It’s as certain as death and taxes – the Dodgers do not re-sign their free agent utility bench players, at least not very often. And while I understand and basically agree with this practice (due primarily to the age of said utility players), it doesn’t make it any easier when we collectively grow attached to these ‘out-of-the-headlines’ type guys. One need look no further than Jamey Carroll – everybody loved the guy, but he was 37 when he left the Dodgers after the 2011 season.

With Nick Punto having been snatched up by the Oakland A’s on a one-year/$2.75 million deal last Friday and Skip Schumaker landing a two-year/$5 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, that leaves only Jerry Hairston Jr. as the Dodgers remaining 2013 utility bench player unsigned. And while it is very unlikely that the Dodgers will re-sign @Therealjhair, it’s pretty safe to say that the future for the 37-year-old Des Moines, IA native is pretty much guaranteed – not as a baseball player but as an MLB analyst or perhaps even in the broadcast booth. And while I feel bad that Hairston’s baseball career in most likely coming to an end, I would love nothing more than to see him remain in the Dodgers organization in this or some other capacity. The guy is just plain fun to be around and an absolute hoot.

Jerry is extremely intelligent and very quick-witted. He has also done well to ‘grease the skids’ in the broadcasting and/or baseball analyst field with frequent appearances on the MLB Network. And the mere fact that his grandfather, father and brother are all former major leaguers gives him three generations of baseball knowledge and experience to draw from – something that I highly doubt has gone unnoticed by those who do the hiring and firing in ‘the business.’

During his two seasons with the Dodgers, Hairston had several great moments, usually on defense and most while playing third base. I vividly recall an absolutely impossible diving play that he made on a hot grounder off the bat of Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Alex Gonzalez where he threw out Gonzalez at first base while on his knees.

Hairston makes a diving stop of Alex Gonzalez’s hot grounder…

…makes an impossible throw to first base while still on one knee…

…and still gets Gonzalez by eight feet.
(Video capture courtesy of KCAL9 Sports)

Unfortunately, Hairston didn’t see much playing time towards the end of the 2013 season and his batting average dropped off considerably as a result – bad enough that he was excluded from both the NLDS and NLCS playoff rosters. At 37 years old, such a fate forces one to do an assessment of their future in the game, and knowing Jerry I don’t doubt that he has done exactly this. That being said, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn that Jerry plans to workout this off-season with hopes of landing a utility bench role somewhere in the big leagues, even if on a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp.

Whatever the future may hold for Jerry Hairston Jr., I seriously doubt that we have heard the last of him and I wish him nothing but the very best.

(Author’s Note: The Dodgers also acquired 37-year-old Michael Young as a utility bench player at the August 31, 2013 Waiver Trade Deadline. Young appeared in only 21 games with the Dodgers, mostly as a pinch hitter and late innings defensive replacement. He is also a free agent and it is unlikely that the Dodgers will re-sign him).