The Los Angeles Dodgers accomplished their goal of adding a frontline starting pitcher by completing a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for Tyler Glasnow. L.A. also acquired Manuel Margot in the trade, which saw Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca sent to Tampa Bay.
The trade was contingent on Glasnow signing a contract extension with the Dodgers, who was scheduled to reach free agency after the 2024 season. The team ultimately locked him up for the next five years at a total value of $136.5 million.
“With talking about the trade, I knew I probably needed to agree to something in order to get traded to the Dodgers,” Glasnow said of signing a contract extension.
“I think it was kind of a package deal. I think for the one year, they weren’t willing to give up the prospects. I kind of vaguely knew what was going on. I let my agent handle most of it. It’s somewhere I wanted to be my entire life.
“There was a short list of teams that I wanted to go to, and the Dodgers were on it. They were very bullish on trying to get me and I really appreciated the fact they thought so highly of me. I get to go home, have all my family there. It just seemed like a no-brainer to me. I’m glad it happened and we got it done.”
Glasnow compared the Dodgers to his former Rays club and did research on the organization before signing his contract extension. “Me and my agent kind of had a number in mind, and obviously he knew I wanted to be there,” Glasnow said.
“It was mostly handled between the front office and my agent. I was able to talk to a lot of the front office guys after the deal was done. For the most part, my agent has a good relationship with everyone there, so it was kind of just their in between stuff and we got the deal done.
“As we talked, I realized it’s such a similar feel to the Rays. I guess the only difference is the Dodgers have a lot more money. But it has a really similar feel. Everyone is super cool, winning is everything but not at the expense of a personality.
“Everyone seems really cool and I think culture is very important to them. Talking to guys on the team and doing my research by talking to people about the Dodgers, everyone said the organization, the people and the players are all first class. It was perfect. I like it.”
Tyler Glasnow prioritized comfortability over salary
Glasnow revealed his top priority was being somewhere comfortable and not necessarily maximizing his earnings as a free agent. “I guess it’s never really been about making as much as I possibly can,” he began.
“It’s been a lot more about somewhere I want to be and the life I could live. Just being comfortable at the field and outside of the field. I was lucky enough with the Rays to really enjoy my life at the field, because they’re the same as the Dodgers.
“Everyone is a good person and it’s not this crazy, high-stress atmosphere. You go, everyone is cool and there to do their job. And then outside of the field, I was able to relax and enjoy my life. I think L.A. was really somewhere I wanted to be, my family is there.
“I think there’s two ways to look at it. There could be a potential downside from not signing something and a potential upside. For me, it was plenty of money. I’m super happy with the money and it’s somewhere I’m super happy to be.
“I was never super interested in trying to get as much as I possibly could. It worked out really well for me.”
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