Dodgers Reportedly Re-Sign Howie Kendrick

Happy? The Dodgers reportedly have a deal in place with Howie Kendrick.

Heading into next year, it seemed like second base would be the weakness of the Dodgers.

The front office seemed content to let Chase Utley and Enrique Hernandez platoon the position and receive a fourth draft pick as compensation for losing Kendrick, who turned down a qualifying offer earlier this offseason.

I loved Kendrick and thought he should be back, but depending on the sort of contract he was looking for, this was understandable. Theoretically, an Utley/Hernandez platoon should work decently. In his last healthy year (2014), Utley triple slashed .286/.344/.430 against right-handed pitching. Utley was awful for most of last year, but was battling injury for most of the season. Still, depending on a 37-year-old to primarily play a position up-the-middle doesn’t seem like the best idea.

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His platoon partner, Hernandez, destroyed left-handed pitching last year (.423/.471/.744, obviously small sample size). Hernandez should absolutely be in the lineup every time a left-handed pitcher is on the hill, but tying him to one position devalues him. He’s arguably the Dodgers’ best backup at second, short, third, left and center, all positions that before today would have belonged to a left-handed batter or Justin Turner, who has reverse splits and can’t really start five or more consecutive games.

I made the case for the Dodgers to bring in Juan Uribe instead of Kendrick a few days ago. Uribe is more versatile, cheaper and won’t cost the Dodgers a draft pick.

Kendrick missed time last year with a hamstring (because who didn’t), but when he was healthy, he was.. Howie Kendrick. His best tool is his consistency, and last year was no different. Over his 10-year career, Kendrick has a .293/.333/.423 slashline. Last year, Kendrick slashed .295/.336/.409. The average and OBP were a tad up, the slugging slightly down (moving from Angel Stadium to Dodger Stadium could be the cause of that).

The Dodgers’ lineup looks a lot better with Kendrick in it. This is a good signing that should calm down the “everything is burning” Dodger fans that think a third place finish is imminent. It creates even more of a cluster on the roster, but this likely means a trade is coming or Alex Guerrero is about to be off the roster in some way.

With Kendrick, the Dodgers’ five-man bench becomes A.J. Ellis, Hernandez, Utley, Scott Van Slyke and Carl Crawford. That’s a really good bench, combined with an improved starting lineup. It’s a bit weird that Kendrick was still available, but the Dodgers pounced and now have a better team in 2016 than they did yesterday. A two-year deal is phenomenal for the Dodgers. I went into this offseason assuming Kendrick would get at least three elsewhere, maybe even four. At two, it would have been idiotic for the Dodgers to not pull the trigger, even if they lose the draft pick.

All Dodger fans are probably trained to be concerned when “pending physical” is tweeted, but this deal is still pending that. For now, it appears the Dodgers have upgraded their infield.

UPDATE-

If true, this is mindblowing. Absolute steal.