Facing decisions on nine players, the Los Angeles Dodgers tendered contracts to Pedro Baez, Josh Fields, Yimi Garcia, Kiké Hernandez, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor and Alex Wood prior to the deadline.
By doing so, the Dodgers are now permitted to negotiate contracts with each of the aforementioned players this offseason. The club essentially has until January to hammer out new deals, 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; The club’s last hearing was in 2007 with reliever Joe Beimel.
Below are the projected 2019 arbitration salaries for each of the nine eligible Dodgers players, courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors:
Yasiel Puig (5.102) – $11.3MM
Alex Wood (5.123) – $9.0MM
Joc Pederson (4.028) – $4.3MM
Kiké Hernandez (4.054) – $3.2MM
Chris Taylor (3.037) – $3.2MM
Josh Fields (5.083)- $2.8MM
Corey Seager (3.032) -$2.6MM
Pedro Baez (4.059) -$1.8MM
Yimi Garcia (3.149) -$900K
Puig is slated to make the most of the group with an $11.3 million salary. It would represent an increase of over $2 million when compared to his earnings for the 2018 season.
Whether Puig nets that amount with the Dodgers remains to be seen, as he has reportedly been floated around in trade talks for Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber.
Entering his fourth full season with the Dodgers, Wood is next on the list with a pegged salary of $9 million. The pay raise is justified, as he’s one of only three Dodgers’ arbitration-eligible players with at least five years of Major League service time.
Baez, Fields, Garcia, Hernandez, Pederson, Seager and Taylor round out the core with projected salaries that range from $900,000 to $4.3 million. Last winter, the Dodgers renewed the contracts of Seager, Cody Bellinger and several others.
