My Dream Offseason for the Dodgers

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

1. Trade Andre Ethier, maybe Carl Crawford, definitely Alex Guerrero

I wrote about trading Ethier Ad nauseam the other day. The Sparknotes version of that is basically that he’s about to gain 10-5 Rights (giving him veto power over any trade) and his value will probably never be higher than it is right now.

Ethier is a more likely trade candidate in my eyes because he could possibly bring back a useful player. He won’t bring back an ace or be the headliner of a blockbuster, but if the Dodgers pay off enough of his contract, the Angels, Orioles or Indians would probably have interest in the 33-year old outfielder and he could return a solid back-of-the-rotation starter or a decent middle reliever.

Crawford’s contract is worse than Ethier’s, but while Ethier is coming off a great year, Crawford is coming off an injury plagued year where he never really got in rhythm. His speed could still be a gamechanger if he can stay on the field, but even if the Dodgers were to dump him they wouldn’t get anything useful back.

Guerrero has next to no use for the Dodgers. He showed a lot of promise with the bat early on last year, but fell back down to earth hard and never showed the ability to play defense at any position. I doubt he has any value to any NL team, but an AL team in need of a DH could take a flier. His contract further complicates a move as he can’t be sent to the minors without his permission and he can become a free agent at the end of any season in which he’s traded, but I don’t see a place for him on the team next year.

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