
TUESDAY, 7:45pm: Utley’s deal will be for two years and $2MM when it becomes official, tweets Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times.
3:43pm: Utley has agreed to a two-year contract to return to the Dodgers, Heyman now tweets. Certainly, the multi-year deal comes as a bit of a surprise, given his age, though it seems likely to come at a relatively modest annual rate.
10:22am: There’s a deal in place, per Heyman (via Twitter).
10:14am: The Dodgers appear to be closing in on a deal to bring back infielder Chase Utley for another run with the organization. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reported last night that the sides were engaged in serious talks, while MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets that Utley appears to have a locker set up at the team’s spring facility, lacking only a nameplate.
All indications of late have been that the 39-year-old would repeat his turn as a platoon piece. At this point, it seems only a matter of time before things are formalized.
If the sides do indeed wrap up a deal, Utley will presumably spend most of his time spelling the right-handed-hitting Logan Forsythe at second base. Long a high-end everyday player, Utley’s productivity had understandably waned with age. He was effective in a surprisingly robust 2016 season, over which he took 565 plate appearances, but slid into a part-time role last year.
Los Angeles skipper Dave Roberts was exceedingly careful both to limit the wear and tear and to deploy Utley against right-handed pitching last year. Utley saw time in 127 games but tallied only 353 plate appearances, as the Dodgers sought to utilize him in advantageous situations. He batted .236/.324/.405 with eight homers on the season as a whole, though he strode to the plate against lefties on just 28 occasions.
In each of the past two years, Utley has delivered just-below-average overall offensive output, with successive 96 wRC+ efforts. He still grades as a quality baserunner and average defender even as he closes in on his fortieth birthday. Clearly, part of the math here for the Dodgers is Utley’s oft-lauded, hard-nosed veteran presence.
so glad to see this. Utley is a great clubhouse presence (not to mention a player who hustles on every damn play no matter what). Miss the guy in Philly, that’s for sure.
Utley is a big part of the defending National league champion Dodgers. Remember the Dodgers won the pennant last year after steam rolling through the D-Backs and Cubs. Utley provided an outstanding veteran presence last year and a big reason why the Dodgers and not another team are the defending National league champions. As it stands right now the Dodgers remain the cream of the crop in the National League with the Nats a distant second..
Actually, as it stands right now, the dodgers and cubs are deadlocked for the top spot in the NL, with the nationals several games behind. Granted, I’m sure you’ll say we should throw out all the in depth projection systems developed by people paid to do that for a living because the cubs lost their leader, Jon Jay….. Honestly, where do you get this stuff? Can you provide one source who has ever referred to Jon Jay as the cub’s “team leader?” They certainly loved his professional attitude, and veteran presence in the locker room, but you do realize Jon Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras, and Javy Baez have also been lauded for taking on some form of “leadership” on and off the field? Most reports cite Rizzo as the key leader among all aforementioned players as well, so even if Jay was considered this Patton like leader, the cub’s still have numerous options to choose from.
The advanced metric medical statistics clearly say the Cub’s are highly likely to suffer an injury to their infield this year. They will miss the Patton like Jon Jay when the likely adversity of an injury rears its ugly head. While Baez has shown impressive leadership skills the others you mentioned are not known as team leaders.
I see the Cubs chasing the second wild card this year.
“some form of leadership” and actual well respected leader are 2 completely different things. Utley has always been viewed as an “old school” kind of player who leaves it all on field. Doesn’t matter if it’s a weak ground ball to 3B or a shot in the gap….he gives 100% effort. Utley type players are rare and you seem to think the Cubs have 8 of them. Lester? You think Utley would’ve been eating fried chicken and drinking beer during games?
you’re kidding right? i honestly can’t tell if you’re a troll, or you just formulate your opinions based on the outcome you want, instead of using logic and reason.
so according to some mythical form of advanced metrics that you fail to provide a link to, the cubs will suffer a mysterious injury to their infield? and without Jon Jay, an OUTFIELDER, they will be unable to overcome this mysterious injury? that’s really what you’re going with? you fail to provide any evidence to support your main point. this is where you would be laughed off the stage.
you also realize every team runs a risk of losing players to injury? unlike most teams, the cubs have substantial depth. but since we’re obviously living in this imaginary realm, what prevents the dodgers, nationals, brewers, cards, dbacks, or any other team in the NL from not suffering injuries?
