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Dodgers Trade Matt Beaty To Padres

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The Padres have acquired first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league right-hander/infielder River Ryan, per a team announcement. The Padres announced Ryan, a two-way player in college, as a pitcher in their press release. The Dodgers initially announced him as an infielder, but Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets that they still plan to give Ryan opportunities on the mound.

To open space on the 40-man roster, San Diego placed left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who underwent forearm surgery last August, on the 60-day injured list. Beaty was designated for assignment by Los Angeles last week.

Beaty, 28, was a somewhat surprising DFA by the Dodgers, as he was fresh off a .270/.363/.402 showing in 234 plate appearances last season. While Beaty didn’t show substantial power (seven homers, four doubles, one triple, .132 ISO), he walked at a league-average clip, was plunked 10 times (thus driving up his OBP a bit) and made contact at an above-average rate. Beaty fanned in 18.8% of his plate appearances last year and has a career mark of 16.4% — well south of last year’s 22.6% league average (excluding pitchers).

The Padres have been on the hunt for outfield upgrades for much of the offseason but have also reportedly been hamstrung a bit by payroll concerns — a driving factor behind their reported efforts to trade Eric Hosmer and/or Wil Myers. It’s been a generally quiet winter for the Friars, who’ve added a bit to their bullpen (Robert Suarez, Luis Garcia) and signed Nick Martinez to a four-year deal that is laden with opt-out opportunities. Offensively, the lone addition of note thus far has been Luke Voit, whom the Padres acquired from the Yankees last week.

Beaty will give San Diego an option in left field, where utilityman Jurickson Profar had been among the leading candidates for playing time. Beaty can also spell Hosmer at first base or mix in at designated hitter if Voit is unavailable. In addition to his work at first and in the outfield corners, he’s spent a bit of time at third base, but defensive metrics aren’t especially bullish on him at any of the positions he’s played thus far in a small sample of innings. He also has a minor league option remaining, so the Padres don’t necessarily need to commit to keeping him on the big league roster all season.

Ryan, 23, was an 11th-round pick out UNC Pembroke just last season. Though he pitched to a 2.32 ERA with a 29.7% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate in 93 innings of bullpen work during his NCAA career, the Friars didn’t actually put him on the mound during last year’s pro debut. He spent a dozen games with the Padres’ Rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona Complex League and batted .308/.349/.436 with a homer, two doubles and four stolen bases in 43 plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Humidors, Dodgers, Nationals

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Here’s an interesting wrinkle to the 2022 season: Every Major League ballpark will store their baseballs in a humidor this season, The Athletic’s Eno Sarris hears from Cubs’ announcer Jon Sciambi. Sarris adds thoughtful context to the news in a series of follow-up tweets, including the list of teams whose ballparks had already featured humidors (Rockies, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Mariners, Mets, Astros, Marlins, Cardinals, Rangers, and Blue Jays). Colorado and Arizona were the first to explore using humidors to keep baseballs from dying out in their low humidity environments. While you might associate humidors with lessening the buoyancy of the baseball because of these examples, in high humidity environments, the humidors will dry out baseballs, thereby, theoretically, adding distance to their relative trajectories.

Sarris notes that San Francisco, San Diego, Tampa Bay, and Miami are some of the parks that might see a small jolt to the baseball because of the humidors. It’s hard to know the full effect at this time, but it will be one of many factors worth keeping an eye on as the season progresses. Here are a couple of other things to keep an eye on as the season nears…

  • The Dodgers don’t have a dedicated closer right now, though Blake Treinen’s name would be at the top of the list for manager Dave Roberts if the season began today, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). Treinen would certainly be capable, but the Dodgers may want to explore the benefits of not having a single, dedicated player locked into the ninth inning. Daniel Hudson can certainly manage the mental weight of closing games – he did lock down the final moments of a World Series win, after all. Brusdar Graterol might be another interesting arm to give some of those opportunities to, if he can get himself on track. On the whole, however, the Dodgers look to enter the season with a less experienced pen than in years past. Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, and Corey Knebel departed for the Braves, White Sox, and Phillies, respectively, leaving Treinen as the natural choice to close games.
  • The Nationals won’t have quite the same spotlight as the Dodgers, but they, too, need to figure out who will be collecting saves. If manager Dave Martinez has his way, it will be Tanner Rainey, but the 29-year-old is going to have to earn it, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.  If Rainey can prove the consistency issues that have plagued him in the past are behind him, he should get his opportunity to close games. If he struggles, however, there’s suddenly a handful of distinguished vets to whom Martinez can turn, including his former closer, Sean Doolittle. Even beyond Doolittle, however, Steve Cishek, Tyler Clippard, Will Harris, and last year’s closer, Kyle Finnegan, would not be fazed by high-leverage opportunities.

