It was a big hit – an absolutely enormous one, in fact. It came on September 24, 2015 during a rare Thursday afternoon matinee game at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 Dodgers win.

It was a grand slam home run straight down the left field line by Dodgers utility outfielder Chris Heisey. And even though Heisey would hit one more home run on the final day of the regular season – also at Dodger Stadium – he was, in every sense of the word, a bust signing by Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi. It had cost the Dodgers right-hander Matt Magill, who was shipped out to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Heisey – a career .245 hitter with 52 home runs and 156 RBIs in his six-year MLB career.

“When you look at the landscape, one thing there’s a scarcity of is offense,” Zaidi told reporters at the time. “We’re fortunate to have a surplus of offensive outfielders and we are assessing the demand and interest in them.”

Unfortunately, Heisey’s grand slam on September 24 would prove to be his only significant contribution to the team in 2015. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The “them” that Zaidi was speaking of at the time – December 2014 – was utility outfielder Scott Van Slyke and frequent trade rumor candidate Andre Ethier. But unfortunately for Zaidi, the Dodgers outfield offensive landscape went from scarce to almost nonexistent. Ironically, it would be Ethier and super-sub utility infielder-outfielder Kiké Hernandez who would provide the most offense among all of the Dodgers outfielders. It most certainly didn’t come from Heisey, who had a grand total of 10 hits in 58 at-bats (.182) in the 33 games that he appeared in for the Dodgers in 2015.

In preparation for what is expected to be a very busy off-season for the Dodgers, Zaidi and Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman outrighted Heisey and fellow utility outfielder Justin Ruggiano this past week. But rather than accepting assignments with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City Dodgers, both refused their minor league assignments and opted for free agency instead. And although there is a good chance that both will be picked up by another team this off-season – especially Ruggiano, who hit a very impressive .291 with four home runs in his 21 games with the Dodgers and actually made the team’s postseason roster – by becoming free agents, the Dodgers are now no longer on the hook to tender either of them contracts this off-season in order to avoid arbitration.

Ruggiano hit four home runs in his 21 games as a Dodger including this leadoff home run against the Angels on September 8 in Anaheim. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although it is extremely unlikely that the Dodgers will make a play for Heisey, they might make a run at Ruggiano – if he doesn’t price himself out of reach for the Dodgers, that is. Keep in mind that the Dodgers still have team control over Van Slyke and Ethier has two years remaining on his five-year / $85 million contract, with a $17.5 million club option for 2018 (or a $2.5 million buyout). They also have top outfield prospect Scott Schebler – who hit three home runs after his September 1 call-up to the Dodgers – and up-and-coming outfield prospects Jacob Scavuzzo and Alex Verdugo down on the farm – although both are probably at least two years away from being MLB-ready.

To their credit, both Heisey and Ruggiano were outstanding teammates and brought a tremendous veteran presence to the Dodgers clubhouse and it is impossible not to wish the very best for both of these guys. But simply put, neither appear to fit the direction that the Friedman / Zaidi Dodgers are headed.

Regardless, godspeed to you Chris Heisey and Justin Ruggiano.

(Author’s note: Justin Ruggiano also hit a grand slam for the Dodgers – his on September 11 in a 12-4 loss to those same Diamondbacks in Arizona).