As we flip the calendar over to February and with spring training now less than three weeks away, veteran free agent second baseman Chase Utley is still without a team.

Oh sure, one can argue that at 39 years of age, who wants him. But the cold, hard fact is that aside from 31-year-old second baseman Logan Forsythe, the Dodgers currently have no other true, pure second baseman on their 40-man roster; this the result of trading away heir-apparent second base prospect Willie Calhoun to the Texas Rangers as part of the package that brought (now gone) right-hander Yu Darvish to the Dodgers at the July 31, 2017 trade deadline.

Even though Utley slashed only .236 / .324 / .405 for a rather pedestrian .728 OPS in 2017 and went a dismal 0-for-15 in the postseason, the Pasadena, California native and former 2000 first-round draft pick out of UCLA has been invaluable to the team as a clubhouse leader and mentor to many of the young Dodgers on the team, especially for 23-year-old shortstop Corey Seager. In fact, the veteran second baseman played a huge role in Seager winning the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year title.

But is it prudent to bring back the aging veteran? In a word: yes.

Consider this: When the Dodgers acquired Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies at the July 31, 2015 trade deadline, he was in the final year of his contract and the Dodgers received $6 million in cash consideration from the Phillies to offset the $15 million owed to him for the remainder of the 2015 season. They then re-signed Utley to a one-year / $7 million free agent contract for the 2016 season and then re-signed him again for 2017. The enormous difference is that his one-year free agent deal for 2017 was for $2 million. And knowing that he is on the cusp of retiring from the game after an outstanding 15-year MLB career, he could be had for a song and would more than likely accept anything that the Dodgers are willing to offer him; perhaps even the 2018 MLB minimum of $545,000.

But are the Dodgers even interested in re-signing him? In a word: maybe.

“We know what he means in this clubhouse,” Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi told reporters at last week’s FanFest event at Dodger Stadium. “We also have some young players that we need at-bats for and some opportunities, and second base is one of those options.”

What Zaidi is basically saying is that he (and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman) see platooning at second base as perhaps a better option than limiting it to just one or two guys; guys like catcher Austin Barnes, utility infielder/outfielders Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor – this in addition to Forsythe. And while some may view this as less than ideal, F&Z have repeatedly shown that this is the trend … at least their trend. That being said, Zaidi also told reporters that they are continuing to “have conversations” with Utley, and he has been working out regularly at Dodger Stadium with several other Dodger players throughout the off-season.

Utley (third from right) has been working out regularly at Dodger Stadium this off-season.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Will it happen? Perhaps.

Should it happen? The general consensus is yes; especially when you consider that it is very cost-effective.

It’s time to pull the trigger on this one, guys.