When the offseason began, the Los Angeles Dodgers at minimum figured to have a second baseman for 2017 in Howie Kendrick. However, Kendrick was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies last November, further adding to the belief the club would look externally.
Prior to the Kendrick trade, the Dodgers were connected to Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler. Los Angeles was said to believe the veteran fits well on their roster. But in the weeks that followed, the Dodgers were most often linked to Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier.
A trade appeared likely, only for talks to reach an impasse less than two weeks ago. A report indicated the Dodgers at that point would revisit a potential trade for Kinsler or Tampa Bay Rays utility man Logan Forsythe.
Tigers general manager Al Avila expressed a willingness to move cornerstone players, but not necessarily a set directive to rebuild. Although Los Angeles may covet Kinsler, the veteran second baseman has a no-trade list and can block a trade to the Dodgers.
According to Jason Beck of MLB.com, Kinsler didn’t believe his limited no-trade protection made much of an impact on potentially being dealt:
“There’s room for discussion, as opposed to just getting put on a new team,” Kinsler said, “so it’s nice to have that protection. I don’t think that was going to stand in the way of a trade. I think negotiations for me … if a team wants to trade me, it’s very difficult to come back to that team. I think it’s just kind of awkward to have a trade in place and then have it fall through.”
Amid persisting trade rumors involving the Dodgers, the 34-year-old said he would waive the no-trade clause if given a contract extension. That seemed an unlikely scenario considering the Dodgers’ philosophy and Kinsler’s age.
Kinsler nonetheless is coming off another productive season and one in which he won the first Gold Glove of his career. Kinsler batted .288/.348/.484 with 29 doubles, 28 home runs, 83 RBI and a 124 OPS+ in 153 games.
He was ranked a top-10 second baseman by MLB Network’s The Shredder and ESPN’s Buster Olney.