Dodgers Sign Dave Roberts To Three-Year Extension

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7:09pm: The team has officially announced the extension.

4;53pm: The Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts have agreed to a three-year extension, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). He is now under contract through 2025.

This has seemed like an inevitability for some time. Reports emerged during the lockout that the team and skipper were motivated to get a new deal done before the start of the regular season. Roberts had been headed into the final year of his contract, and teams can be hesitant to avoid entering the season with a manager in a lame-duck situation.

That’s not to say Roberts’ job ever looked to be in jeopardy, even before news of extension negotiations was made public. Los Angeles hired the former 10-year MLB veteran to replace Don Mattingly over the 2015-16 offseason. It was Roberts’ first managerial gig, perhaps a risky proposition for a team that had won the NL West in each of the previous three seasons under Mattingly.

Despite his lack of experience, Roberts has guided Los Angeles’ consistently talented rosters to plenty of success. They won the division in each of his first five seasons at the helm, getting past the Division Series in three of those years. The Dodgers won back-to-back pennants between 2017-18 but dropped successive World Series against the Astros and Red Sox, respectively.

Like any manager, Roberts came under some fire from the fanbase for some of his pitching decisions in the postseason. Throughout his tenure, though, the front office maintained confidence in both his leadership of the clubhouse and his bullpen management when the lights were brightest. Dodgers brass clearly never believed Roberts’ postseason management was fatal to their chances of winning a title, and they were proven right in 2020. After an incredible 43-17 record in the shortened regular season, the Dodgers stormed through the postseason to claim their first World Series since 1988. That was in spite of that year’s unique playoff format, which required all teams to advance through four rounds (instead of the customary three) thanks to an expanded field.

The stretch of division championships came to an end last year, although that wasn’t a reflection of any lack of team success. The 106-win Dodgers were narrowly edged out by a 107-win campaign from their archrivals in San Francisco. Nevertheless, they took down the Cardinals in the final NL Wild Card Game, then beat the Giants in the NLDS. Los Angeles lost to the Braves in the NLCS, but it marked another season as one of the league’s most successful teams overall.

Los Angeles has made the playoffs in all six seasons of Roberts’ tenure, the only team in MLB to do so. They’re 542-329 in regular season play in that time, winning more than 57% of their games. Roberts has certainly had the fortune of overseeing one of baseball’s most talented clubs on an annual basis, but there’s little questioning the organization’s run of success. The front office and ownership seem happy with his work behind-the-scenes, and he’s now slated to stick atop the dugout through 2025.

If Roberts remains Dodgers’ manager through the term of his new deal, he’ll reach a full decade in the position. Only three skippers — Hall of Famers Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda and Wilbert Robinson — have reached the ten-year milestone in franchise history. That trio and another Hall of Famer, Leo Durocher, are the only skippers to lead the Dodgers to more wins than Roberts has in the past six years.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Dodgers Designate Matt Beaty For Assignment

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5:56pm: Beaty actually has one option remaining, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic).

3:23pm: The Dodgers announced this afternoon they’ve designated corner infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty for assignment. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for Hanser Alberto, whose previously-reported one-year deal has been made official.

It’s a bit of a surprising move, as Beaty’s coming off an atypically good season for someone who now finds himself in DFA limbo. The left-handed hitter posted a .270/.363/.402 line with seven home runs in 234 plate appearances last year. He wasn’t a huge power threat, with just 12 extra-base hits and a .132 ISO (slugging minus batting average). Yet he made contact on an above-average 81.7% of his swings and drew walks at a roughly league average rate to post a quality batting average and on-base mark.

