Arbitration Eligibles: Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are next in our 2013 Arbitration Eligibles series, although they have the smallest group of any team.  Matt Swartz's salary projections are below.

• First time: A.J. Ellis ($1.7MM)
• Second time: None
• Third time: None

The Dodgers are a largely veteran club.  Currently it appears that catcher A.J. Ellis will reach Super Two status and reliever Ronald Belisario will not, making Ellis the team's lone arbitration case.

Ellis, 31, ran away with the team's starting catching job with strong on-base skills and better-than-expected pop.  Though the Dodgers took a while to buy into the idea of Ellis' OBP holding up at the Major League level, a multiyear deal could be entertained this winter.  It'd have to be something small and team-friendly, along the lines of contracts signed by Jonathan Lucroy, Nick Hundley, and Carlos Ruiz in recent years.

At any rate, the Dodgers might have a slew of guaranteed contracts on the books, but their arbitration case projects to add less than $2MM.

Matt Swartz's arbitration projections are available exclusively at MLB Trade Rumors.  To read more about his projection model, check out this series of posts.