At the same time the Los Angeles Dodgers tendered contracts to Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Dylan Floro, Corey Seager and Julio Urias at the December deadline, the club additionally completed a trade to acquire Corey Knebel from the Milwaukee Brewers.
L.A. also got an early start on avoiding arbitration with Scott Alexander, as he was re-signed to a one-year contract. As for Knebel, he was poised to be non-tendered by the Brewers, which would have made him a free agent.
Teams reportedly were looking forward to pursuing the right-hander in free agency. Instead, the Brewers traded Knebel to Leo Crawford as the player to be named later from the Dec. 2 deal rather than cash considerations.
With Knebel tendered by the Dodgers, he joined the group of players in need of a contract for the 2021 season. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Dodgers and Knebel avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal:
The #Dodgers and reliever Corey Knebel avoid arbitration with one-year, $5.25 million deal.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 14, 2021
This marked Knebel’s final time being eligible for salary arbitration and he’s now due to become a free agent after the 2021 season. He earned $3.65 million in his first year of arbitration as a Super Two player, then $5.125 million in each of the past two seasons.
Knebel missed all of 2019 because of Tommy John surgery, and struggled some last year in his return. However, he was improved after coming off the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring strain.
Knebel regularly touched the mid-90s on his fastball velocity, allowed just two runs and held opponents to a .167/.286/.250 batting line over 6.2 innings pitched across six appearances during the final month of the regular season.
The Dodgers have until 10 a.m. PT on Friday to exchange salary figures with their remaining arbitration-eligible players.
Knebel ready for any role with Dodgers
At the time of acquiring Knebel, the landscape of the Dodgers bullpen for the 2021 season was still in flux. It’s taken more shape now with Blake Treinein re-signing and Pedro Baez joining the Houston Astros.
While roles may still fluctuate, Knebel cited his experience with the Brewers as reason he will be comfortable pitching whenever Dodgers manager Dave roberts asks.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in our shows, and more!
