Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Ian Kinsler Still A Potential Trade Target

The Dodgers are checking every nook and cranny for a second base upgrade. One name stable in rumors is Ian Kinsler, who reportedly is still one the table.

Kinsler is a “possible fallback option” if Los Angeles cannot acquire Brian Dozier, per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. A trade for Dozier this offseason may be optimistic now.



“The All-Star is a possible fallback for the Dodgers if they can’t work out a deal with Minnesota for Brian Dozier. The Twins may be having second thoughts about dealing Dozier. “The Tigers are a willing trade partner because they’re trying to get rid of payroll. Kinsler is still a top player and he only has two years remaining on his deal,” said one major league executive. Kinsler, 34, is scheduled to earn $11 million in 2017 and there’s a club option for $12 million in 2018 — a very friendly contract for any team to absorb. However, Kinsler said in November that he would need a contract extension to approve a trade to LA.”

Cafardo confirms previous reports that Kinsler requires an extension to accept a trade to Los Angeles. The Dodgers may be less keen on such a suggestion, however. The organization has already been burned by paying players for past production instead of current (Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, etc.). With Willie Calhoun in the wings, extending Kinsler for his twilight years makes little sense. Dozier has two seasons left on his deal but is also 29-years-old, making him more of a longer term solution.

[graphiq id=”83GrfIsLxaJ” title=”Ian Kinsler Career Batting Triple Slash” width=”640″ height=”490″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/83GrfIsLxaJ” link=”http://baseball-players.pointafter.com/l/8716/Ian-Kinsler” link_text=”PointAfter | Graphiq” ]

Kinsler checks the boxes for everything L.A. is looking for, but the Tigers’ demands – plus Kinsler’s own – complicate what appears to be a perfect match on-paper.

The Dodgers could pursue a cheaper option and use their assets on an outfielder. L.A. could also just re-sign Chase Utley and give Kike Hernandez more playing time as Calhoun seasons in the minors.

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Gabe Burns

Gabe Burns is an award-winning journalist. He serves as a reporter and editor at the DodgersNation news desk. He additionally works as editor-in-chief of The Spectator, Valdosta State University's student paper. Gabe's work has been featured on a number of platforms, including Draft Breakdown and Pro Football Spot. His byline has been cited in media such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. Aside from covering Dodgers baseball, Gabe enjoys watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Orlando Magic and Tampa Bay Lightning. He can be followed on Twitter at @GabeBurns_DN.

52 Comments

  1. This whole second base situation is getting ridiculous. If the Dodgers had just kept Howie Kendrick we would be ok and not in such a “demand” situation (Thanks Friedman) Now given this screw up of getting rid of a player the Dodgers traded a top young pitcher for Kendrick then letting him go were stuck with having to do something now.
    So Mr. Friedman unless the Twins are demanding two top farm players De Leon plus two more  I saw bite the bullet and give them De Leon and Stewart or De Leon and another pitcher and get the thing (Trade) done, We need to win a championship and not be lucky about it but put the best team we can because a couple clutch guys we have now (A Son and Turner are not getting younger)

  2. Chris372a  I agree totally on Kendrick.  It’s a real head-scratcher – trading for a second baseman who then rarely plays that position and has to find at bats/playing time in a crowded outfield.  He hit .274 in his time with the Dodgers, and maybe would have done better with more consistent playing time.  I do disagree on Dozier, because the Dodgers have other options that don’t involve giving up top prospects.  Everyone talks about the Dodgers as though they are desperate to fill holes.  I think the Dodgers have the potential to be a really good team this year, as Urias and De Leon start to reach their potential, Bellinger and others in the system begin to arrive, and other injured players get back to form.

  3. They’re not going after kinsler. It’s already been established the dodgers are on his no trade list unless they offer an extension. Stop with these BS rumors

  4. It’s just part of the game that’s being played. Twins say the have others teams interested in Dozier, Dodgers say they have other options..around and around they go….

  5. Firedman can’t make a deal with Monte Hall. So stop with these assinine trade rumors.

  6. GeorgeInnes Chris372a  If he was beat out by a 37-year-old, last year, what makes you think they’d want Kendricks a 2nd this year?

  7. JimEmmons GeorgeInnes Chris372a  I’m not sure what you mean by: Utley beat out Kendrick last year.  If there was some competition between Utley and Kendrick for the second base job, I must have missed it.  Could you give me the stats that support Utley beating out Kendrick for the job?  I like Utley, so I’m not trashing him.  I’d be happy to see him back.  I just don’t see Kendrick as much different than Utley, except Utley struggles against lefties.

