Dodgers free agents: Predicting which FAs stay and which leave LA

Chris Taylor: Leaves the Dodgers

Chris Taylor had a career year in 2021, making his first All-Star Game and then becoming the one player the Dodgers could rely on in the postseason. His walk-off home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Game was the moment of his career, and while he was not perfect, he was the one Dodger who produced in October as we expected.

His baserunning error in Game 1 of the NLCS may or may not have cost the game, but who knows. The good outweighs the bad, and Taylor has undoubtedly increased his worth with a great year and October.

This is going to be similar to what happened with Enrique Hernandez and Joc Pederson. Both players wanted to find a place where they could have an everyday role and both players thrived because of it.

Taylor has stepped up as the Dodgers’ super utility man and got great playing time because of it, but I would be hard-pressed to believe that he doesn’t want to be an everyday starter. There absolutely will be a team that is willing to pay him a pretty penny to play him in that role, and the Dodgers just cannot combat that.

There is one route in which Taylor could possibly re-join the Dodgers. There is a world in which the Dodgers can sign Taylor to be the full-time third baseman with Justin Turner transitioning to designated hitter, assuming the universal DH comes in 2022. Then, against lefties, the Dodgers could play Pujols at DH, Turner at third and Taylor at second base.

That is a big “if,” though.