@ big so are you suggesting the current players in the CHC’s clubhouse don’t view Jon Lester as a leader? if you are, there are numerous articles to refute your claim. a simple google search backs this up. furthermore, one incident years prior doesn’t mean a player isn’t viewed as a leader. i also never claimed that all the players i mentioned were men capable of being in charge of SEAL team 6. the only point i was making, was that yankad’s claim that Jon Jay is impossible to replace is asinine. i was showing how there are other players that have been recognized in some way for their leadership, and losing one player, a player who was there for only a season, is not a legitimate reason to justify his belief that the cub’s are barely a .500 team.
SIDENOTE: when did i ever say Chase Utley wasn’t a leader, or he was an inferior leader to Jon Lester? Nothing about Chase Utley being a leader has ANYTHING to do with Jon Lester or his leadership abilities. if you’ve ever been in charge of men where it matters, you would know that just because one man is a leader, it doesn’t necessarily mean another man isn’t a leader. just to play devil’s advocate, if were going to bring up potentially negative situations, how about Chase Utley’s dirty slide taking out Rueben Tejeda? Would a true leader on the field violate the integrity of the game like that? do you see what i did there? i don’t think he’s a bad leader by any means, but that certainly could undermine his ability to be viewed as a leader in a fair amount of circles
You make this comment on every post. I’m not a cubs fan and from your name you aren’t either. What is your obsession with them? Also what the fuck are “advanced metric medical stats”? That sounds like something Boras would cite.
What are you going on about? Why doesn’t MLBTR have an “ignore” button to tune the whackos out?
At the time, nothing “dirty” about that slide…you should try one of them “Google” searches you posted about. LOTS of slides just like Utley’s throughout the history of MLB. If he was on your team you’d be saying it was a good hard slide…
At best it’s a case of severe tunnelvision. Utley has been playing the game at the MLB level for 15 years, and played it about as long and as well as anyone has ever done, but all some so-called fans can talk about when his name comes up is that one freaking play.
@ stache you’re essentially saying because other people have slid like that in the past, it makes it ok….. ummm that’s some pretty faulty logic at best. people used to own slaves. does that make it ok to own slaves now? muslims in certain countries can still murder their wives if they have displeased them. just because something was accepted in the past, it most definitely does not mean it should be accepted now.
He veered several feet out of the basepath and slid AFTER he was past 2nd base. if this play wasn’t dirty, why has the MLB since changed the rules to remove these types of slides from happening? if these slides were viewed as ok, why change the rules to remove them?
@blue i’m not saying he’s a dirty player. please reread my comment if you have the time. i used that incident as an example to show how one instance does not necessarily mean a player isn’t viewed as a leader. that incident certainly didn’t sit well with a lot of players, same as the Lester chicken incident (which we still do not have every detail of). no one can definitively say player X is not viewed as a leader bc of example A, especially if there is a multitude of evidence that contradicts that example (which is true in both aforementioned cases).
Rizzo is a leader
It was def a dirty “slide”. I think even calling it a slide is too much. He tumbled and rolled into Tejada. It was completely out of line. I respect how hard he plays and his hustle. In a tight playoff moment, even as a Met fan I can’t even blame him for what he did. I know what’s it’s like to be that competitive. But a hard slide and rolling into someone to take their legs out are two different things.
Leave it to Cubs and Yankee fans to make this about them. Both think the world revolves around them.
Utley is truly the cornerstone of the Dodgers organization, and he’s also just as dirty as the city of LA.
BS. The clubbies wash his jersey after every game. Sometimes twice because it’s so dirty from the sweat and grit from his hustle. You just wish you could wear it, that’s all Mr. Jealous.
LMAO…”FriendOfBoras” like Boras isn’t synonymous with “dirty”, “slimy”, or “douchie” LOL
Phillies should bring him back on a one year deal, just so he can retire as a Phillie. He’d be a great mentor to a very young roster.
I don’t think he wants to come back. He and his wife are from the West Coast, their family is out there. They have kids now.
