The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Friday that they traded Howie Kendrick to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Darnell Sweeney and Darin Ruf.
Kendrick spent the last two seasons with the Dodgers after nine with the Los Angeles Angels.
After spending all of 2015 as their starting second baseman, Kendrick was a utility man in 2016 while veteran Chase Utley was Los Angeles’ go-to guy at the position.
In 149 games, Kendrick was mainly used as an outfielder while seeing a significant decline in his production at the plate.
A .289 career batter, the 33-year-old hit a career-worst .255 with a more consistent eight home runs, 40 RBI and .326 on-base percentage given his usual niche is toward the top of a lineup.
The Phillies will be hoping that last season was just a fluke for Kendrick and that he can regain his form at the plate, considering the Phillies finished 2016 29th in the league with a .240 team batting average and .301 on-base percentage.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak did tell ESPN’s Jim Bowden that Kendrick will likely play left field next season, which will be his last season before hitting free agency, via Spotrac.com.
Kendrick has shown that he is capable of holding his own out in left too:
With Kendrick expected to make $10 million in 2017, dealing him provides a decent salary dump for the Dodgers.
They received Darin Ruf, a first baseman and outfielder, and utility man Darnell Sweeney to try to fill the void left by Kendrick’s departure. The two players fell out of favor with Klentak, according to Matt Gelb of Philly.com, as they’ve been unable to produce in the Philadelphia lineup.
Ruf batted just .205 with three home runs and nine RBI in 83 at-bats last year and was expected to be designated for assignment, per Gelb.
Sweeney was actually a part of the Utley deal that sent the long-time Phillie to the Dodgers in 2015, but he didn’t appear in a single game in 2016.
Stats courtesy of MLB.com.
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