Dodgers: One Team Won the Off-Season; It Wasn’t the Dodgers

Trade for Jean Segura

The Dodgers came into the offseason with a hole at second base. Really, they came into each of the last few seasons with underperforming second basemen, from Howie Kendrick to Logan Forsythe. Since the departure of Dee Gordon, the team has not had a high batting average leadoff hitter who can steal some bases and manufacture runs.

Jean Segura could have solved that. The 28-year old middle infielder went to the Phillies for a veteran salary dump in Carlos Santana and an aging former-top prospect in J.P. Crawford, neither of which should have been players good enough to net an All-Star shortstop. The Dodgers’ front office had contracts that they wanted to dump (ie. Matt Kemp, Alex Wood, Yasiel Puig), and yet they chose to stay away from Segura.

Segura has hit .300 or better in each of the last three seasons, with 10+ steals and 20+ home runs in each of those as well. Segura is an average defender, not adding much or detracting much when playing either middle infield position. He is a rare player that hits for a high average and makes tons of contact in an era when contact is becoming a premium skill.

The Dodgers really don’t have much batting average built into their current roster, with Corey Seager and Justin Turner, the only potential .300 hitters, often battling injuries.

Segura would not only have provided the top of the Dodgers’ order a lefty-killer (he hit .313 against lefties in 182 plate appearances in 2018), he also could have been a long-term solution at second base. Segura is signed through 2022 with an option for 2023 in what are the remnants of his 5-year, $70 million contract.

The Phillies made a great move in signing Segura to be their everyday shortstop for the foreseeable future, and the Dodgers should have done the same and made Segura their second basemen for the next few seasons.