Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
This isn’t exactly going to be full of a ton of new information, but then, I don’t have a ton of time this morning, and you jackals need your daily meal of Dodger-related minutiae. I’ve been pretty clear for a while how much I loved the Dee Gordon & Dan Haren for Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, Enrique Hernandez, and Howie Kendrick deal; I think I’ve gone so far as to call it a “heist.”
You know why, too. Gordon is overrated, getting by on about eight good weeks in his entire career. Kendrick is an upgrade on both sides of the ball. Haren’s days as a reliable top-end starter for a contender are over. Hatcher, Barnes, and Hernandez are all potentially big league contributors as soon as this year. I loved the deal. Loved it.
In yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, we learn a little more about how highly the Dodgers thought of Hernandez:
The Marlins weren’t sure they wanted to give up utility man Enrique Hernandez — even in exchange for pitcher Dan Haren and second baseman Dee Gordon. But the Dodgers were sure there would be no deal without him.
“We don’t make that trade without Enrique,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten said Friday. “Look, we were giving up a lot of good major league pieces.”
Hernandez hasn’t really done much offensively this spring — one hit in 17 plate appearances — but that doesn’t really matter, nor does the fact that he’s unlikely to make the major league roster on Opening Day, not with Alex Guerrero and Andre Ethier and their contract situations hanging around. The point is, though these guys don’t have big profiles, they’re not toss-ins. They were all valuable pieces of that trade, and we could see them all in 2015. That trade, what a steal. What a gift.
