Quick – name the three most consistent Dodger hitters this past season.

You undoubtedly picked Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner, who were pretty much gimmes. But the third most consistent Dodger hitter in 2015 wasn’t Howie Kendrick or even Kiké Hernandez, who finished the season batting .295 and .307 respectively. It was the longest tenured guy on the team – outfielder Andre Ethier.

Although Ethier finished the season with a .294 batting average – one point behind Kendrick and 11 points behind Hernandez – the 33-year-old Phoenix, AZ native was – hands down – the single most consistent hitter on the team in 2015.

Ethier hit .304 in May, .306 in June, .214 in July (while dealing with a lingering quad strain), .314 in August, .375 in August, .298 in September and was 1 for 8 (.125) in his three games in October. He did all of this while appearing in 142 games, as compared to 117 by Kendrick and 76 by Hernandez.

However, of those 142 games in which he appeared, Ethier started only 117 of them – testament to former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly’s obsession with lefty/righty match-ups. (Note: Ethier hit .306 off of right-handers and only .200 off of lefties; however, he only had 45 at-bats off of lefties compared to 350 off of right-handers).

In his 10 seasons with the Dodgers, Ethier has arguably had more clutch hits than any other Dodger in franchise history. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

In fact, Ethier did so well in 2015 that he finished fifth in the recently concluded Comeback Player of the Year voting – an honor that is voted on by the players themselves and was ultimately won by Mets right-hander Matt Harvey.

But in spite of all of this; and in spite of the fact that Ethier still has two years remaining on his five-year / $85 million contract (with a club option for a third), the often moody outfielder will undoubtedly once again be the focal point of trade rumors this off-season – this you can absolutely count on. Another thing you can count on is that this time – this off-season – a trade might actually happen; but then, how many times have we heard that before?

But why would Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and General Manager Farhan Zaidi even consider trading away a guy who year in and year out is among the most consistent hitters on the team, if not in the game? Why would they even entertain the thought of letting a guy with the nickname “Captain Clutch” go?

Believe it or not, there are actually several reasons and it’s difficult not to see Friedman and Zaidi’s logic in them.

First and foremost, it’s a matter of economics. Over the next two seasons, Ethier is guaranteed a minimum of $35.5 million plus a guaranteed $2.5 million buyout if the Dodgers choose not to exercise their $17.5 million option on him for 2018. And while this is indeed a ton of money, it is less than the $41.75 million owed to fellow outfielder Carl Crawford through the 2017 season. Simply put, it would be cheaper for the Dodgers to unload the $38.2 they owe Ethier than the $41.75 owed to Crawford – who turned 34 on August 5 – even if only slightly. That being said, with Ethier coming off of a banner year, he certainly upped his trade value considerably – especially for an American League team looking for a designated hitter who is still a pretty good defensive outfielder. Ethier committed only four errors in 187 total chances for a .979 fielding percentage. He also had six outfield assists in 2015.

Another reason why 2015 may have been Ethier’s last in a Dodgers uniform is because Friedman and Zaidi have frequently stated (ad nauseam) that they want to “get younger.” As noted above, Ethier is 33 years old (he’ll turn 34 on April 10) and there are several very good young outfield prospects down on the farm – most notably 25-year-old Scott Schebler and lesser known guys like 21-year-old Jacob Scavuzzo and 19-year-old Alex Verdugo (although both of these guys are at least two years away from being MLB-ready).

The Dodgers must also decide on what they want to do with utility outfielders Scott Van Slyke and Justin Ruggiano this off-season. Although Van Slyke is still under team control through 2019 (which means that they will probably tender him a contract to avoid arbitration this off-season), Ruggiano is now a free agent by virtue of having been designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners before the Dodgers picked him up just prior to the August 31 waiver trade deadline.

Another factor, although a somewhat lesser one, is who the Dodgers everyday center fielder will be next season. Although the odds-on favorite is Joc Pederson, should he continue to struggle as he did in the second half of the 2015 season, the Dodgers could once again make Kiké Hernandez their everyday center fielder. No one will argue that Pederson is the better defensive center fielder of the two, but his franchise-tying 170 strikeouts and dismal .210 batting average in 2015 clearly puts his future as the Dodgers everyday center fielder in jeopardy. Hernandez, as you recall, absolutely exploded when he came off the disabled list on September 28 going 5 for 17 (.294) in his final five regular season games and was 4 for 13 (.308) in the five NLDS games against the Mets. Only Justin Turner (.526) and Adrian Gonzalez (.316) had better postseason batting averages than Hernandez among the Dodgers regulars.

So let the Andre Ethier trade rumors begin, yet again. But when they do, remember this:

Andre Ethier will continue to be a Dodger – until he isn’t one.