The MLB offseason is officially underway though still in the early stages as the 10 players who received the qualifying offer from respective teams face a looming deadline for a decision. After that, free agency will essentially be in full swing.
Within that, however, is salary arbitration for those who are eligible. The Los Angeles Dodgers had three players from their 40-man roster reach free agency the morning after the World Series concluded. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill and Russell Martin were then joined by Jedd Gyorko when the Dodgers declined their $13 million club option on the veteran and instead paid a $1 million buyout.
Meanwhile, Kenley Jansen is expected to opt into the remaining two years of his contract. As for salary arbitration this winter, the Dodgers’ long list is comprised of Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, Yimi Garcia, Kiké Hernandez, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Ross Stripling, Chris Taylor and Julio Urias.
Below are their projected 2020 arbitration salaries, courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors:
Cody Bellinger – $11.6MM
Joc Pederson – $8.5MM
Corey Seager – $7.1MM
Kiké Hernandez – $5.5MM
Chris Taylor – $5.0MM
Max Muncy – $4.6MM
Pedro Baez – $3.3MM
Ross Stripling – $2.3MM
Julio Urias – $1.7MM
Austin Barnes – $1.3MM
Yimi Garcia – $1.1MM
Scott Alexander – $1.0MM
Bellinger, fresh off an MVP-caliber season, is slated to make the most of the group with an $11.6 million salary. It would represent an astronomical increase, as he earned just $605,000 in 2019.
Pederson is next among the group with a pegged salary of $8.5 million for the 2020 campaign. That, too, would mark a pay raise, as the 27-year-old made $5 million during the 2019 season.
Seager, Hernandez, Taylor, Muncy, Baez, Stripling, Urias, Barnes, Garcia and Alexander round out the core with projected salaries that range from $1 million to $7.1 million.
Many of those players were in a similar position last year, as the Dodgers worked out new salaries with the likes of Pederson and Hernandez. Garcia was the only one to sign for an amount that was less than his projected salary.
The Dodgers now essentially have until January to hammer out new deals with the aforementioned players, or else salary figures will be exchanged by both sides later that month. Arbitration hearings would then be held in February.
Though, such an outcome hasn’t been necessary under the guidance of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Overall, the club’s last arbitration hearing was in 2007 with reliever Joe Beimel.
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