The Los Angeles Dodgers depth chart lists Carl Crawford starting in left field, Joc Pederson in center and Yasiel Puig in right. It appears Andre Ethier is the odd man out and he could be dealt soon after some news broke on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles is now offering to pay "about half" of the remaining $56 million on Ethier's contract if another club happens to be interested in acquiring him in a trade, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Dodgers tried to trade Ethier throughout the offseason after he said he wanted to be a starter, but couldn't find any takers.
Just hours after Pederson went 2-for-2 in his Cactus League debut on Wednesday, it seems as if the team is now ramping up efforts to ship Ethier out of town. The nine-year veteran struck out twice in the team's first spring training game and failed to haul in a deep fly ball on the warning track, which cost the Dodgers two runs.
"Their offer to pay down the contract to the point where Ethier is making only about $10 million a year, or perhaps a bit less than that, may seem more than reasonable," writes Heyman. "But it apparently hasn't enticed teams to the point of a trade ... The Orioles would seem to be a logical spot for Ethier with Nelson Cruz and Markakis both leaving via free agency, but it isn't known how strong potential O's interest may be."
After a 2014 where Ethier logged career-lows in plate appearances (380), runs scored (29), hits (85), extra base hits (27), home runs (4), RBIs (42), walks (31), batting average (.249), on-base percentage (.322), slugging percentage (.370) and OPS (.691), it's no surprise he isn't garnering much interest. However, it was perhaps an aberration season because he was given significantly less playing time as the team dealt with an outfield logjam (Crawford, Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp and then Pederson for the month of September). He signed for the next three seasons.
Depending on what injuries occur during spring training and whether or not other outfielders throughout the league underperform, there could be a market for Ethier within the next month or so.
