Dodgers Rumors: Utley Wants To Play in 2016

Chase Utley’s time with the Los Angeles Dodgers went about as expected, not including the bit of controversy near its very end. He’s enjoyed a very productive career in the MLB, but Utley is reportedly not ready to hang ’em up quite yet.

This, via the New York Post:

“One hundred percent he is playing next year,” Utley’s representative, Joel Wolfe, told The Post.

Utley was acquired midseason by the Dodgers with the hopes that he could shore up the Dodgers’ infield from the bench and maybe the occasional start. It was definitely weird to see Utley playing such a role as I’d spent most of my life as a baseball fan fearing him in the Philadelphia Phillies’ lineup.

Some speculated once the hearing for his suspension was pushed back to an unspecified date that it was in response to a potentially impending retirement. Once the Dodgers’ season ended there was no longer a need to expedite the process and at this point, a hearing would only take attention away from the World Series and, eventually, the winter hot stove.

The Dodgers currently hold a team option on Utley for next season, but reports and common sense say the Dodgers will decline it, as they’d be on the hook for $15 million.