Howie Kendrick traded to Phillies
By Jon Weisman
In the Dodgers’ second trade of the 2016–17 offseason, Howie Kendrick has been sent to the Phillies in a deal that has brought Los Angeles first baseman-outfielder Darin Ruf and a reunion with infielder-outfielder Darnell Sweeney.
The transaction comes five days after the Dodgers sent catcher Carlos Ruiz to Seattle for pitcher Vidal Nuño.
After spending 2015 as the Dodgers’ regular second baseman, Kendrick played four positions for Los Angeles this year, including as many as three in one game. Along with 94 games in left field, the 32-year-old tallied 32 appearances at second base, 17 at third and 11 at first. He became the first Dodger ever to play at least 10 games at those four positions.
Kendrick didn’t have a clearly defined role for 2017 with Los Angeles, and was a candidate to do more of the same moving around the diamond before today’s trade. With Philadelphia, Kendrick would project more as a full-time left fielder, given the presence of 26-year-old César Hernández at second base and 24-year-old Maikel Franco at third.
In his two-year Dodger career, Kendrick had a .331 on-base percentage and .387 slugging percentage, with 17 homers and 16 steals in 20 attempts, including a team-high 10 thefts in 2016. Next year, he is on target to reach career milestones of 1,500 hits, 300 doubles and 100 homers.
A right-handed hitter, Ruf has a career .921 OPS against left-handed pitching, with 17 homers in 271 at-bats.
Overall, Ruf hit 12 homers with a .714 OPS in 2015, but had only 89 big-league plate appearances this year, with a .236 on-base percentage and .337 slugging percentage. He spent the bulk of 2016 with Triple-A Lehigh Valley (20 homers, .885 OPS).
In the Majors, the 30-year-old Ruf has started 92 games at first base, 64 in left field and 27 in right.
Sweeney, who will be 26 in February, was drafted by the Dodgers in 2012 but went to Philadelphia in the August 2015 deal for Chase Utley. Sweeney OPSed .639 down the stretch that year for the Phillies but spent all of 2016 with Lehigh Valley, where he had a .299 OBP, .345 slugging percentage and 12 steals in 23 attempts.
With Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2015 before his first trade, Sweeney OPSed .741 with 30 doubles and 32 steals in 45 attempts. He was a 13th-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2012 out of Central Florida.
Unlike Ruf, Sweeney is not on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.