  8. One solution would be to bring back Utley to play second base in a platoon role (against right handers).  I would like to see Austin Barnes get more playing time than he will be afforded as backup catcher.  He can play second base when they are facing left handed pitching. I’m not saying that Barnes will be a good hitter, but let’s see him get some regular playing time and find out.  He has pretty impressive stats in the minors when he played regularly.

  9. Kendrick was re-signed late as FA since no other team wanted to give up a draft pick. Dodgers obviously thought highly enough of him to offer a $15M qualify No offer. He came into camp late and was injured, so really never was given a chance to compete against Utley.
    So I agree with the puzzling way the FO spends money and evaluates talent. Second base is a prime example of trying to find value and seeing what sticks. It worked with Turner and Grandal, but has failed miserably in the corner outfields and 2nd base. That’s less than 50-50, so I’m not impressed yet.

  10. Chris372a Obviously the FO doesn’t think Kendricks would be adequate at 2b. You or I weren’t watching him everyday in spring training so we can only guess. He wanted out of LA because he knew he wasnt going to plsy 2b.

  11. MagicsJohnson I agree! Why write an article headlining that Kinsler is still an option and then list all the reasons why he’s a bad option?!!

  12. GeorgeInnes You might get your wish. It looks like the FO is willing to call everyone’s bluff and platoon @2b. And the fact that Utley hasn’t signed with anyone else leads me to believe they’re all just waiting to see what role he’ll play so they know how much to pay him. As a platoon 2b or a bench player/mentor.

  13. Danielsocal GeorgeInnes I think the reason Utley has yet to be signed is that he’s 38 and only plays half the time. Seager presumably no longer needs the rookie-year mentoring but he’s got Turner and Gonzalez for that if needed. Of all the moves that this FO is made (or not made), the lack of clarity and decisiveness at such an important position as 2B is baffling at best, incompetent at worst. Of course we don’t know what went on behind the scenes but to trade away Howie Kendrick as one of the first moves in the offseason seems like an emotional reaction than the slow, calculated moves the FO has made. What’s again confusing. Kendrick at 2B with Calhoun being groomed to take over seems awfully good right now.

  14. No doubt the 2B discussion has been well chronicled.  I do not disagree with those that say that
    the likelihood of successfully trading for Kinsler are just a hair above no
    chance.  But I still like to read and
    re-read about these scenarios.  It helps
    to make the off-season interesting.  I
    like to read what others’ say about the situation.

    The Dodgers are on the brink of competing with the Cubs to
    be the premier NL team, but it is too much of an ostrich syndrome to not
    recognize that the Dodgers need a big RH bat in their lineup.  Whether it be at 2B or corner OF is not as
    important as it should be at least one of the two.  I do not blame the Twins for wanting more
    than De Leon.  He is really the only
    marketable player that can help bring other talent to the organization.  They can lose 100 games with or without
    Dozier, so he is not important for them winning now. But will De Leon help to
    make them a contender by himself? 
    Unlikely.  But it is fair value,
    and the Dodgers have the right to walk away as much as do the Twins.  Maybe the Twins can get some team to overpay
    like the Nats did for Eaton if they wait until the Deadline.  Teams are more willing to “go for it” at that
    time than they are now.

    Kinsler wants to stay in Detroit, and has earned his no
    trade.  He has the leverage and should
    use it.  Forsythe is going to cost too
    much in terms of prospects.  Solarte just
    signed a two year contract with 2 option years, so the Pads are not going to be
    moving him.  Depending on who you listen
    to, Phillips has apparently said no to trade to Atl, where he makes his
    home.  Why would he waive his no trade to
    come to LA?  It is more than likely that LAD
    opens ST with Kike’/Chris Taylor/Charlie Culberson to fight it out for the
    starting spot.  The signing of LH hitting
    Jose Miguel Fernandez makes it unlikely that the Dodgers re-sign Utley.  Calhoun will get a long look at AAA 2B to see
    if he can play the position. 

    Without a big RH hitting 2B, that will leave a lot of
    pressure on Puig to be that RH bat, while hoping that JT can turn it around on
    LHP, and that one of the three RH hitting 2B can be productive.

    Let De Leon/Stewart/Kazmir/McCarthy/Ryu fight for the #5, leaving
    Stripling and Wood as the RHP and LHP long relievers.  Dayton and Liberatore can fight it out for
    the LHP setup.  I am not all that
    comfortable with Baez or Hatcher being the RHP setup.  Therefore, sign Neftali Perez or Greg
    Holland.  Or see what it would take to
    get Brad Brach out of Balt or Brad Boxberger out of Tampa Bay.  And I would still like to see LAD take a
    flier on Shawn Tolleson.

  15. GeorgeInnes JimEmmons Chris372a Good point. I should have said the  Dodgers had so little confidence in him the handed Utley the job. Is that better?

