Over the past seven or eight years (or however long it has been since the Dodgers let Adrian Beltre get away), they have been unable to successfully fill the long-term void at the hot corner. Sure, they’ve had a few ‘just ok’ guys at third base since Beltre’s free agency departure in 2004, but they never found a worthy, good fielding, good hitting long-term third baseman – period. And though Ned Colletti (and only Ned Colletti) thought that signing Juan Uribe to a ridiculous three-year contract was going to be the the solution to this eight-year problem, his $21 million experiment has failed miserably.

Having spent nearly three weeks at spring training this past March, I watched very closely as the Dodgers tried a number of guys out at third base and I came away with much trepidation (and anxiety) at what I had seen. The three guys who appealed to me the most were Justin Sellers, who played great defense but hit only fair; Josh Fields, who hit slightly less than Sellers but wasn’t as good defensively; and Jerry Hairston Jr., who hit and fielded well but had some throwing issues during the first two weeks of spring training but corrected in the latter part of camp. There was one thing that was blatantly obvious, however, and that was that Juan Uribe was definitely not the answer, as he hit the worst of all those who played thrird base during spring training – this in spite of his insane contract.

Dodgers utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. went 5 for 5 for the first time in his 15-year MLB career on Sunday. Hairston has proven himself the best option as the Dodgers everyday third baseman. (Photo by Jeff Gross)

As expected and held hostage by his huge contract, the Dodgers started the season with Juan Uribe as their everyday third baseman and that worked out exactly as anticipated – he was good defensively but he couldn’t hit his weight (which is questionably listed at 240, by the way); and as much as I hate to say it (ok, that’s a lie), I was glad when Uribe landed on the DL over three weeks ago – not that I like seeing anyone injured, but you get my point. Since then, Justin Sellers, who was doing about the same as he did in spring training until he injured himself making a spectacular catch in which he landed in the stands and on the DL; Adam Kennedy, who has hovered around the Mendoza line offensively and is mediocre at best defensively; Elian Herrera, who is now pretty much the everyday second baseman and doing exceptionally well since replacing the injured Mark Ellis; and Jerry Hairston Jr., with his current team-leading .381 average and absolutely stellar defense; have (collectively) gotten all of the starts at third base. Well the results are in, folks – Jerry Hairston Jr. needs to be the Dodgers everyday third baseman as often as his 35-year-old body will allow – for now at least. (This could change by the July 31 trade deadline).

Speaking of Hairston’s 35-year-old body, on his third day back from the 15-day DL for a strained hamstring he went 5 for 5 for the first time in his 15-year MLB career. Hairston is absolutely fearless on the base paths and he has never seen a ground ball that he didn’t like. In fact, he made three absolutely impossible diving plays at third base just prior to going on the DL and is, in my opinion, every bit as good (or better) defensively than Juan Uribe and unquestionably better offensively. That said and being 35-years old, Hairston will need a day off every few days, but there is a non-Uribe solution for this as well – spell Hairston at third base with the versatile Elian Herrera and plug Ivan De Jesus Jr. in at second base on those occasional Hairston days off. De Jesus, as you know, was called up to replace the seriously injured Mark Ellis who, in all probability, is lost for the season.

Is Jerry Hairston the long-term answer at third base for the Dodgers? Of course he isn’t; but with the way that he and the rest of the Dodgers have been playing lately, he very well may be the answer at third base until the Dodgers receive their 2012 World Series Champion rings.