I could see Utley signing a 1 day contract.
He’ll be back as he wants to get involved with the Phillies organization when he retires. He owns this city.
I doubt that as well I think he’s hired by the Dodgers. Anything he does is going to be alumni related. He’s not going to uproot his family because he’s a legend.
What’s left of that city
What uprooting? He lived most of the year in Philadelphia for years and was, and I assume still is, involved with charities and youth programs. He didn’t want to be traded and only consented to do so because they’d already traded Rollins, Hamels, and others. Even then he went only because they wanted to trade him.
Utley is back with the Dodgers because he’s the team leader and wouldn’t abandon his guys when they were so close, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be involved with the Dodgers after he retires.
@coast1 I don’t disagree with most of what you say but Utley coming back very likely has less to do with not wanting to abandon his teammates and more to do with him both liking whatever money he’s going to get for playing an extra couple of years AND he probably wants to keep playing. Why wouldn’t he? It’s a great thing to get paid to do for a living.
He’s going to the Dodgers , his stuff is already at spring training. He wouldn’t want to go to a team thats not contending anyways
He’s also been working out at Dodger Stadium all winter.
agreed but he wants to play on a contender, and there isnt a good fit for him in Philly with possibly a 4 man mention, having a left handed hitting second baseman, and now Santana at first.
Always been a fan of utley and as someone stated above he needs to retire a phillie. HOF for Chase ? Guess it depends if Kent gets in
It shouldn’t. Chase Utley is a better player than Jeff Kent.
To me, Utley is one of the 10 best second basemen to ever play the game, and if Biggio is in, there’s no reason Utley shouldn’t get in as well.
There are no “serious talks” with an almost-40 year old athlete unless his name is Tom Brady. *yawn*
I don’t think you know what the word “serious” means. No one said that the talks were monumental, you fool.
The point: who the H3LL cares if Utley signs anywhere. He’s washed up. Retire, go away, be gone.
You cared enough to comment
Fans of baseball teams like to know what players are on those teams. So, ya know, they care. And you obviously care. So there’re some examples of people who care where Chase Utley signs. Any other concerns?
Signing Utley is good for the Dodgers…period! He probably won’t play very much, especially if Forsythe stays healthy, plays and hits like he’s capable of.
Either way, Utley is a great clubhouse presence and has a vast knowledge of the game. Seager has stated many times that Utley has been a great mentor to him and learns something new almost every day. Even if Utley only plays once a week, at 40 yrs old he prepares, practices and plays the game the right way at all times. He runs out routine grounders as hard as he can every time. He’s a great influence on the youngsters as well as the rest of the team. I wouldn’t be surprised if Roberts is grooming him to be a bench coach for when he’s done playing.
I would very much like to see Utley stay on as a coach when his playing days are over. True what you say about Seager. Whether he says it or not, just watching Seager play you can see how Utley has rubbed off on him.
@bush5104 And there you have it, the problem in society today, disrespectful bums like you. Chase Utley is a legend of the game.
Your slid was sweet!
Slide*
From 2005 – 2014 Chase Utley was arguably the best player in baseball, and that was with bad knees that kept him off the field for part of that period:
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&…
Well, I’d venture to say the talks are a little further along than flirtatious.
Do you ever talk serious? Get lost and go smoke the glass pipe.
Glad to see he’ll be playing next year.
Lost all respect for this guy when he broke the Mets SS leg a few years back. They had to invent a whole new rule because of this guy and his dirty play. Don’t tell me that’s hard nosed baseball the days of baseball being played like that are gone. Plus it wasn’t a one time thing I seen many videos of him doing the same move to other players. Should have been suspended for as long as he knocked that guy out for. Classless individual who is washed up anyway and will probably be released by July.
Chase Utley is a Philly legend and will probably lead the Dodgers to a World Series title and Chase used his own face to break that Mets shortstop’s leg.
Matt Holliday did the same thing the year before, is he dirty? Get over it. Tejada’s bad footwork and Murphy’s throw contributed too.
A lot of people considered what Holliday did was dirty.