  16. AlwaysCompete  Some would have Puig be part of any trade. The question with Kinsler and Detroit is if LA was unwilling to sweeten the pot to please the Twins who are actively shopping Dozier, why think they would meet Detroit’s AND Kinsler’s demands who are not actively shopping him? (long sentence)

  17. JimEmmons AlwaysCompete I’m certain FO personnel must be actively debating how badly the team needs new RH batting against LH pitching, and whether to address it now or at the trade deadline. Schizophrenic nature in the way they’ve dealt with second base, i.e., acquiring then discarding candidates, doesn’t inspire confidence IMO. Either Dozier or Kinsler (or Forsythe for that matter) would be a proven upgrade to existing options, and I would be just as happy to have had Kinsler or Dozier at 2B and not signed Turner (and given Segedin a try.

  18. Skythomsen ..not signing Turner and settling for giving Segedin try……now LAD don’t just have one gap at 2B but now at 3B.  If LAD were rebuilding than maybe give Segedin a try, but their not.  LAD had to sign Turner just to remain competitive.

  19. Arodc03 Skythomsen LA’s FO seems focused on building from within and cutting salaries. It get’s hard when the have an immediate need not fixable internally. That is why they have brought in so many ‘temps’. to buy time.

  20. Chris372a  The Dodger FO is trying to win a championship now, but also the year after and the year after and —. Boston, Arizona, and others sold their future to compete now. If they fail, the future looks bleak.It didn’t work for SD, it’s not working for AZ and we will see about Boston. Detroit tried it, the Angels tried it. I may not like what LA is doing but I can’t fault the thinking.

  21. Brad Machado Chris372a
    When the trade was made the MLB channel “people” were saying the Dodgers gave up a very talented young pitcher. here is what also was said in the LA Times when the trade came down.

    “Heaney, 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds, played at Oklahoma State and was selected ninth overall by the Marlins in the 2012 amateur draft. Over the next two years he compiled a 19-11 record and 2.77 earned-run average at five minor league stops.”

    Then Heaney got hurt and that’s what is always a gamble.You just never know. The Dodgers had rumors of also trying to get Sonny Gray before his slide down (not that far down but not as good as he was a couple years ago) Also Dodgers were rumored to try to get Jose Fernandez from the Marlin’s before he really showed he was recovered fully. 

    The problem with all the rumors of trades is that we don’t know what both front offices are asking for or not willing to give up in the trade thats trying to be accomplished, that is the great unknown.

  22. Danielsocal Chris372a The issue I was trying to bring up is The Dodgers have had a second baseman they could use on a regular full time basis that could fit (Dee Gordon,Howie Kendrick,Jose Perraza) and they have got rid of them. But now they need one so another trade it seems is necessary. I think you act now if at all possible because the season can be long and may in fact need something else later before the trade deadline. So get this done now the front office in my opinion should not put the necessary be put off later when its an absolute need.

  23. Chris372a Brad Machado Heaney was specifically acquired for trade to the Angels. In fact, that was the trade requirement to get Howie Kendrick. That’s also why its perplexing that Kendrick was never really in the plans as the full time 2B, as opposed to Chase Utley.

  24. Chris372a Danielsocal They obviously blew it on Gordon but Friedman et al. wanted to make some significant moves right off the bat and clearly they wanted a new catcher like Grandal who could frame pitches better than Aj Ellis. They clearly weren’t convinced Gordon could put up those stats again and wanted to sell high. Can’t disagree with those first moves, although no one other than Grandal came out of that flurry of early trades. What’s more damning is that the Kendrick situation was created by trading for Utley. And another set of useless moves with the Peraza trade with Atlanta and then the subsequent trade to the Reds/White Sox.  All seemingly just moves for the sake of activity… Is our scouting so bad that we need to actually see the player in out system before deciding their ceiling, over and over again with Guerrero, Olivera, Arrubuena, etc, etc…. The amount of money wasted with those trades is laughable, if we weren’t actually paying for it with TV deals (or the lack of TV coverage).

    If you look at the Dodger roster, all the “stars” were drafted or signed before the Friedman regime took over. Kershaw, Seager, Pederson, Puig, Turner, Greinke (when he was here), Ethier and Gonzalez were all drafted or signed before fall 2014.  Even #1 prospect Cody Bellinger was drafted before then.  They deserve credit for recognizing talent and sticking with them, but so did Nick Coletti. At the MLB level, only significant talent they’ve brought in is Grandal, Hill, Maeda and maybe Toles and Trayce Thompson. Their tenure is obviously going to be compared to Theo Epstein. Epstein took the Cubs to the WS title in 5 seasons… ’17-18 will be season #3 for Friedman and counting….

