Planning His Future?

On an extremely slow news day around baseball, reports continue to surface about the Phillies considering Chase Utley as their next bench coach. During the Phils glory days of 2007-2011, he was a strong leader -- and kept that same m.o. after moving into a reserve role with the Dodgers. He certainly brings a post-season pedigree -- he's been on playoff teams in eight of his 13 seasons, with three trips to the World Series, including this year with L.A.
Less than a month shy of turning 39, Utley's days as a regular are over, and with the Dodgers brimming with impressive young players, he may not have a spot on the 2018 roster. And maybe not another big league club as a player.
Having maintained ties to the Philadelphia area even after being traded to the Dodgers, Utley could be the kind of positive influence a young and rebuilding club needs -- especially with several young and promising Phillies considered underachievers.
We all know you can't stop time. But you can adapt to the changes and opportunities it brings -- and in Utley's case, thoughts like those could well have been spinning in head when I snapped this at a Dodgers/Mets game in August.

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