By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired Howie Kendrick from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney. This comes after the team was linked to Kendrick in trade rumors earlier this week. He’s set to make $10 million for the 2017 season.
Sources: Phillies trade Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney to Dodgers for Howie Kendrick.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) November 11, 2016
Zolecki followed up the trade news by reporting that Kendrick is expected to be the Phillies starting left fielder next season. He didn’t have his best year in 2016, hitting just .255 with a .326 OBP. Kendirck’s. batting average was 40 points lower than 2015 and well below his .289 career average. He started in just three of the 11 Dodgers playoff games this postseason, but provides a versatile veteran presence on a young Phillies team. He may be the starter in left field, but can play second among other infield positions.
Ruf heads to LA after playing parts of five seasons with the Phillies. While he showed off his power stroke on multiple levels in the minor leagues, Ruf could never consistently hit at the big league level and with Ryan Howard at the helm, didn’t really get the opportunity to play full time. With Tommy Joseph in line to play at first and Ruf’s outfield experiment determined a failure, he’ll get the chance to start fresh with a new organization. In 286 games donning red pinstripes, Ruf hit .245 with 32 homers and 87 RBIs. The Phillies selected Ruf in the 2009 draft. He was a .295 career minor league hitter.
Darnell Sweeney heads back to LA after being dealt to Philadelphia in the Chase Utley trade in 2015. Despite his ability to play the infield and outfield, Sweeney’s offensive game never surfaced at the big league level. In 37 games for the Phils, he hit .176 with four doubles and three home runs. He spent the entire 2016 season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, hitting .233.
With Kendrick tabbed as the starting left fielder for 2017, it will be interesting to see what the Phillies do with Cesar Hernandez, who was a ‘hot name’ at general managers meetings this week in Arizona. If Odubel Herrera remains in center field for next season, that leaves right field open for Roman Quinn, Aaron Altherr or Nick Williams.
