UPDATE: Rosenthal says the Dodgers have “zero intention” of trading Ethier, but will listen. He says two teams have inquired.
October: The Dodgers are interested in trading Andre Ethier!
November: No, the Dodgers are not interested in trading Andre Ethier.
December: The Dodgers are interested in trading Andre Ethier:Source: Dodgers shopping Andre Ethier. If they deal him, they could be in the mix for Nick Swisher.
— Mark Feinsand (@FeinsandNYDN) December 18, 2012
I don’t doubt that the Dodgers would actually like to trade Ethier, but he’s got an ugly contract, even by late 2012’s increasingly crazy standards. L.A. owes him $85 million between now and 2017. This for a guy who turns 31 next season. If anyone wanted Ethier, they’d be better off just signing Nick Swisher themselves.
Which doesn’t mean he’s untradable. For one thing -- as one of my Tweeps notes -- a free agent like Swisher may nit wish to go to a place like, say, Seattle, so if the M’s wanted his like, they could do a deal for Ethier. And of course, L.A. could kick in a lot of money in any Ethier deal.
Still seems pretty unlikely anyone would bite, but stranger things have happened.