The Los Angeles Dodgers have largely avoided arbitration hearings under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, and that trend looks to continue ahead of the 2022 season.
Last November the Dodgers tendered contracts to Yency Almonte, Walker Buehler, Caleb Ferguson, Tony Gonsolin, Brusdar Graterol, Dustin May, Evan Phillips, Will Smith, Trayce Thompson and Julio Urías. Cody Bellinger, Edwin Ríos and Luke Williams were each non-tendered, making them a free agent.
With a deadline Friday to exchange salary figures and agree to a deal in effort to avoid arbitration hearings, the Dodgers have come to terms with the majority of their players.
The latest of which is Brusdar Graterol, who avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.225 million salary for 2023, according to Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
Sources: Dodgers and Brusdar Graterol have agreed to a $1.225 million deal for next year to avoid arbitration
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) January 13, 2023
MLB Trade Rumors projected Graterol would receive a $1.2 million salary this season.
Graterol was productive in 2022 but limited by right shoulder and elbow injuries. In his first 37 appearances of the season, Graterol had three saves, a 3.35 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 0.97 WHIP, 21.9% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate over 40.1 innings.
Then came a prolonged stint on the 15-day IL because of right shoulder inflammation.
Graterol finished the season 2-4 with four saves, a 3.26 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 0.99 WHIP, 21.8% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate across a career-high 46 games.
Pending Dodgers arbitration deals
As of publishing, there have not been reports indicating the Dodgers agreed to terms with Tony Gonsolin or Evan Phillips, their lone remaining arbitration-eligible players.
During Friedman’s tenure, the Dodgers have been a “file and trial” team in arbitration. That means if an agreement isn’t reached by the deadline, an arbitration hearing will likely follow. Teams and players are still permitted to negotiate contract terms past the deadline, and in some instances the Dodgers have reached multi-year agreements.
The Dodgers have had two arbitration hearings under Friedman, both of which came in 2020, when they won their case over Joc Pederson but lost to Pedro Báez. Those were the first arbitration hearings for the Dodgers since winning against Joe Beimel in 2007.
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