The Dodgers need a shortstop replacement for Hanley Ramirez – everyone knows it. Everyone also knows that the free agent shortstop market is rather slim this winter and trading for a high-end shortstop (of which there are also very few) would block the road for Dodgers top shortstop prospect Corey Seager, who is projected to be MLB-ready for a September 1 call-up – perhaps even sooner depending on how he does at spring training and at Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2015.

Many project that Dodgers soon-to-be 21-year-old top shortstop prospect Corey Seager will be a September 1 call-up in 2015. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

And while the Dodgers could sign 31-year-old shortstop Stephen Drew to a one-year deal in $7 to $8 million range as a stopgap until Seager is ready, they actually already have a guy who might be a better temporary shortstop option than Drew.

No, it’s not 25-year-old Miguel Rojas, who was invaluable to the Dodgers in 2014 as a defensive replacement but hit only slightly better than his listed 150-pound weight (.181), and it isn’t 24-year-old Cuban defector Erisbel Arruebarrena who fell well short of expectations offensively (.195); it’s recently-tendered (and re-signed) 29-year-old Gold Glove winner Darwin Barney, who hit exceptionally well and had an even more exceptional on-base percentage since being acquired by the Dodgers on July 28, 2014.

In his limited playing time with the Dodgers, the Portland, OR native went 10 for 33 (.308) with one home run and seven RBI’s in 45 plate appearances. But without question it was Barney’s ability to get on base (.467 OBP) that should have Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi seriously considering Barney as their pre-Seager shortstop for 2015.

Granted, Barney is a natural second baseman, the position at which he won his Gold Glove in 2012, but he has exhibited outstanding defensive range and he definitely has the arm for the much longer throw to first base. He most certainly couldn’t be any worse defensively than Hanley Ramirez was. Ramirez, as you may recall, had the worst fielding percentage in the National League (.961) among shortstops who played a minimum of 108 games, with most of his 16 errors being throwing errors – none greater than the one on June 18 that cost Clayton Kershaw a perfect game.

Barring a complete meltdown by Dodgers All-Star second baseman Dee Gordon, there is little chance that Barney would become the Dodgers everyday second baseman. But rather than leave his Gold Glove and, more importantly, his ability to get on base on the Dodgers bench, why not give Barney an opportunity to utilize these skills as the Dodgers everyday shortstop – at least until he proves that he can’t? No one will argue that he isn’t the right-handed power threat that Ramirez was, but here again, no one is among the very limited number of free agent or tradable shortstops available.

Barney made several web gem plays in his short time with the Dodgers – especially during the final week of the season.
(Photo credit – Mike Zarrilli)

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly made it perfectly clear that Dee Gordon would be his everyday second baseman as the 2014 season was winding down, but he also said that he would give Barney some playing time at shortstop to give Hanley an occasional day off.

“Dee’s our second baseman,” said Mattingly during an August 15 interview. “He’s hit left-handers, he’s hitting close to .300 with lefties and doing a good job with those guys. That being said, we’ll make sure we keep Dee rested … Darwin will get some at bats, he’ll probably see some time at short and we’ll see how that goes.”

Unfortunately, Barney saw exactly two games at short and one of those was as a defensive replacement. In those two games he made a total of five plays without committing an error. Now granted this is an insanely small sample size, but it shows that he is comfortable at the position.

One has to believe that the Dodgers recently reconstructed front office has every intention of working Barney out at shortstop during spring training. But they will probably do so with the idea that it will be as a utility role rather than as a starting role. If this is the case, Friedman, Zaidi and Mattingly could be wasting a golden opportunity.

…or rather a Gold Glove opportunity.