Dodgers: Examining the Logan Forsythe Trade

When the Dodgers traded for Logan Forsythe in the offseason, it seemed to be a fair deal for both sides.

Los Angeles gave up one of its top prospects in pitcher Jose De Leon and received the versatile Forsythe. Over the course of the season, we have seen Logan Forsythe’s Dodgers career begin with a rocky start because of a disabled list stint, and we have seen Jose De Leon struggle to find any resemblance of his former-self.

Let’s first take a look at Logan Forsythe and how his Dodger career has started. The 30-year-old veteran has appeared in 77 games for LA this season and has a slash line of .240/.368/.317 while playing second, third and first base for the team. He has accrued a WAR of 1.3  which is much less production than expected from him, but it’s not entirely his fault.

Forsythe’s season started off well, but then an injury to his toe sidelined him for multiple weeks. When he returned from the DL, Chris Taylor had hit his way into a starting spot, and Cody Bellinger was breaking onto the scene, which took playing time away from Forsythe.

As crazy as it sounds, Forsythe is held back by how talented and deep this team is, which is disappointing because he truly is a solid player.

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Jose De Leon has had his fair share of injuries this season with the Rays, and it appears that he may be seriously injured.

De Leon has only been able to pitch in 38 innings this season as he has dealt with a strained flexor tendon and recently had to leave a rehab start with a right lat strain. What is most discouraging is that De Leon was struggling to get his velocity over 85 MPH, which may point to a serious injury.

Yes, Jose may not be a Dodger anymore, but he always seemed to be a happy guy and very grateful to be in his position. To see him struggling to make a name for himself in Tampa Bay is tough and I wish him a speedy recovery. If he can make a full recovery, he may become a solid middle of the rotation starter, but for the time being, the Rays will be lucky to get any production out of him.

With that being said, the Dodgers got a steal in this trade. They got a productive player who is a part of a historic team, despite his underwhelming outings. They also got out of a ticking time bomb in Jose De Leon and were able to avoid having to deal with injuries to both him and Julio Urias. Can you imagine what that would look like now?

Forsythe does have a club option for next season, so he still can prove his worth to this team in the 2017 postseason and the 2018 season. At this rate it’s almost a guarantee the Dodgers pick up the option; it is “only” an $8 million contract and forces him to up his play because it will be a contract year.

While the Logan Forsythe acquisition has not panned out how we all hoped it would, it is nice to have a guy like him to come in every other day and give a starter the day off.

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He is also a great bench piece to have for the team and a good veteran presence in the dugout. Jose De Leon has been very disappointing this season, but he has a lot of time to make up for it. However, as it presently looks, he may be on a path for a short-lived career.