Andre Ethier Fans Must Prepare for the Inevitable

Maybe it’s better this way. The grieving process won’t be so hard. When Matt Kemp was ripped away from Dodger fans so abruptly during the offseason it was like tearing a Band-Aid off an open wound. It was shocking, painful. Kemp is still beloved by many and is sure to receive a warm welcome from the Dodger faithful on Opening Day when the Padres come to town (at least for his first at-bat).

Now fans await the next round of brutal news that’s as inevitable as a hangover after St. Patrick’s Day: the shipping off of Andre Ethier.

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When spring training began, we watched closely to see if Joc Pederson, like a modern day Pip Pirrip, could handle the pressure of great expectations. Would the youngster be able to hit big league pitching with any consistency? Would he at least be able to show improvements in his approach at the plate to ward off fears of another season of piling strikeouts? If he failed, then the path may have been set for Ethier to reclaim a starting position in the outfield either in center or in right with Yasiel Puig in center.

To date, Pederson has done everything right to show he’s nearly ready for prime time. Even Don Mattingly is beginning to hedge a little when asked about it. “We haven’t made any decision yet on who’s going to play where,” said the skipper after Tuesday’s game against the Rangers, “but we do like the way things are going for Joc.”

Pederson is hitting .360 with 27 plate appearances so far this spring while Ethier is struggling at .182 in 24 PAs. Watching Joc’s at-bats, one can see the subtle adjustments he’s making from his stance to his leg kick to his swing. The opinion shared over at Dodger Digest is that actually “there’s no real issue with his swing. If anything, what got exposed last year was his passivity.” This becomes apparent when you see the young man freeze as seemingly perfect pitches sail by him for strikes, sometimes on 1 and 2-strike counts. But that can be tweaked. It’s not a game changer as far as his starting position on Opening Day is concerned.

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And that brings us back to Ethier. It’s no secret that the Dodgers FO is looking to move the 32 (soon to be 33) year-old left hander, even to the point of eating about half of the $56 million still owed to Ethier in order to lure in a bid. Trading Ethier is the “single most important move the Dodgers could make” according to Seth Victor over at Bleacher Report, where Victor ranks it even higher than signing another quality reliever.

Collecting this evidence and trying to see it through the prism of Andrew Friedman (who I can’t help but compare to Jonah Hill’s character in Moneyball), it looks as if we could be heading to an Opening Day at Dodger Stadium without Ethier in tow. If somehow he does remain with the club, how long do we think he can last being relegated as Pederson’s understudy? Ethier has mentioned that he would actually prefer to play one of the corners, but does that seem any more plausible with Puig and Crawford in his way? How long until he even falls behind Scott Van Slyke in the depth chart? Will this perennial starter have the proper attitude in the clubhouse if he’s sitting on the bench half the week (or more)?

Returning to our original metaphor, this Band-Aid is being torn off slowly. It might be less painful this way for Ethier fans as they adjust to the potential move (more painful if you’re not an Ethier fan), but either way, at some point soon that bandage is coming off for good.