Beaty has tallied a bit less than one full season’s worth of playing time since debuting in the majors in 2019. He owns a .262/.333/.425 line in 556 career trips to the plate, overall offense that checks in a hair above par by measure of wRC+. He’s not regarded as a great defender anywhere on the diamond, but the 28-year-old has seen a fair bit of action at all four corner spots in L.A.

However, Beaty is out of minor league option years. The Dodgers had to choose between carrying him on the active roster all year or bumping him from the 40-man. They’ve taken the latter course of action. They’ll give the bench role to Alberto instead, seemingly prioritizing the greater defensive flexibility that comes along with him. Alberto isn’t as good a hitter as Beaty, but he’s a solid defensive second baseman who could be an option at shortstop in a pinch.

The Dodgers will have a week to trade Beaty or place him on waivers. Given his solid offensive track record in the big leagues, he could very well land with a team that’s not as deep as the Dodgers are on the position player side. Any acquiring team would also have to keep Beaty on the active roster or DFA him themselves, but it stands to reason he’d have a better chance of sticking as a bat-first utility option off the bench with another club.

Dodgers, Trea Turner Avoid Arbitration

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The Dodgers have avoided arbitration with star shortstop Trea Turner, settling on a $21MM salary, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). That marks the highest arbitration settlement of any player in this year’s class so far.

That’s not to say it’s an especially surprising figure. Turner always looked likely to land one of the top numbers of any arb-eligible player. Not only is he one of the sport’s best players, he’s headed into his fourth year of arbitration after qualifying as a Super Two in 2018. Turner settled for $13MM with the Nationals last offseason, and he’ll get an $8MM bump this year.

Still, that $21MM mark checks in a bit higher than anticipated. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected the star infielder at $19.8MM entering the offseason. He earned the bump after putting up a .328/.375/.536 line with 28 homers and 32 steals between the Dodgers and Nats. That .328 average earned him his first career batting title.

Turner will return to shortstop after kicking over to second base in deference to Corey Seager down the stretch last year. With another typical season, he’d hit the market as perhaps MLB’s top free agent next offseason.

Dodgers Sign Kevin Pillar To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar to a minor league contract, per a club announcement. Pillar, a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management, will head to Major League Spring Training and vie for a roster spot. He’d earn a $2.5MM base salary upon making the club, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Pillar, 33, is a veteran of nine big league seasons who’ll hope to work his way into the outfield mix in Los Angeles. He spent the 2021 season with the Mets, batting .231/.277/.415 with 15 home runs, 11 doubles, a pair of triples and four stolen bases (in seven tries) through 347 trips to the plate. That was the fifth team in the past three seasons for Pillar, who’s begun to bounce around the league a bit after a lengthier run in Toronto to begin his career.

A former 32nd-round pick of the Blue Jays (2011), Pillar debuted just two years after being drafted. He saw sparing action in 2013-14 before settling in as a fixture in center field with the Jays from 2015-18. Pillar was Toronto’s primary center fielder for that span of four years, batting a combined .263/.301/.401 while regularly showing off his penchant for highlight-reel diving grabs.

For the bulk of his career, Pillar had the power, speed and certainly the defensive chops to offset a perennially low walk rate that tamped down his on-base percentage each year. From 2015-17, in particular, Pillar was a defensive juggernaut, racking up a ridiculous 52 Defensive Runs Saved with a 24.3 Ultimate Zone Rating. Pillar was snubbed in Gold Glove voting more than once in that stretch, and by 2018, the reckless abandon with which he played the outfield perhaps began to take its toll. His defensive metrics in center quickly went south in 2018, and by 2019 the Jays had designated him for assignment.

Pillar has since spent time in San Francisco, Colorado, Boston and Queens. Over the past three seasons, he’s batted .256/.293/.433 (90 wRC+) with 42 home runs and 23 steals. He’s been better against left-handed pitching in that time, as one would expect for a right-handed hitter, posting a .279/307/.499 batting line. Pillar’s average sprint speed has dipped a bit in recent years, though, and Statcast suggests that his initial jump on fly-balls has also slowed as he’s progressed into his 30s. He’s still posted solid defensive marks in the corners, however.

