Dodgers Lose Another Free-Agent Target to Crosstown Rival

Potential Dodgers free-agent target Brandon Drury is signing a two-year deal with the Angels, taking another possible infielder off the board for L.A.

The Dodgers are looking for an infielder and an outfielder, and there was a player on the free-agent market who can play both and won a Silver Slugger in 2022. We say "was," though, because Brandon Drury is no longer on the market.

Utilityman Brandon Drury and the Los Angeles Angels are in agreement on a two-year, $17 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Drury, 30, won the Silver Slugger at the utility position last year and is the third bat the Angels have acquired this winter.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2022

Of course, Drury isn't quite the superstar we made him sound like in the first paragraph. Yes, he plays a lot of different positions, but he doesn't play any of them well, so his versatility is really more of a "lots of options for where to try to hide him on defense." And while he won the Silver Slugger for utility players in 2022, it was only the second time in his eight-year career he was a good hitter.

Now, those two good seasons have come in the last two years, so it's possible something clicked for him at age 28. But in this free-agent market, it seemed likely Drury would be priced out of the range the Dodgers were comfortable with. And sure enough, he got two years and $17 million from the Fullerton Angels of the Greater Garden Grove Metroplex Area.

It's not a bad price for Drury, especially the $8.5 million AAV. But the Dodgers only gave JD Martinez one year, and he has a long history of being an outstanding hitter; they weren't likely to give two years to a lesser hitter.

It's a bit of a bummer to not get Drury, but I never saw him as a great fit for L.A. because of the defensive issues, especially after they signed Martinez. Of course, the Angels have a pretty notable DH, too, so they must intend on playing Drury in the field.