People forget that just because taking out the guy at 2nd to break up the DP was a part of baseball for a long time, doesn’t make it right now that the parameters have changed. Middle IFers used to be able to protect themselves with the neighborhood play. With instant replay challenges that all changed. If IFers have to stay on the bag, risking injury, runners have to appear to be running to 2nd base, and not running to take out the IFer. Simple logic.
But Holliday didn’t suffer the consequences or reputation hit that Utley took.
Chase has always respected the game and played it right. It was a freak accident. My God, the sport is getting more and more wimpy.
You can’t suspend a player for doing something that was 100% legal. The injury was caused by a bad throw and poor footwork by the SS. Slides like that happened all the time before that play, it was just a freak incident.
What nonsense, pepesilvia. When did New Yorkers become snowflakes?
That was just hard nosed baseball. You know the good kind….
No one on earth believes Utley had harmful intent on that or any other play. Unfortunate turn out but man that’s just plain hard nosed ball
Im tired of people griping about that play. it was considered clean and legal for over a century.
Mets’ fans considered it clean when the Mets’ Daniel Murphy did it to the Phillies.
bravo
Your Prius is done charging
Not so, Base runners have always employed the take-out slide. I would estimate that there were at least 30 take out slide per year or even more in the 1970s. Only recently has the take out slide been banned. Here’s some famous take out slides:
1987 Bill Madlock – Tony Fernandez
1977 Hal McRae = Willie Randolph
1957 Frank Robinson – Johnny Logan
1934 Joe Medwick – Marv Owen
@ pepesilvia That is the way the game was played, furthermore players were told “break up the double play”. Go back and have a look at some collisions at home plate, were they “dirty play” too? You have no clue what you’re talking about.
youtube.com/watch?v=0XKILXE2u_U
The ultimate of all time Rose over Fosse in the AS game. Could watch that a million times.
If you watch the Utley slide into Tejada, you see that Tejada made a very strange and unconventional pivot
Pepesilvia you along with jimmertree, cubsfan0891 something rather and casey’S partner consistently have the worst takes on this site. 2/4 I suspect are trolls so it’s just you and jimmertree who have a tight grip on the award for worst poster of the year so far. Just letting you know the company you keep.
Ok well that is your opinion and just like the rest of these people supporting Utley. I think they are all fools actually I know they are but I don’t say nothing I mind my business. Not hurting nobody it’s a free country. I can tell you one thing I won’t lose no sleep over it.
Chase Utley, “You Are The MAn!”
Well, he’s a man. We’re pretty sure of that at least.
Obviously you missed the point. I was channeling my inner Harry Kallas! A phan would have gotten it.
Obviously you missed my, um, point. So we’re even.
BTW, it’s Kalas. I know that and I’m not even from Philadelphia. So who’s the real phan now?
Wait… Doesn’t Utley hit LH?
“…He strode to the plate just 28 times against righties on the season…”
Either Dave Roberts is a reverse-platoon split genius or this site needs an editor…
Amazing that he only got 28 PA vs. RHP out of 353, considering he is left handed.
He had 28 PA vs LHP.
yeah, it was fixed.
One last rodeo . . .
Thought the Angels might have gone after him, add a left-handed bench bat veteran etc etc still in LA so he would have considered it. Would have had to overpay him though because they can’t offer as many at bats as the Dodgers, though this would have made sense for them anyway I think as they are quite far under the tax.
I have no absolutely no problem with it. He’s absolutely beloved in the clubhouse. He’s the 24th/25th man basically that’s going to get the backup C treatment, maybe 1-2 starts a week. It’ll be his last go around. This team is versatile enough to carry a guy for that. The interesting thing, to me at least, is once they trade Kemp for in my mind is going to amount like a total of like 5M does Thompson get a good look seeing as Taylor and Kikè can play up the middle?
I will see your “absolutely” and raise you an “absolutely.” Everyone was worried about Yu Darvish, I was concerned about resigning Chase. With a team of 20 year olds running around the clubhouse, we need a steady hand an leader
And leader.
Dear Chase, I feel like I can call you Chase because you and me are so alike. I’d like to meet you one day, it would be great to have a catch. I know I can’t throw as fast as you but I think you’d be impressed with my speed. I love your hair, you run fast. Did you have a good relationship with your father? Me neither. These are all things we can talk about and more. I know you have not been getting my letters because I know you would write back if you did. I hope you write back this time, and we can become good friends. I am sure our relationship would be a real home run!
