Long-time Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In being dealt out west, Utley will reunite with former teammate of 12 seasons and five postseason appearances, shortstop Jimmy Rollins.
The Dodgers will assume $2 million of the $6 million owed to Utley, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
In return for the 2008 World Series champion, six-time All-Star, and four-time Silver Slugger Award winner, the Phillies will receive two minor-leaguers per CBS Sports' Jon Heyman.
Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports that one of these players is 24-year-old infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney. He was the 13th-ranked prospect in the Dodgers' system by MLB Pipeline.
The second player coming to the Phillies' organization will be 23-year-old right hander John Richy. Richy was 10-5 with a 4.20 ERA over 124 1/3 innings with the Dodgers' High-A team, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
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Utley, 36, was placed on revocable trade waivers on August 9. He went unclaimed, which allowed the Phillies to negotiate freely around the league. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and New York Yankees were all teams who reportedly showed interest in acquiring Utley, in addition to the Dodgers who currently lead the NL West by two games.
Having 10-and-5 rights, being a ten-year veteran with five of those years being with the same club, Utley had total control to where he would be traded to.
One of the requirements for Utley, in regards to wherever he would be dealt to, was the promise of receiving ample playing time. The current Dodgers' second baseman, Howie Kendrick, was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 10 with a strained left hamstring. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Kendrick is 'believed to be about two weeks away' from returning.
According to GMs Utley made it clear he was looking for:1.Playing So CA team 2NL Team 3.Playing time this yr 4.Opp next yr(Kendrick FA) =LAD
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowden_ESPN) August 19, 2015
The announcement of this trade comes just one day after both general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and acting team president Pat Gillick took to radio, saying Utley would remain a Phillie for the rest of the season.
It is unsure whether or not Utley will replace Kendrick as a starter for the remainder of the season, however he surely could spell Adrian Gonzalez on occasion at first base.
Utley will return to his California roots in being traded to Los Angeles. He attended UCLA before being drafted by the Phillies 15th overall in the 2000 amateur draft. Utley grew up in Pasadena, and went to Polytechnic High School in Long Beach.
Ranked by Baseball America as the 81st-best prospect entering the 2003 season, Utley made his major league debut on April 4 before a crowd of 59,269 at Veterans Stadium.
In just his second major league game and third at-bat overall on April 24, 2003 against the Colorado Rockies, Utley hit a two-out grand slam for his first big-league hit.
Legendary Phillies' broadcaster Harry Kalas famously called this third-inning blast with the following:
"Long drive, could it be? It is outta here! Grand slam home run Chase Utley! Welcome to the show, Mr. Utley! It is six-nothing Phillies."
Due to a cluttered infield, Utley was not known as the bonafide Phillies' second baseman until Placido Polanco was traded to the Detroit Tigers on June 8, 2005 in exchange for infielder Ramon Martinez and right hander Ugueth Urbina.
Another famous call from Kalas, tied to the legacy of Utley in the red pinstripes, occurred 1,203 days after his grand slam. This took place on a sunny, 95-degree Wednesday matinee against the Atlanta Braves on August 9, 2006.
Trailing 3-2 with one out in the top of the seventh inning, Utley worked a six-pitch at-bat against Macay McBride and eventually delivered with a go-ahead, three-RBI double to center field.
Even though the next batter, first baseman Ryan Howard, grounded out to first base, Utley still managed to advance two bases to bring home his team's sixth run of the afternoon. This prompted Kalas to famously deem Utley as "The Man".
The Phillies piled-on three more runs that inning, which was more than enough to defeat Bobby Cox's Braves, 9-3. This victory was significant in that it pulled the Phillies within 3.5 games of the National League Wild Card spot, which was eventually won by the Los Angeles Dodgers at the season's end.
Many more memories and great moments created by the Pasadena, California-native followed, but his play during the 2008 postseason will never be forgotten.
During the first game of the National League Division Series against right hander Yovani Gallardo and the Milwaukee Brewers, Utley hit a game-winning, two-run double in the bottom of the third inning.
In the series opener of the National League Championship Series, facing right hander Derek Lowe and the Los Angeles Dodgers', Utley hit a game-tying, two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Two batters later, left fielder and 2015 Phillies' Wall of Fame inductee Pat Burrell, went yard with a game-winning solo shot off Lowe.
Utley was again a significant contributor in the first game of the following series, the 104th World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. With a one out and a runner on in the top of the first inning, Utley homered off of southpaw Scott Kazmir. The Phillies went on to win at Tropicana Field, 3-2.
Later in the series, during the top of the seventh inning of Game 5, opposing second baseman Akinori Iwamura hit a two-out infield single to Utley. Knowing he could not get the speedy Iwamura out at first base, Utley pump-faked over to Howard on the bag to try to fool the Rays' third base coach in sending shortstop Jason Bartlett home.
This deke worked, as Utley instead threw the ball home to catcher Carlos Ruiz, who tagged Bartlett out to record the final out of the inning. Many consider this play to be one of the best in World Series history.
As the Phillies went on to win their franchise' second World Series championship, Utley's celebratory speech a few days later at Citizens Bank Park was the talk of the town for self-evident reasons.
Just Howard (35) and Ruiz (36) are now the only remaining members of the current Phillies' roster who played on the 2008 World Series Championship team.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins (36) and right hander Kyle Kendrick (30) parted ways this offseason to join the Dodgers through trade, and the Colorado Rockies through free agency, respectively. The Most Valuable Player from the 2008 World Series, left hander Cole Hamels (31), was dealt last month to the Texas Rangers.
Utley was the last active Phillie to have played at Veterans Stadium, the home of the franchise from 1971 to 2003. He was the final batter in the stadium's history, which resulted in a double play against Braves' right hander Jason Marquis on September 28, 2003. This was Marquis' first and only recorded career save, who was recently released by the Cincinnati Reds on June 10 in his 15th season.
Over 756 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Utley batted .293/.375/.505 with 498 singles, 163 doubles, 21 triples, 127 home runs, 460 runs-batted-in, 303 walks and 467 strikeouts.
In terms of Phillies' franchise history, Utley ranked eighth in games (1,551), ninth in at-bats (5,748), sixth in scored runs (949), ninth in hits (1,623), fifth in doubles (346), sixth in home runs (233), and seventh in runs-batted-in (916).
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
