Last offseason the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a blockbuster deal, trading All-star outfielder Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Zach Eflin, Yasmani Grandal and Joe Wieland.
Of the Dodgers’ haul, only Grandal remains with the organization. Eflin was included in the trade to acquire Jimmy Rollins, and Wieland was dealt to the Seattle Mariners this week.
Grandal made an immediate impact in Los Angeles, playing his way to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.
Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers ensured Grandal would remain with the organization next season by tendering him a contract last December.
Having not yet agreed to a new contract, the next step for the 27-year-old catcher was to be among the players who filed for salary arbitration on Tuesday.
This is the first year Grandal has been arbitration-eligible, but there won’t to be any issues with the young catcher, as he and the Dodgers agreed to a contract, per Jon Heyman:
yasmani grandal, dodgers agree at $2.8M
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2016
Grandal hit .282/.401/.526 with 14 home runs, 36 RBIs, a .399 wOBA and 159 wRC+ over 69 games (61 starts) in the first half. At the All-Star break he led all catchers in on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging percentage (.927), and was second in home runs.
Battling a shoulder injury for much of the second half, Grandal only managed to bat .162/.280/.218 with two home runs and 11 RBIs, and saw his wOBA and wRC+ drop to .237 and 49, respectively
Overall, he finished the season hitting .234/.353/.403 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs. Grandal underwent surgery on the AC joint his troublesome left shoulder after the season ended, and will likely be ready for Spring Training.
