One of the predominant themes with the Dodgers in 2014 has been the glut of outfielders and what should happen to resolve that glut or what may happen. The general consensus is that one of the outfielders should be traded even knowing the situation in which the Dodgers find themselves means that they most likely would not receive fair market value for one of their excess outfielders. The Dodgers are in the bind and have put themselves at a disadvantage in any trade they might make which includes Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier. It is a given that Yasiel Puig is the one constant in the outfield making his seven year $42 million look like the steal of the decade. Scott Van Slyke certainly is a trade option but has developed into a versatile outfielder/first baseman and has a strong bat coming off the bench.

Matt Kemp appears to be the best trade option even with his huge contract that extends into the 2019 season. Kemp has shown signs of life since the all-star break which no doubt causes the Dodgers to take pause and reconsider trading him. In addition to his improved offensive play and better frame of mind playing right field, the Dodgers would have to pay a considerable portion of his salary if he was traded. Paying players to play on others teams is an albatross around the neck regardless of how much money a team may have.

It all seems to boil down to Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier. That is, who goes and who stays regardless of the Dodgers rhetoric that having five outfielders capable of playing every day is a great problem to have. Logic dictates that one of the Dodger outfielders will be traded in an effort to meet other needs on the roster, namely starting pitching and relief pitching. The trade may be in the off season but it has to happen.

When the Dodgers entered play on August 1, Ethier was hitting .247 with a .313 on-base percentage compared to Crawford’s .244 average and .282 OBP. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

It seems that Andre Ethier has been purposely squeezed. Don Mattingly again says what he has to say while Andre sits and Carl Crawford has become his favorite left fielder. It is always possible that there are hidden variables that we do not see from the outside. Crawford clearly was a sore spot on the roster in Boston. Maybe Ethier is now in LA but Don Mattingly would tend to refute that with his recent comments.

But Mattingly said Ethier has taken the decision in stride. If the Dodgers don’t make a move to unload an outfielder, the manager doesn’t anticipate any issues in the clubhouse.

“I think Andre understands the situation,” Mattingly said. “He didn’t tell me how happy or unhappy he was with it. I think he’s been around here long enough to know that that could change any moment. One misstep, or if something happens, changes his role.

“We’ve invested too much to get to this point,” added Mattingly. “It’s not really about who’s playing, who’s not playing at this moment. It’s going to be about us winning.”

It is my contention that Andre Ethier should play and Carl Crawford should sit or be traded. Defensively Ethier is a much more versatile outfielder than Crawford and is capable of playing all three outfield positions. His arm is far superior to Crawford’s who is limited to left field with an arm that does not discourage runners from heading home. Ethier did a more than creditable job when presses into action in center field.

Crawford is no longer the elite player that he was before taking the huge contract in Boston, nor does he have to reach that status. However, he does have to stay on the field. He does seem to be a bit fragile, just a hamstring injury or sprained ankle away from the DL. That no doubt explains the decline in his running game on the bases which was part of his trademark in his prime time days. Andre Ethier has never had such a running game but has been much more successful in staying on the field in the past four years.

Carl Crawford was instrumental in Game-5 of the 2013 NLCS when he hit a clutch home run off of Cardinals right-hander Joe Kelly. Unfortunately, Crawford has not shown that same power thus far in 2014 with only four home runs on the season. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Ethier also is not the elite played we had hoped for and expected after his 2009 season. However, it seems difficult to argue that his bat is not as good or better than Crawford’s. The knock on Ethier is that he can’t hit left-handers. He has not been overly successful doing that but neither has Carl Crawford. On the season Crawford is hitting .243 with a .222 average against left-handers while Ethier is hitting .248 in 2014 and only .190 against left-handers. Both get platooned against lefties so I’m not sure how that is an issue when comparing the two. Ethier has a .314 OBP for the season while Crawford has an OBP of .282.

Perhaps it comes down to contracts. Andre Ethier is definitely being overpaid at $18M a year for the next three years. Carl Crawford is being paid $20.75M for each of the next three years which means he is being even more overly paid.

Quite often players are in the lineup because they hold a hot hand. In July in 39 at bats Crawford had a batting average of .154 and is hitting .158 in the last seven games. Ethier has had no official at bats in the past seven games and has hit .244 in 45 at bats in July. You might argue that neither player has had a hot hand but .244 would seem to trump .154.

Free Andre Ethier.