Since the Los Angeles Dodgers traded Dee Gordon away, the second base position has essentially been a revolving door for the organization.
They traded highly-touted prospect Jose De Leon to the Tampa Bay Rays for Logan Forsythe after the 2016 season, but Forsythe largely struggled at the plate in his time with the team.
Because of that, the Dodgers traded Forsythe and prospects to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Brian Dozier at the non-waiver trade deadline this past season. Dozier wasn’t the answer either as he also struggled at the plate and now is a free agent.
Without a second baseman in place for the 2019 season, that will likely be one of the Dodgers’ biggest focuses this offseason. It may actually be their next order of business as according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, they have interest in free agent D.J. LeMahieu:
#Dodgers showing early interest in free agent 2B DJ LeMahieu, sources say. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 6, 2018
The 30-year-old spent the last seven seasons with the Colorado Rockies, so the Dodgers are obviously very familiar with LeMahieu, playing against the Rockies 18 to 19 times a year in the National League West.
LeMahieu is a contact hitter, which the Dodgers seemed to lack in 2018, particularly in the postseason. He was named an All-Star in both 2015 and 2017 and won an NL batting title in 2016 when he hit .348.
LeMahieu is also outstanding defensively, winning three Gold Gloves at second base, including each of the last two seasons.
Perhaps the biggest concern from the Dodgers’ perspective would be that a lot of his offensive success was due to his home games being played at Coors Field.
He has a .835 on-base plus slugging percentage in his career at home compared to .673 on the road. 28 of his home runs have come on the road though, compared to just 21 at home.
LeMahieu is also not coming off his best offensive season for the Rockies, hitting .276/.321/.428 with 15 home runs, 90 runs scored and 62 RBI in 128 games. The 15 home runs were a career high, and he only struck out 82 times, so he definitely could be a good compliment to the Dodgers’ other hitters if they were to sign him.
