Third Base
The Mets’ loss was the Dodgers’ gain. Justin Turner was another who went from bench player to stud in no time. And now he’s likely to cash in big in free agency, be it with the Dodgers or elsewhere. If he prices himself out of L.A., where should the Dodgers look to for a replacement?
Evan Longoria makes sense as a replacement for the Turner. Longoria’s contract isn’t as friendly or flexible as other players on the list, as he’ll make $94 million through 2022, his age-36 season.
Still, he’s consistently been one of the best third basemen in baseball, ranking third in fWAR since 2010 among third basemen.
Then there’s the player the Dodgers almost traded for but didn’t: Todd Frazier. He went to the Chicago White Sox in the deal that landed the Dodgers Trayce Thompson, Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson.
Now that Chicago may be shopping Frazier, among others, there could be interest from both ends. Despite hitting 40 home runs, Frazier had something of a down year, posting a 102 wRC+. He’s only under control through 2017, so he’s not likely to be a very expensive option.
Obviously, the easy answer is to re-sign Turner, but it still depends on ownership’s willingness to fork over millions of dollars in taxes, while taking penalties in the Draft as well as the international market.
But those overages will be temporary, with the team able to shed most of its salary over the next two years. Not a lot of options here without a robust free agent market and no clear replacement in-house.
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