Chone Figgins Returns To The West Coast

Saying the past few years have been tough for Chone Figgins would be an understatement. After averaging 44 stolen bases with the Angels from 2004-09, leading the league in steals in 2005, and being selected as an All-Star in 2009, his career went completely downhill. In the winter of 2009, he signed a 4 year/$36 million contract with the Mariners. They were expecting to get the explosive leadoff hitter that they had feared on the basepaths the previous 5 years, but it didn’t quite work out that way. He had a decent 2010 year, stealing 42 bases and appearing in 161 games, but he hit a career low .259 with a mere 24 extra-base hits. It only got worse in 2011 and 2012. In those 2 years he appeared in a total of 145 games, hitting a brutal .185 with only 15 steals. The fall after the 2012 season marked the end of his tenure in Seattle that’s looked back on as a huge free agent bust.

On February 8th, 2013 the depleted Marlins took a chance on the speedster, hoping he could show enough to win a bench spot and provide a spark to a very weak bench. Even that golden opportunity slid past him as light-hitting Chris Valaika and veteran Austin Kearns earned the final spots. Figgins was waived a month later.

He seemed to be out of chances until last week, when he hosted a workout in Tampa, Florida for various teams. Ned Coletti apparently liked what he saw, and now Chone is a back on the West Coast, this time as a Dodger on a minor league deal.

So what does this mean? Can Figgins regain his previous form and win a bench spot for the Dodgers?To me, this is a low risk moderate reward signing.

Best case scenario: He proves he can still hit and steal bases and wins a roster spot for LA, providing valuable infield depth with unproven Guerrero set to take over at second base.

Worst case scenario: He repeats his experience in Miami and they release him in a few months.

I’ll definitely be rooting for his success here in LA! Let’s hope he can return to his form from a decade ago and turns out to be yet another sneaky, low-risk signing by Coletti.