Dodgers Rumors: Each Dodgers’ Player Rating in MLB the Show 17

Adrian Gonzalez – 80

Adrian Gonzalez comes in as the fourth best dodgers position player on this years edition of MLB the Show. This ranking is fitting out of the Dodgers, as Gonzalez has seen himself take a back seat in terms of production behind each of the guys ahead of him. While there may be something to be said about his rating being as low as 80, he does deserve to be fourth out of the Dodgers bats.

It is nothing against Gonzalez, it is just that natural decline we see when players, particularly first basemen, age. Driving in as many as 116 runs back in 2014, Gonzalez’ runs drove in has shrunk to 90 in both 2015 and 2016. Not only that, Gonzalez saw a big dip in his home run total, slugging only 18 home runs after hitting over 20 in each full season as a Dodger.

Some of it has to do with age, and some of it has to do that Gonzalez does not need to be the main artery for the Dodgers runs in the lineup. While his impact on the team certainly is felt, he is not the same menacing Adrian Gonzalez that he was just a few seasons ago.

While I do think that he should be slightly higher, perhaps at the rating that Grandal is at, having Gonzalez be the fourth best position player is sensible. He still can produce and is a reliant option on the field, just not to the extent that he once was.