Is this actually the off-season without Andre Ethier trade rumors?

The off-season beckons, so you know what that means, ole followers of the Boys in Blue.

It’s time to speculate on the future of Andre Ethier! Hey, it’s an annual fall rite. Sort of like turkeys and not appearing in the World Series.

If it seems every off-season for the past dozen years has included Ethier and trade speculation, that’s only about half right.

Last season, fresh and shiny as the Dodgers’ new head of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman made it clear he wanted to trade one of the team’s surplus outfielders. Ethier’s production having sunk to an all-time low the previous season, he appeared the prime candidate. Plus, he made it known in December he wanted to start here or elsewhere.

But instead of trading Ethier, Friedman surprised most by sending Matt Kemp to the Padres, where he went on to hit 23 homers drive in 100 runs. Ethier, meanwhile, did become a Dodgers regular, at least against right-handers.

And proved a pleasant surprise to those certain that age had caught up to his swing.

Ethier appeared in 142 games (106 starts), batting .294 and finishing fifth on the team in home runs (14) and RBI (53). His OPS (.852) was his highest in five years.

So now what? More of the same, or is this the off-season he actually is dealt?

Ethier has two years and $38 million left on his contract. He turns 34 next April. Assuming they again eat some decent salary, that approaches a workable deal.

If the Dodgers were to trade him, that would likely mean keeping Carl Crawford, who may have a greater overall offensive skill set, but is proving injury prone, is a year older than Ethier and has two years and $43.5 million left on his contract.

Both are left-handed hitting outfielders, and if that seems redundant, the Dodgers may not think so. During the stretch they went almost exclusively to a platoon outfield, typically starting Joc Pederson, Crawford and Ethier against right-handers. That’s something of an expanded September luxury but with Enrique Hernandez able to play both the outfield and infield, it could still be done next year.

Ethier had a strong overall season, and those emotional outbursts that too often seemed to define him, ebbed – at least publicly – until his little dugout eruption in the team’s final playoff game.

With Crawford’s injuries and Pederson’s struggles in the second half, this could actually be the off-season where Ethier barely ripples the trade waters. After everything he’s been through the last six years, the Dodgers may actually need him.

What an odd off-season that would prove.