The Los Angeles Dodgers executed a number of moves on Wednesday night at the MLB Winter Meetings, including a deal with the Los Angeles Angels in which they traded pitching prospect Andrew Heaney for second baseman Howie Kendrick.
One imagines that Dodgers’ VP Andrew Friedman spent his long tenure with the Tampa Bay Rays compiling a long list of players he wanted. He would then gaze longingly as they played for other teams because Friedman simply did not have the resources to pursue them, whether in trades or through free agency.
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Friedman has got those resources now, and on Wednesday he put the baseball world on notice that he is ready to use those resources.
The Dodgers started the action off by trading for Jimmy Rollins. They followed that up by sending infielder Dee Gordon and veteran pitcher Dan Haren to the Miami Marlins in exchange for a package of prospects that includes pitcher and former first round pick Andrew Heaney. Many people felt the Dodgers got the best of that swap thanks in large part to Heaney, but they weren’t done.
As one of a flurry of moves, the Dodgers then flipped Heaney to the Angels for proven second baseman Howie Kendrick. Reports of the deal came down while much of the world was sleeping.
Dodgers are acquiring Howie Kendrick from Angels, according to baseball source.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) December 11, 2014
Source confirms: Howie Kendrick to #Dodgers. First reported: @kengurnick
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2014
Source: #Dodgers are flipping Andrew Heaney to #Angels.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2014
Kendrick and Heaney is a straight-up trade #Angels #Dodgers
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 11, 2014
Kendrick has been solid for as long as anybody can remember for the Angels. Last year he batted .293/.347/.397. He is a career .292 hitter and has shown more pop in seasons prior to 2014, to the point that the Angels sometimes deployed him in the middle of the lineup.
Between this and their trade for Rollins, the Dodgers got themselves a middle infield of two proven players.
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