The Los Angeles Dodgers took a swing this offseason by signing veteran outfielder Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million deal to fill their hole in left field. Now, Conforto has become a hole in the batting lineup, struggling at the plate.
The 32-year-old has a batting average of just .168, with only 13 RBIs and 4 home runs across 202 at-bats. Oh, and his WAR is -0.9.
With a career .246 BA, the Dodgers were not expecting anything special from Conforto, but production at replacement level or slightly better should have been in the cards.
According to Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman would not rule out the possibility of trading away the struggling outfielder for his replacement.
“‘Never say never,’ Friedman said, ‘but I think we would hold a very high bar and find it very unlikely,'” Shaikin wrote.
Friedman did offer some words of support for Conforto, who he believes could turn a corner soon.
“Michael hasn’t performed up to what he expected or we expected,” Friedman said. “But, watching the way he is working, watching the progress being made, I would bet that his next two months are way better than his last two months.”
A season long slump for Conforto would be surprising to say the least. After all, he has an All-Star cast in the field surrounding him. Maybe some of their charm will rub off on the embattled vet, but all cards are still on the table for Friedman and the Dodgers.
“The important thing is, if we have an injury or (poor) performance, do we feel like we have different ways to maneuver? We do,” Friedman said.
Right now, it would be pretty hard for the performance to get any worse than what Dodgers fans are seeing out of Conforto. We will have to wait and see if he turns it around, or if Friedman will maneuver elsewhere to fill the hole in left field.
