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By Nelson Espinal
Contributing Sports Reporter
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Los Angeles Dodgers free agent signee Michael Conforto has been left off the team's postseason rosters thus far, a brutal development for a player who was supposed to play a key role on the team in October when he first signed.
The Dodgers signed Conforto to a one-year, $17 million over the winter, a short-term commitment for the 32-year-old outfielder as the organization hoped to add a power bat to the middle of the lineup.
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Instead, Conforto proceeded to have the worst season of his career, hitting .199/.305/.333 with a 79 OPS+ and a -0.7 bWAR.
He ended up playing worse than a replacement-level player and has gone down as one of the worst free-agent signings in recent memory for LA.
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His play was so poor, in fact, that the Dodgers would rather pay him not play on the postseason roster. He is not only struggling to hit, but he is a below-average defensive outfielder and possesses lackluster speed.
During a conversation with The New York Post's Jon Heyman, Conforto revealed how he is taking his exclusion from the roster.
“I am just trying to enjoy this experience and soak it all in and trying to stay ready if they need me in this series or the next one,” Conforto told Heyman.
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“But definitely not being on the roster is motivating, so I have some things I have to work on and go into the offseason and take care of those things and we’ll see what happens.”
Considering that the World Series roster size does not increase, Conforto will have a tough time making it onto the big stage. He would need to replace either Hyeseong Kim or Justin Dean in the outfield platoon, but both project as better defenders and base-runners, while the former Met's bat is not a notable upgrade over Kim right now.
Conforto is seemingly left preparing for an uncertain free agency period, and hoping to get another chance to right his own career.
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