On the whole, Pillar isn’t the dynamic highlight-reel machine that he was during his peak with the Jays, but he’s a decent bat against left-handed pitching who has some pop against righties and can play all three outfield spots (even if he’s below average in center at this point). That’s a nice bench player for a contending club, but the Dodgers have a crowded outfield mix as it it. Beyond the starting trio of Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and AJ Pollock, L.A. also has versatile superutility man Chris Taylor and infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty as outfield options. Top infield prospect Gavin Lux has begun to see time in the outfield as well, and the Dodgers also invited outfielders Stefen Romero and Jason Martin to spring training after signing them to minor league deals.

Dodgers To Sign Danny Duffy

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March 19: Jon Heyman of MLB Network provides the details on the contract, with Duffy making $3MM this year. Next year’s option is valued at $7MM but can be increased based on Duffy’s performance this year. Duffy will add $500K by pitching in 5, 10 and then 15 games in 2022, as well as for throwing 5, 10 and 15 innings, a total of $3MM, increasing the value of the option to $10MM. If that option were to be picked up, Duffy could earn an extra $6MM in incentives next year: $750K for reaching each tier of 100, 110, 120 and 130 innings pitched, as well as $1MM for reaching each of 140, 150 and 160 frames.

March 17: The Dodgers continue to bolster their roster via free agency, reportedly agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with Danny Duffy. The contract, which is pending a physical, also contains a club option for the 2023 season. Duffy is an ACES client.

It marks a return to Southern California for the left-hander, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Royals in advance of last summer’s trade deadline. Duffy, unfortunately, never could take the field in Dodger blue. At the time of the trade, he was on the injured list with a flexor strain in his forearm. The hope had been that he could return late in the season for a club that was obviously headed to the playoffs, but that proved not to be. He suffered a setback in early September and was shut down for the year.

That setback will prevent him from making his team debut for at least a few more months. After the season, Duffy told Andy McCullough of the Athletic he underwent surgery to repair the flexor tendon in October. As of the time of that early-December conversation, Duffy was targeting a June return to a big league mound. He conceded it was likely he’d work in relief this year as a means of keeping his innings in check before lengthening back out into a rotation role in 2023 and beyond.

Whatever role he takes on, a healthy Duffy figures to be a boon to the Dodgers pitching staff. Before his 2021 season was derailed, the 33-year-old was off to a nice start with the Royals. He’d worked 61 innings with a stellar 2.51 ERA. His peripherals weren’t quite so superlative, but he posted quality strikeout and walk numbers (25.8% and 8.7%, respectively) and owned a capable 4.14 SIERA.

Prior to last summer’s trade, Duffy had spent his entire career with Kansas City. A former third-round draftee, he cemented himself as a valuable member of the rotation by their pennant-winning 2014 season. Over a four-year run from 2014-17, he pitched to a 3.47 ERA/3.87 FIP in 612 innings. That included 136 2/3 frames of 4.08 ERA ball for the World Series-winning club in 2015.

Beginning in 2018, Duffy’s production began to tick downward. His walk and home run rates both increased, and he posted an ERA north of 4.00 in each season. His fastball velocity, which had averaged nearly 96 MPH at his peak, dropped to a bit more than 92 MPH by 2019-20. Last season, before he went down with injury, Duffy’s arm speed bounced back somewhat. His heater came in at 93.7 MPH on average, and Duffy’s swing-and-miss rates saw a corresponding spike. Last year’s 13.6% swinging strike rate was a personal high, more than two percentage points above the league mark for starters.

That intrigued the L.A. front office enough they traded for him last summer, and their interest is apparently continued. That Duffy won’t be ready until midseason is less of a concern for the Dodgers than it might be for other clubs around the league, since Los Angeles looks as good a bet as any to be playing meaningful games late in the year. Even if he’s forced to work in relief, Duffy could be a valuable option for skipper Dave Roberts down the stretch and into potential postseason play. For his career, he’s held opposing left-handed hitters to a meager .218/.277/.318 line. That could make Duffy a particular weapon if leveraged into more favorable match-ups in shorter stints.

