Why Don’t the Los Angeles Dodgers just Keep Andre Ethier?

Andre Ethier has been a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire professional life. Since 2006 when he started his MLB career, he has always managed to hit at least .270, drive in at least 50 and hit at least 10 home runs. While those are not hall of fame, break the bank numbers, there is something to be said about consistency.

But then there was 2014. 2014 was not Andre Ethier’s year. He failed to reach all three plateaus that he had been hitting since his MLB inception. A .249 average with just 4 home runs and 42 RBIs meant that all of a sudden, the Dodgers did not want their man any longer.

And neither did anyone else.

“I don’t think anybody wanted me either,” Ethier said via the Orange County Register. As it was quite the conundrum, Ethier added, “At the same time, maybe they knew what they were doing. Maybe the reason it didn’t happen was because they were asking more than other teams were willing to give.”

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One below-par year has never completely dismantled a player’s trade value like we saw it do to Andre Ethier, so maybe he has a point. Maybe the Dodgers planned to keep him all along, but they were shopping him for what he was worth in 2009 just in case someone bit.

Well, no one took the bait and now the Dodgers still have Ethier. But this isn’t the 2014 Ethier. This is the Andre Ethier that was part of the core of a Matt Kemp-era Dodgers.

At 33-years old and with his contract winding down, speculation hints that the appeal of Andre Ethier will pick up the longer that he remains with the Dodgers. But why would the Dodgers want to part with him at all?

It is a rare player that spends his entire career with one team, particularly in this day and age, but Andre Ethier has the potential to do so and I do not think that the Dodgers should rob him of that opportunity. They already dropped the ball in failing to trade him.

Ethier’s stats this year are right back to where they had always been, proving that 2014 was the fluke. His batting average of .292 is the highest it has been since 2011. His 8 home runs and 26 RBIs put him on pace to exceed his career averages. His OPS is higher now than it was in his 2009 season where he absolutely raked with 31 home runs and 106 RBIs.

With the Dodgers set to battle the San Francisco Giants for control of the NL West, does it not make sense to have a bonafide veteran who has been with the club through thick and thin, particularly as he is re-emerging into the best form of his career?

The Dodgers need to give up this bizarre mission to ditch Andre Ethier. He is good for the team and should remain with them for the long run.