2023 may have been the most frustrating of Daniel Hudson’s 14 MLB seasons, as injuries limited the Dodgers right-hander to just three appearances. As a result, Hudson is still “undecided” about his playing future, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic writes, though at the time the reliever was still dealing with the emotions after the Dodgers were just eliminated from the postseason.
Los Angeles signed Hudson to a one-year, $7MM deal going into 2022 and that relationship began beautifully, with Hudson delivering a 2.22 ERA, 30.9% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate over his first 25 appearances and 24 1/3 innings in Dodger blue. However, Hudson’s season was abruptly ended by a torn left ACL in June 2022, but L.A. had enough faith in his ability to come back that the club signed him to an extension that September. The Dodgers made the early decision to exercise their $6.5MM club option on Hudson for 2023, and another $6.5MM club option was added for the 2024 season.
Battling through some knee soreness during the recovery process, Hudson finally returned to action this past June, but pitched in only three games before suffering a sprained MCL in his right knee. The reliever kept rehabbing in an attempt to make it back for at least part of Los Angeles’ playoff run, but that would’ve been a touch-and-go situation even if the Dodgers had advanced to the NLCS or beyond.
While it doesn’t look like L.A. will exercise that club option, the Dodgers could look to bring Hudson back on a smaller sum, perhaps a low-guarantee deal with incentives based around how many appearances Hudson is able to pitch. Of course, that depends on whether or not Hudson (who turns 37 in March) will decide to keep pitching at all, or opt to instead hang up the cleats after his lengthy and successful career. This isn’t the first time Hudson has floated retirement, as he said back in August that he had “been in pretty consistent pain for about 15 months” since the ACL tear.
Ardaya’s piece in general looks ahead to the many decisions the Dodgers will have to make before Opening Day 2024, including a rundown of the club’s other contract options besides Hudson. Of note, Max Muncy’s $10MM club option for next season has now increased to $14MM, since the infielder maxed out his playing time-related bonuses by making 579 plate appearances in 2023.
Muncy battled elbow problems for much of the 2022 season, so the Dodgers signed him to a one-year contract extension in a similar vein to Hudson’s deal. The team essentially committed early to a pre-existing club option on Muncy for 2023, giving him a slight raise to a $10.5MM salary this season and tacking on the 2024 club option with the $10MM base salary. Up to $4MM (in increments of $250K, $500K, and $1MM) more was available based on various playing time thresholds, which Muncy pretty easily cleared. After hitting 36 homers with an .808 OPS and 118 wRC+ this season, there isn’t any doubt Los Angeles will exercise Muncy’s option and bring him back in 2024.
Dodgers seem to have no problem paying guys who aren’t playing.
yeah they’re the only franchise that has ever paid a player who’s injured
Do most teams have 6 such players? Reyes, Treinen, Lux, Beuhler, Feyereisen, and Nelson. Hudson played 3 more games than them combined this season.
“Dodgers seem to have no problem paying guys who aren’t winning.”
I changed it for you.
They need to decline Muncy’s option, all his success from previous seasons means nothing when he’s a homer or nothing hitter and has zero defense.
that’s not at all accurate, but whatever
c23
He must hit A LOT of home runs if he managed to be 18% better than the league average and put up nearly 3 WAR without doing anything else.
Or, your taek was bad
Good luck replacing Muncy’s 100+ rbi’s for less than his $13m option….
Who else is joining Kershaw and Hudson on their walkabout?
Aaron Rodgers
An amazing stat. More RBI than hits. Clutch hitter.
Muncy might be the worst defensive 3B the Dodgers have ever had, including Pedro Guerrero when they tried to make him a 3B.
Worst defensive 3B in their history? That is a big exaggeration.
Hey Pedro was fun to watch, and boy was he had the greatest slide ever – like Trea’s only the opposite.
There has to be someone out there who can hit 20+ home runs, drive in 100+ runs and most importantly, hit for a better average. That’s Friedman’s job! That’s what he gets paid to do!
Time to start doing it!
I’m certain Friedman couldn’t hit anywhere near that well.
Dodgers live and die by the HR. They hit 1 HR In 3 playoff games!