Despite multiple trades and signings, the Los Angeles Dodgers have not been able to find an everyday second baseman over the last few years.
Trading for both Logan Forsythe and Brian Dozier did not work out as they struggled offensively, while Chase Utley was at the tail end of his career and Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez are both more of utility type players instead of everyday options at second base.
Because of all that, the Dodgers may look to sign an everyday second baseman this winter to bring some stability to that position.
At the top of their list seems to be D.J. LeMahieu, who’s been with the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers have been linked to LeMahieu since the beginning of the offseason, and they still continue to be, via Jon Morosi of MLB.com:
The Dodgers, Nationals and Twins have had at least preliminary talks with DJ LeMahieu, the free-agent second baseman and 2016 National League batting champion.
LeMahieu is coming off a bit of a down year offensively for the Rockies, hitting .276/.321/.428 with 15 home runs, 90 runs scored and 62 RBI in 128 games.
He has been named to two National League All-Star teams while also winning three Gold Gloves and a batting title in 2016, proving to be a very solid player throughout the course of his seven years in Colorado.
His offensive numbers may have been skewed a bit by playing so many games at the friendly confines of Coors Field, so that is definitely something the Dodgers need to factor in when deciding whether they want to hand LeMahieu a multi-year contract.
There are also some potentially cheaper options available like Jed Lowrie and Josh Harrison, and the Dodgers have some quality in-house options such as Hernandez and Taylor, so it will be interesting to see how aggressively the team is willing to pursue LeMahieu.
