The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers swung the first significant deal of the 2017 offseason when the Phillies sent Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney to the Dodgers in exchange for Howie Kendrick. As we do with most deals, we’ll take a look at how it impacts both teams and how it will impact your fantasy draft.

Why the Phillies make this trade?

This doesn’t seem obvious on its face. The Phillies already have Cesar Hernandez and he was doing just fine for far less money. Kendrick had a .691 OPS last season as compared to Hernandez’s .764. We can only assume that they plan on including him in a deal for some other assets down the line. So this will be one of those deals where we will have evaluate down the line after all the dust has been settled.

Kendrick could rebound in Philadelphia. It is a better offensive ballpark for him and he will play only second base unlike this past season. The Dodgers had him yo-yoing in and out of the lineup where he spent time in the outfield and at second base. That had to have an adverse impact on his offensive production. So, the Phillies are probably hoping they get equivalent production as what Hernandez gave them last season.

Why the Dodgers make this trade?

The Dodgers had both Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick this past season and as of November they have neither of them. Obviously, they have something else in mind and they wanted to free themselves of the financial obligation. I guess we could hardly blame them considering he’s become a .700ish OPS kind of second baseman. Rumors are rampant this time of year and rumors are they will try to trade for another veteran.

The decision to take on Ruf and Sweeney is an interesting one. The Dodgers seem to be collecting mediocre corner outfielders, but like we said with the Phillies, there is no telling what direction they go between now and Spring Training. Between the two, Ruf has the bigger track record. In just over 800 plate appearances he’s hit 35 career home runs. Of course, he’s never had more than 297 in any one season. His likely ceiling is that of fourth outfielder and backup first baseman.

As for Sweeney, he had a cup of coffee in 2015, but otherwise has been a middling prospect for the Phillies, so he is a longshot to make the team. They are clearly just trying to unload salary to make room for something else. Neither of these guys will likely make much of an impact with the Dodgers this season.

What this deal means for you

Kendrick returns to second base full time and returns to a better hitter’s park. He hasn’t been a pure fantasy regular for a few seasons, but he could return to that in the Phillies offense. He has a career high of 18 home runs, but we are probably looking at a .260/10/70/70 type of player if he gets a full complement of at bats.