In an ongoing series, we'll take a look at possible free-agent and trade targets for the Texas Rangers this winter.
Target: Andre Ethier, OF
2014 stats: .249 batting average, .322 on-base percentage, .691 OPS, 17 doubles, 4 home runs, 42 RBIs, 130 games
Once a pretty valuable piece to the Dodgers' puzzle, Ethier has fallen out of favor in the team's outfield cluster after a career-worse power year that saw him hit single-digit homers for the first time in his career. This would be a true "buy low" candidate and you'd have to think the Dodgers would pick up a big chunk of his remaining salary if a trade were to happen here.
Ethier has been tied to the Rangers in the past because the Dodgers have been tied to Elvis Andrus, who is part of a surplus of middle infielders in the Rangers' organization. But the way he performed last year would make it hard to believe the Dodgers could get Andrus with Ethier being the key piece in return.
He's owed $53.5 million over the next three seasons with a $17.5 million vesting option in 2018, which he almost certainly wouldn't meet, but either way that is a ton of money tied up in a pretty average player. However, if the Dodgers are willing to pay a large portion of that, it could be worth a shot as a "change of scenery" candidate.