  25. JimEmmons Chris372a I agree but the trading they have done has also put them in this situation.
    It’s all a chess game and as you stay about other teams doing stuff seemingly only for now is like playing checkers so now it requires another fix

  26. What about trading Matt Kemp? Dodgers wouldn’t have Grandal but those 35 HRs he hit this past year from the right side sure look appealing. Oh and by the way Dodgers still pay part of his salary.

  27. Arodc03 And Kemp would still be a butcher in the outfield as well as a clubhouse cancer.

  28. So is Puig but some how he remains a Dodger. At least with Kemp the Dodgers would get some productivity from the right side.

  29. Brad Machado Arodc03 Shown me one exam[e of Kemp being s cancer  on the Dodgers. That’s bull.

  30. Chris372a JimEmmons Put them in what situation? Winning four straight division titles?

  31. JimEmmons Brad Machado Arodc03 It’s too bad we all can’t be an expert like you are Jim. And what the hell is exam[e?

  32. Brad Machado JimEmmons Arodc03 That’s your reply? Okay;
    Example: Noun
    one of a number of things, or a part ofsomething, taken to show the character of thewhole:

  33. Brad Machado  That remains to be seen.  Kemp on the other hand is proving he’s still can be productive.

  34. JimEmmons Brad Machado 
    Oh by the way, there were plenty of rumors that Kemp was a cancer
    while others suggest he wasn’t.  So it depends on who you believe. 
    Here’s one article from the LA times that tries to address this topic: http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/dodgersnow/la-sp-dn-dodgers-matt-kemp-confused-20150314-story.html

  35. JimEmmons Chris372a And you’re happy with Division titles? No pennant, no World Series titles… and no TV. My KC buddy has a good laugh every time we talk about baseball. I guess the only winner here is McCourt (Frank, not Jaime lol).

  36. Arodc03 JimEmmons Brad Machado Aside from all this discussion of cancer or not, what’s more important is “was the player productive”. If you’re paid 2x-3x an average “all-star” (i.e, $20-30M AAV) then your WAR number better be in 4-7 range. After Kemp’s monster year (WAR 7.8) which got him the crazy contract, his WAR numbers were never higher than 1. Yes he got hurt, but the bottom line is that his “above value” salary could have been used on another “all-star” caliber player. As an example, Kershaw’s WAR numbers are constantly above 7, justifying his extremely high salary.

  37. Skythomsen Danielsocal GeorgeInnes I read somewhere he wanted a raise if he comes back. If true, that could be a sticking point as LA most likely sees him on the bench

  38. Arodc03 JimEmmons Brad Machado Thanks. I get that he sounded off when he lost his CF job. What would you do in his case. Other than that, he seems fine in the clubhous that rumor has it that he MAu have been a e. Do you have an example that he was. You said he WAS a cancer. Do you want amend that to RUMOR has it he MAY have been?

  39. Skythomsen JimEmmons Chris372a No I’m not buy I am pretty dang pleased with a team that competes until the end of the season. I’ve been a fan since 1959 and there have been a lot of Dodger  teams that were eliminated in June

  40. JimEmmons Brad Machado The reality is that Kemp got traded for multiple reasons, selling high on his value to try to address other perceived needs
    (catcher), off loading the majority of his contract (not all of it),
    needed to make room for younger talent in Pederson and Puig. I won’t necessarily call Kemp a cancer to the team but there were signs of tension between him and Mattingly.  There is a youtube video of Kemp yelling at Puig during a game, but Puig probably desired it.  Could these tensions be added reasons to trade Kemp, possibly.

  41. Arodc03 JimEmmons Brad Machado Could? All thing are possible. I believe I was responding “Kemp WAS a cancer”. Where is this video? Funny no writer ever referred to it.

  42. @JimEmmons the video can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3NSI17k624E
    Just saying there was evidence of tensions with Kemp and others not that he was a cancer. That argument was made by @BradMachado. Bottom line is Dodgers fans are left to believe what they want to believe because none of us were actually in the clubhouse game in game out to know any better.

  43. Arodc03 Thanks. But again, my objection is people repeating tie tired and false comment that Kemp was a Cancer. Anyone know what cancer is, It is not tension. By the way, didn’t Turner yell at Grandal? Has he be called a ‘cancer’? I don’t know what Puig did to irk Kemp, but there as been plenty to choose from with Puig over the years but Turner was ticked because of a bone-head base running play that cost the Dodgers momentum. I don’t necessarily thing one player should be the judge and jury over another but I so understand the competitive frustration.

  44. JimEmmons And again, I’m not trying to convince you that Kemp was a cancer.  You asked for evidence, I provide an article and video, that could lead people to think that Kemp was a cancer, which @BradMachado stated he thought Kemp was.

    You argue about Turner and Grandal but those guys are still with the Dodgers.  So no speculation there about either one of them being a cancer.  Unlike Kemp who is gone and thus the speculation.

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