The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Will Smith to a 10-year contract extension that runs through the 2033 season. Smith’s deal is worth $140 million and reportedly includes some deferred salary.
Smith’s new contract with the Dodgers comes not only on the eve of the Dodger Stadium opener but the catcher’s 29th birthday as well.
The agreement is reminiscent of the Dodgers signing Mookie Betts to a contract extension in 2020. Smith remained under team control through next season, when he then was poised to potentially become a free agent.
During Spring Training, Smith said the Dodgers had not approached him about signing a contract extension this year.
Smith was picked by the Dodgers in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2016 MLB Draft. His Major League debut came in 2019 and Smith has been the Dodgers’ everyday catcher since 2020.
Manager Dave Roberts has touted Smith among the best catchers in baseball for multiple years and grew frustrated by repeated All-Star Game snubs. That changed last year when Smith was selected to the National League team as a reserve for the All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
He finished the season batting .261/.359/.438 with 21 doubles, 19 home runs and 76 RBI. Smith has played in at least 125 games for three consecutive seasons, and was one of just nine catchers to appear in that many.
Among all Major League catchers for the 2023 season, Smith finished fourth in batting average, third in runs scored (80), fifth in home runs, tied for sixth in extra-base hits (42), seventh in total bases (203), fourth in RBI and third in slugging percentage.
Since making his MLB debut on May 28, 2019, Smith is among the Major League catcher leaders in OPS (first), homers (second), hits (fourth), runs (second), extra-base hits (third), total bases (third) and RBI (second).
Will Smith key bat in Dodgers lineup
Smith has become a key part of the Dodgers’ lineup and established himself as a middle-of-the-order presence, batting third in 119 games in 2023, and opening the 2024 season in the fourth spot.
He is expected to hit cleanup throughout the season, providing lineup protection to Freddie Freeman and ahead of Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández.
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