Report: Dodgers decline Ethier's $17.5-million option

Andre Ethier's 12-year run in Hollywood appears to have come to an end.

Ethier - the longest-tenured member of the Los Angeles Dodgers - reportedly had his $17.5-million club option for 2018 bought out by the club on Sunday for $2.5 million, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

As a result, Ethier will now become a free agent for the first time in his career.

The 35-year-old Ethier was originally drafted by Oakland in 2001, but never played for the A's, who dealt him to Los Angeles in 2005. He reached the majors in 2006 and quickly became a staple of the Dodgers' lineup for a decade: Ethier slashed .286/.359/.464 and slugged 159 homers over his first 10 major-league seasons - all of them in a Dodger uniform - while also making a pair of All-Star teams and earning a Gold Glove in 2011 and a Silver Slugger in 2009.

But his last two seasons were marred by injuries, and he appeared in just 64 regular-season games over the 2016 and '17 seasons combined. Ethier was on the Dodgers' playoff roster during their recent run to the World Series and saw action primarily as a pinch hitter.

Ethier signed a five-year, $85-million extension with the Dodgers during the 2012 season.