When the Dodgers tendered former Gold Glove second baseman Darwin Barney a one-year – $2.525 million contracted extension to avoid arbitration this past December, they did so with every intention of having the 29-year-old Portland, Oregon native as one of their two utility infielders in 2015 along with super-sub Justin Turner.

My how things have changed.

In addition to Barney and Turner, highly-touted 28-year-old Cuban infielder Alex Guerrero and his lofty four-year – $28 million contract is also fighting for one of those two utility infielder jobs as well – and by every indication, Barney is going to be the odd man out. Not because the extremely likable former Chicago Cub isn’t having a good spring, but because Guerrero and Turner are having exceptional springs; that and the fact that Darwin Barney, in spite of his recent contract extension, has an option remaining whereas Guerrero and Turner do not.

Even though Guerrero is entering only his second MLB season, his Scott Boras-crafted contract includes a clause that says that Guerrero cannot be sent down to the minors after the 2014 season without his permission and, as you might have heard, he has already said that he will not do so.

Putting contract issues aside, Guerrero has appeared in 13 of the Dodgers 17 spring training games thus far and is absolutely tearing it up at the plate. He is 10 for 25 (.400) with a .423 on-base percentage, a .640 slugging percentage and an outstanding 1.063 OPS. He’s hit two home runs, has six runs batted in, has walked once, been struck out four times and has one of the Dodgers four stolen bases this spring.

Guerrero’s three-run blast in Thursday’s game against the Angels may have sealed the deal on the final utility infielder spot. (Photo credit – Brendon Thorne)

What makes this situation even more difficult for the Dodgers brass is that Turner has a triple-slash that is even better than Guerrero’s at .423/.444/.577 for an OPS of 1.021 – although he has appeared in three fewer games than Guerrero. And while Barney’s triple slash of .286/.360./524 for an .884 OPS would be good enough to make the Dodgers Opening Day roster under normal circumstances, the circumstances at play here are anything but normal.

On the other side of the ball is where things really get interesting. Although Turner and Guerrero have committed one error each and the normally sure-handed Barney two, Guerrero has played exceptionally well at third base, left field and at his natural shortstop position. As such, he has disproved the seemingly popular notion that he is a subpar defender.

There is little doubt, none actually, that Guerrero is far more confident and playing under much less stress this spring than he was at this time last year. Last spring Guerrero had just recently arrived in the U.S., having defected from Cuba, thus separating him from his wife and daughter until just recently. And then while at Triple-A Albuquerque last season, he had half of his left ear bitten off during a dugout altercation with teammate and now banished former MLB catcher Miguel Olivo. What made that incident even worse is that by all accounts, Guerrero was within days of being called up to the Dodgers for his MLB debut. With all of this baggage now behind him, it’s no wonder that Guerrero is playing with more confidence and having an outstanding camp this spring.

Despite his two errors this spring, Darwin Barney continues to show why he earned a Gold Glove in 2012. (Photo credit – Rick Scuteri)

All of this said, Darwin Barney is the consummate professional and a team player in every sense. And while he definitely isn’t looking forward to being sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City, he knows full well that he is but an injury and a plane ride away from once again playing under the lights at Dodger Stadium; and there is little doubt that he will end up being an integral part of the Dodgers run for a third consecutive NL West title in 2015 – and you can take that to the bank.