Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Howie Kendrick Re-Signed

The Dodgers have officially locked down their situation at second base, and they did so with great value.

Earlier today, it was made known they were in negotiations with Howie Kendrick and that they were progressing nicely. Well, he sure wasn’t wrong.




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Here’s Ken Rosenthal with the update:

Clayton Kershaw mentioned Kendrick in passing at this morning’s city council meeting where they voted unanimously to rename Elysian Avenue “Vin Scully Avenue“, saying the following.

“But we’ve got guys with experience, we’ve got talent and depth, and we should be a good team. Other than Jimmy [shortstop Jimmy Rollins], it looks like we’ll have pretty much our team back. With the team we’ve put together, if everybody plays up to where he should, we’ll be a really good team. We have a lot of depth. We just have to do what we’re supposed to do.”

A two-year deal is the kind of value the Dodgers are perfectly fine with, even with missing out on the pick they would have gotten had he signed elsewhere.

According to Chris Cotillo of MLB Trade Rumors, the deal is a straight two-year one:

So, barring any unforeseen changes in the future, Howie Kendrick is back with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. For a team looking for another bat, they certainly were comfortable adding one who they had been willing to let get away.

Per Jon Heyman, here were the actual terms:

It worked out for all sides on this matter. Two years and $20 million is a good price for both the Dodgers and Kendrick. Glad to see it got worked out.

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9 Comments

  1. I like the signing.  Kendrick has been nothing but a solid player with a professional approach throughout his career.  Two years at $20M is a team  friendly contract, perhaps underscoring how much of an impact the loss of draft pick is to this type of player.  Signing a game changer like Greinke, is a no-brainer, but the solid if not spectacular player often gets overlooked/under valued. This makes the 2016 Dodgers a better, but it also creates a lot more questions.  Utley becomes the true utility infielder.  But what happens with Kike’.  Does Micah Johnson become trade bait, or is he penciled in to start next year at 2B with Howie taking the utility role.  I think this all but forces the Dodgers to trade or DFA Guerrero.  Also with Kike’ becoming more of an OF utility rather than exclusively infield platoon with Utley, that Trayce Thompson goes back to AAA, or SVS or Ethier gets moved.  Baltimore still needs an OF. Chisox? Halos?

    Good move to improve now.  Still time to tackle the questions.

  2. Glad Howie is back. Super consistent and clutch. I’m glad we will see more of those opposite field extra base hits!

  3. SP- Kershaw, Ryu, Kazmir, Anderson, Maeda
    RP- Jansen, Howell, Wood, Blanton, Avilan, Hatcher
    C – Grandal, Ellis
    IF – Gonzalez, Utley, Kendrick, Seager, Turner, Hernandez
    OF- Ethier, Crawford, Puig, Pederson, Van Slyke, Guerrero

  4. AlwaysCompete I think this also will make the Dodgers bench one of the best in baseball.

  5. As I frequent critic of Andrew Friedman, i’m happy to say he looks great on this one. By holding out for so long, he got a very team friendly contract that will give Seager a veteran double play partner and provides the Dodgers with a solid bat near the top of the lineup. I suspect Kendrick was looking for a much longer contract, but couldn’t find one, largely because of the draft choice loss. Two years is about as long as Kendrick figures to be a strong second baseman.

    If, as seems increasingly likely, Turner is not ready for opening day, the Hernandez-Utley platoon moves to third. Once Turner returns, Hernandez once again becomes an option in center field if Pederson flops. This means Johnson and Thompson will, barring a trade or injury, almost surely will start the season at AAA. 

    This gives the Dodgers time to assess whether Hernandez or Johnson can be their second baseman of the future. If so, they can trade Hendrick at the end of this season or at the July 31 deadline next year, or even the Aug. 1 deadline this year if Hernandez or Johnson are spectacular. Utley also becomes trade fodder at this year’s deadline if he shows anything attractive to another team.

    The offense still lacks speed and a genuine leadoff hitter, but this removes a lot of the uncertainty in the infield. Trading an outfielder still makes sense. I would have liked to have gotten McGee from the Rays as the solution to the set-up man vacancy, but clearly with the Rockies offering Dickerson, the only way the Dodgers could have pulled it off was to include Thompson or Pederson, which would have been a very high price for an eighth inning pitcher.

    We’ll see if Ethier, Van Slyke or Crawford can fetch anything.

  6. Blue58  I have been a strong and vocal advocate for Jake McGee since the end of Game 5 of NLDS.  The Dodgers did not then and do not now have that lockdown 8th inning strike out setup reliever to get to Jansen, also allowing Hatcher to assume the 7th inning role.  But in this case, the Dodgers could not offer more than what the Rockies did.  Trading Corey Dickerson, a left hand .300+ hitting OF with 4 years team control for a proven strike out reliever and a minor league pitcher with a ceiling of mid rotation starter seems like Tampa Bay got the better of this deal.  The Rockies need relief pitching and McGee will probably assume the closer role, but I think they could/should have gotten more for Dickerson.  The Rays had the leverage because the Rox had to trade one of their OFs for pitching.

    What baffles me is the signing of Steve Pearce by the Rays.  The Rays are watching their pennies, and yet they signed Pearce to a $4.75M +$1.25M incentives, who hit .218/.289/.422 in 2015.  Couldn’t the Dodgers have gotten something out of the Rays with SVS who is three years younger and is under team control through the 2019 season, and will earn $1.225M in 2016?  The Rays needed a RH OF/1B, which is what SVS is, and the Dodgers have surplus OF. 

    Friedman/Zaidi is willing to hold onto the surplus pitching and OF, and not give it away like the Rockies did, or the DBacks did for Miller.  I assume they will wait until they have the leverage, just like they did with Howie Kendrick.  Who knows maybe the Rockies will want the starting pitching and the Dodgers could offer Zach Lee and Pedro Baez for McGee (not serious, but wishful).

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