The Los Angeles Dodgers went into deadline day without any reported agreements with Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Will Smith, Julio Urías or any other of their players who are eligible for salary arbitration.
The first reported agreement was with Buehler for one year, followed by deals with Caleb Ferguson, May, Smith and Trayce Thompson for the 2023 season as well.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Dodgers have also avoided arbitration with Urías by coming to terms on a $14.25 million salary this season:
Big paydays today:
Montgomery 10M. #STLcards
Cease. 5.7M, #WhiteSox
Gallen. 5.6M #Dbacks
Hoskins. 12M, #Phillies
Urías. 14.25M, #Dodgers— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 13, 2023
MLB Trade Rumors projected Urías would earn $13.7 million in his final time going through salary arbitration.
After finishing the 2021 season as the only 20-game winner in baseball, the left-hander put together another strong campaign to emerge as the ace of the Dodgers pitching staff.
Urías still was snubbed from the All-Star Game, much to the chagrin of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, but won the 2022 Warren Spahn Award, was selected to the All-MLB Second Team and finished third in National League Cy Young Award voting.
Urías went 17-7 with a 2.16 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 0.96 WHIP and 166 strikeouts across 175 innings over 31 starts last season. He led the NL in ERA and ERA+ (194).
Clayton Kershaw recently touted the 26-year-old as “overlooked.”
Before Urías is back on the mound for the Dodgers, he’s going to pitch in the 2023 World Baseball Classic with Team Mexico. General manager Rodrigo López labeled Urías an unofficial captain of Team Mexico.
When will Julio Urías become a free agent?
There had been some speculation the Dodgers would look to agree to a multi-year contract with Urías, who remains on track to become a free agent after the 2023 season.
The Dodgers are believed to be positioning themselves for a run at Shohei Ohtani after this season, but re-signing Urías could be just as paramount — if not the more likely scenario.
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