Chase Utley is quite the baseball player starting with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003 and becoming a leader to the team. He stayed on with the Phillies until 2015 before becoming second-base man for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lately, he has changed up his position by serving as a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, which has given a lot of speculation as to what will happen for the player. These are the Los Angeles Dodgers Rumors for Chase Utley.
Last Friday, according to the Los Angeles Daily News, Utley started the game at third base, and it was noted that there was no crowd of reporters waiting by his locker after the game to journal the event. It is noted that Utley didn't have an eventful game in the field, but neither did he seem out of place even once.
It seems that Utley is setting himself up for a future as a multi-position player beyond this season. Manager of the Dodgers, Don Mattingly, had this to say of Utley: "From my standpoint, looking at a guy in his career at this point, the things he can do like that if he wants to continue to play and be that role, there is a lot of at-bats there. He gets rest, he's not a seven-day-a-week guy. He ends up being four-day but very valuable. If that's something he wants to do, that's all we've asked him to do."
At 36, with thirteen seasons under his belt, it is not known what the long-range plans are for Chase Utley. He has been playing second base since high school and has made 1,461 career starts at second base, 25 at first, and just the two recent games at third.
Right now, the Dodgers hold a team option for Utley next season, and it is worth at least $5 million. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Darnell Sweeney and John Richy, just recently, with a lot of Phillies experience under his cap. Last weekend, his OPS was .645, 200 points below his career average. There is a part of that which is attributed to an ankle injury that occurred early in the season.
From what it looks like, it doesn't look like Chase Utley is wanting to be traded from the Los Angeles Dodges anytime soon. As a Long Beach native and graduate from UCLA, it seems like this player has come home.
Perhaps the best prediction of Charles Utley is a few more seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before a retirement with honors. It is also possible that even though he could play with the Dodgers for ten more seasons, he will always be remembered for his time with the Philadelphia Phillies.