I feel like this comment is so 10/10 someone will make a mlbtr account named “Chase Utley” just to mess with you.
But your comment touched me. No, I’m not Chase. If you meet your idol, ask for “verified” Twitter status 😉
5 dislikes beause I genuinely thought this was a real, heartfelt Utley fan-letter on mlbtr and advised him to only trust someone Utley Twitter “verified” if contacted because I was worried poor guy might get trolled.
Lol
whoever downvoted your beautiful comment is an outright moron.
Lol no one getting the reference I guess.
some of us get it. i’m just so impressed anyone memorized or transcribed it. made my day
I feel like I need to post youtube.com/watch?v=_6cEOk7x4HA for all those who don’t get it lol
Nice sentiment but yikes!
You gotta jazz this comment up with some stickers! You have to make it pop! Otherwise it’ll just be a lost cause like Mac’s letter… wait he had stickers too
I laughed so hard when I read this! Best comment of the year.
That deserves an Owen Wilson trademark “Wow”
Sincerely yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan.
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
I shared the comment on my snapchat- I had about four people respond with that sentiment as well
(Amazing track btw)
Is that you Ronald McDonald?
The Adrian Beltre, I absolutely love you.
And Mac loves Chase.
Sunny is the greatest
Hello, Stalker alert!! Either the previous post was from a 10 year old kid, or some guy who has Chase Utley wallpaper in his bedroom to go along with every Chase Utley clothing, bobble head, and apparel ever invented.
Oh my god this is hysterical
tomahawkin2010, I’ve never seen a comment like this — your comment.
There’s so much material. The possibilities are endless. I’ll leave this one to the professionals. I swear, Kevin Hart’s on these forums.
Chase Utley is my favorite player of all time. Im so happy for him, and hope to see him play until he’s 60
(I just threw up in my mouth…..)
Good!
Should’ve signed him as a coach
TWO YEARS. NO WAY. Good move for 1 year. But I’m not liking the extra year.
Well the extra year probably has no barring, it’s pretty much just AAV driven.
2 years? I don’t think anyone would have guessed he’d get a multi-year deal.
assuming the “2nd year” is for AAV purposes?
Must be, or he told them when he wants to retire and they’re guaranteeing him a job.
Excellent, not only is he a must have in the clubhouse but he’s effective against lefties, of which Forsyth is not
Can’t help but wonder if there’s some kind of agreement to have Utley groomed for a coaching job. He’s basically a part time player/coach in some respect, as is.
If he does want to stay in baseball after retiring as a player, L.A. would likely be the place, in my opinion. I don’t see him as a manager type personality but definitely a fit at any number of coaching positions.
lol what an embarrassing signing by the fodgers
You in the ruben tejada fan club?
well, considering hes one of my best friends…yes
Ok, Pal
Tejada needs to work on his footwork around the bag.
Wouldn’t be surprised if this is a 1 year 4 million deal disguised as a 2 year 2 mil per year deal for luxury tax dodging purposes.
Nah. They use average annual value so it makes no difference. Could be a sweetener to encourage future staff role.
If they use AAV a 2 year deal would drive it down lol
Them using AAV is the exact reason it’s a two year deal. Chase gets the total he wanted and the Dodgers save some luxury tax space. Win-win
Yes, my bad.
I’m thinking that it’s more a respect thing. This is the third time Utley had to become a free agent and wait for the Dodgers to work out a contract. Now he knows if he wants to play in 2019 he has a contract.
Utley has the team’s respect, obviously, but this deal isn’t about that. It’s all about that luxury tax space.
That’ll be the exact reasoning, I think. Give him the second year, drive the AAV down a touch, and likely release him next year anyway. Or if he wants to stick around and can contribute, have him.
A 2/6 deal, and it’s 3mil AAV, is probably preferable to the Dodgers right now than 1/4.
Sure, when KD joins the best team on paper, he’s “chasing rings”, but when Utley does it and plays for basically nothing, he’s just a “good clubhouse presence” lol
It all depends how much money you earn. Big bucks? You’re going to be criticized. Small bucks? Not worth chopping down.
