When the Los Angeles Dodgers traded for Chase Utley during the 2015 season it was largely due to his veteran leadership and ability to deliver in crucial moments. The admiration for Utley’s play and presence garnered separate one-year contracts with the Dodgers.
Each time the club re-signed Utley, some combination of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Farhan Zaidi, manager Dave Roberts and Utley’s teammates would champion the return.
Last season, Utley made it know he intended to continue playing in 2017. He has not expressed the same sentiment for 2018, though it’s conceivable Utley would again be willing to fill a role off the bench.
With his career winding to a close, the possibility of enshrinement in Cooperstown begins to take center stage. Though, whether or not he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame isn’t something that Utley is giving much thought to, per Graham Womack of the Sporting News:
“I mean, you hear it once in awhile but it’s something that I don’t really focus much on at all to be honest with you,” Utley told Sporting News on Monday, hours before the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were set to face one another at AT&T Park.
Utley holds a career 65.3 Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference) that ranks 11th all-time at his position but is short of the 69.4 WAR average among 20 Hall-of-Fame second basemen. Though, the sum of Utley’s best seven seasons in terms of WAR — 49.1 — is superior to the aforementioned group of Hall of Famers (44.5).
Utley recently passed Hall-of-Famer Craig Biggio (65.2) in WAR, despite logging 4,837 fewer plate appearances.
Utley won a World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 and was part of multiple playoff teams during his 13-plus years playing with the organization. The six-time All-Star has four Silver Slugger Awards and has finished as high as seventh in MVP voting over his 15-year career.
Getting immortalized in the Hall of Fame may not come to fruition for the 38-year-old, but Utley has nonetheless enjoyed a tremendous career that’s been a testament to his daily preparation and focus.
