The Dodgers offseason has been one of small improvements. They sent Howie Kendrick to the Phillies, then acquired Logan Forsythe. They let Josh Reddick walk in free agency and have replaced him with Darin Ruf and Franklin Gutierrez.
This signing will be the first for the Dodgers all offseason to bring on a new player. All other signing have been to retain Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, Chase Utley and Rich Hill. The news first broke on twitter via Manolo Hernandez of beisbolpogatas.com.
OF Franklin Gutiérrez is returning to his roots as he’s agreed to a deal with the @Dodgers: a very solid source to @beisbolporgotas.
— manolo hernandez d. (@beisbolporgotas) February 11, 2017
Jon Heyman provided the contractual details:
sources: gutierrez gets $2.6M plus 400 incentives on his #dodgers deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 11, 2017
Gutierrez, 34 later this month, will most likely serve as a right-handed platoon option for the Dodgers. A gold glove center fielder with the Mariners in 2009, Gutierrez is no longer the defensive stud he used to be. A handful of injuries, along with an unfortunate stomach condition called gastritis have hampered Gutierrez in every season since 2010. He’s had no more than 344 plate appearances in a year in that time.
Until he resurfaced in 2015, it appeared that his career may have been over. However in the past two seasons, Franklin Gutierrez has had come back alive as a lefty smasher. He is a .265/.339/.520 hitter since ’15, slugging 29 homers and accumulating 2.9 fWAR across 472 plate appearances. His 135 wRC+ is 7th in that time among batters with a minimum of 400 PA.
“Wow, it was a long season. I played in probably 80 games. But it works for me because I come over here in shape. I don’t get tired at all. I’m still in shape.” -Gutierrez
As you may have guessed, the majority of that damage was done against lefties. For starters, 329 (69%) of his plate appearances since ’15 have been against lefties. He hit 20 of his 29 home runs, and drove in 51 of his 74 RBI off of lefties. He’s been batting .290 versus lefties, and a cringe-worthy .202 against right handed pitching. Because of this, I suspect the Dodgers will minimize his exposure to right handers in ’17.
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Gutierrez will join an overcrowded outfield mix that doesn’t really have room for anyone else. Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles, Scott Van Slyke, Darin Ruf, Andre Ethier, and Trayce Thompson are already present on the Dodgers roster, meaning a couple of these guys will play in AAA. With $226M already committed in 2017, the Dodgers had no chance of getting below the luxury-tax threshold . So at this point, the extra $2.5M-$3M couldn’t hurt. The Los Angeles Dodgers front office has made depth a priority, and signing Franklin Gutierrez is definitely a depth move.