Los Angeles Dodgers: Why signing A.J. Pollock isn’t the answer
By Jason Reed
1. A.J. Pollock does not have a healthy track record
A.J. Pollock first made a name for himself in 2014 when he hit over .300 for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 75 games that he played. He followed up with an even better 2015, playing in 157 games with 20 home runs, 76 RBIs, a .315 average and a .865 OPS.
Pollock was an all-star that year, won a Gold Glove and even got some MVP shares. At only 27 years old, Pollock looked primed to be one of the best players of the game over the next four years that he would be spending in Arizona.
That was the last time that Pollock played a full season and is actually the only full season in his career. In the three years since Pollock has played 12 games, 112 games and 113 games.
It truly is unfortunate and if it was just one injury that ended one of those years that would be understandable. However, with Pollock, it is an obvious trend that cannot be ignored. His health is a legitimate concern.
Now there have been arguments that the Dodgers are ok with this because of the depth on the team and the usage of platoons. That even if Pollock misses 50 games the Dodgers will be just fine.
Why go into a contract with someone knowing that there is a good chance they are going to get hurt and you are going to have to adjust? Why pay someone for a full season of work knowing that you probably will only get 60 percent?
It just does not make sense. Just because you have a decent amount of waiters does not mean you hire a marginally better waiter that is going to call in sick for 40 percent of his shifts.