Tall poppy syndrome – we love to tear down the big guys.
Sad, really.
Utley is from Southern California, was a Dodger fan and went to college at UCLA, so I’m not sure you’re going where you intended with the comparison.
Disclaimer: I’m responding to a basketball comment I feel is 100% wrong. KD and Utley aren’t remotely comparable. If you hate other sports, other than baseball, you will get offended.
At this point of their respective careers,.. nothing alike.
1) KD won last year — Utley won 10 years ago.
2) KD took a pay-cut — Utley’s playing for peanuts?
3) KD’s pay-cut with GS to keep the team together, is actually worth more than 3 times the value of Utley’s contract. The two aren’t even in the same stratosphere.
3) KD did it to NOT retire John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller etc… one of game’s all-time greats… never won a rings! — Utley already won with that 2008 Phillies team. If he retires today, he’s a champion.
4) KD is 29. Utley is 39.
Need I go on?…
KD… give me a break. I Compare him with
Sorry, Justin. Other than the fact, I disagree with KD’s critics saying he’s “chasing rings” — NBA has no parity. This one’s way off.
You want a NBA comp? Utley reminds me of player coach Juwan Howard, with Miami Heat, at the end of his career. Juwan’s last year in the NBA, was actually his age-39 season, Utley’s current age. Sure Utley’s borderline HOFer (he’s in, If up to me) but your comparisons are wayyy off.
Don’t forget Karl Malone n C Barkley.
They were all great. None jumped ship to get rings. They stuck it out
Sadly it was the MJ era for them.
Which is why I don’t like LJ. He’s a great player not taking that away but when he went to Miami to get rings
W the big 3 I lost respect for him
Michael never left the Bulls durning the 80,s and it took 6 years before the titles came. Then he retired for baseball and came back a year in a half later to add 3 more titles.
Unfortunately for him, the Dodgers will do what they’ve done for the past couple of decades, come up short. The Dodgers have had all this talent, but haven’t won anything. The Nationals are also way past their prime. Come up short when it counts.
Looks like your mom came up short as well.
Terrible joke
Not a joke, but…..ok
I beg to disagree. It was a good one. I bet your ROFLing right now you sick bustard.
He’ll retire after year one. This seems like a mechanism to lower his hit on the 2018 salary (with a mind towards avoiding the luxury tax). He’ll get $2m for one season of work.
If he retires before his contract expires he doesn’t get paid for that year.
Excellent leadership mentor guy
So obviously a salary cap hoax. That’s a one year, 2 million deal. Watch Utley get released at the end of the year and be owed that second million anyway.
Utley is actually 150 hits away from 2000
At this rate, he’s projected to reach that in the second year of the deal, and that would do wonders for his hall of fame case. Furthermore, he’s less than 2 WAR between HoF 2B Roberto Alomar. I think he plays the deal out.
Utley in the hall of fame??? LMAO, go to sleep!
The 2 years are for the luxury tax threshold. 2Y/2M is more economic than 1Y/3M
Arithmetic much?
Oh…….Uck Futley! 🙂
A dumpy city keeping their trash around. Just wonderful!
Does this close the door on inviting Ruben Tejada to camp?
So this is the 25th best player the dodgers could find, not good. If they need him in the clubhouse make him a coach, but 2nd base is a need for them. This is not a good roster fill.
Forsythe
Taylor
Hernandez
… all play 2B.
Yea, but none of them are good, they need an all-star caliber 2nd basemen.
let’s be real, Forsythe was a disappointment last year.
this is probably the biggest hole in the Dud-gers lineup
Let’s be really real. He was hurt for the better part of the year. He was a postseason standout, when he was playing healthy.
Couldn’t agree more. Forsythe started the season great and then got hurt. When he came back he struggled for a while because of all the time he missed, which is often the case with most players in the league coming back from an injury.
If he stays healthy, I think he’ll have a bounce back season and hit near or above his career averages. Like you said, we saw what he’s capable of in the playoffs
If young and healthy…one of the best 2b in baseball.
Called it. This is a 1 year 2 million deal deferred over 2 years.
This. Changes. Everything.
Uck Futley! 🙂 (redux)