Specific terms of the deal aren’t yet known, although the presence of the club option would seem to give Los Angeles further long-term upside. The Dodgers signed Jimmy Nelson, himself rehabbing from elbow surgery, to a one-year deal with a 2023 option earlier this week. Duffy presumably secured a loftier guarantee than Nelson’s $700K salary, but the pacts follow a similar logic of giving the Dodgers a shot at a late-season run from a talented but currently injured hurler with the chance to keep him in the fold for a second season.

The Dodgers have been aggressive in recent days as they look to cement themselves as the team to beat in the National League. They reunited with Clayton Kershaw last week, then agreed to terms with Freddie Freeman on a six-year contract last night. Those deals pushed the team’s 2022 luxury tax tab north of $277MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Because they exceeded the CBT last season, the Dodgers will be subject to escalating fees as a second-time payor. They’ll be taxed at a 30% rate for every dollar spent between $230MM and $250MM, a 42% clip on overages between $250MM and $270MM, a 75% rate on overages between $270MM and $290MM and a 90% tax on all expenditures north of $290MM.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported the Dodgers and Duffy were nearing agreement. Robert Murray of FanSided reported they had reached an agreement on a one-year deal with a 2023 option, which Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic specified was a club option.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Dodgers Sign Freddie Freeman

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March 19: The year-by-year breakdown of Freeman’s contract have come in, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter). The deal breaks down evenly over the six years, with Freeman set to make $27MM every season from 2022 through 2027. The deal includes $7MM of deferred money in 2022-24, and $12MM deferred in 2025-27.

March 18: The Dodgers have made the signing official, announcing that Freeman signed a six-year contract through the 2027 season. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (on Twitter) that $57MM of the $162MM guarantee is being deferred, to be paid between 2028-40. Feinsand suggests that brings the real present value of the contract closer to $140MM.

March 16: The Dodgers are adding another star, reportedly agreeing to terms with Freddie Freeman on a six-year, $162MM contract. The Excel Sports Management client finds the sixth guaranteed year he’d been seeking, setting himself up to bolster an already loaded lineup.

Los Angeles finished tied for third as a team in wRC+ last season (excluding pitchers), with their collective .251/.339/.446 mark checking in 13 percentage points above the league average offense. Only the Astros and Giants fared better, while L.A. was tied with the Blue Jays. They’ve lost Corey Seager to free agency this winter, but Freeman steps right into the void as a left-handed, middle-of-the-order bat for manager Dave Roberts.

One could argue Freeman’s even an offensive upgrade over Seager, who himself is one of the best hitters in the game. Freeman has been a consistently excellent bat, not having posted a wRC+ lower than 132 in any season since 2013. That run has earned him five All-Star nods, three Silver Slugger Awards and six top ten finishes in NL MVP balloting.

Freeman has remained at the top of his game over the past few seasons. He obliterated opposing pitchers to the tune of a .341/.462/.640 line during the 60-game season in 2020. Among qualified hitters, only Juan Soto fared better by measure of wRC+, and Freeman earned a resounding victory in that year’s Senior Circuit MVP balloting. It was never realistic to expect him to repeat that kind of otherworldly performance over a full schedule, but he returned to his metronomically consistent ways in 2021.

Over the course of the season, Freeman appeared in 159 games and tallied 695 plate appearances of .300/.393/.503 hitting. He popped 31 homers, drew walks at a robust 12.2% clip and only struck out in 15.4% of his trips to the plate. Freeman began the year with a relatively pedestrian start by his lofty standards, but he got scorching hot from June onwards. Over the season’s final four months, he raked at a .329/.404/.520 clip. That production helped carry the Braves to their fourth straight division title, and Freeman picked up where he left off when the lights were brightest. He posted an OPS of .996 or better in all three playoff rounds, helping Atlanta to their first World Series title since 1995.

Coming off that championship, many expected Atlanta would strike quickly to ink the career-long Brave to another deal. Freeman and the club had already lined up on an extension once, a February 2014 eight-year pact that guaranteed him $135MM and delayed his first trip to the open market by five years. The Braves maintained they had interest in keeping Freeman in the fold, but the first baseman’s desire for a sixth year quickly became a stumbling block.

Atlanta, which had made Freeman a qualifying offer at the start of the offseason, reportedly put forth a five-year proposal in the $135MM range. It’s believed they eventually nudged the guarantee around $140MM, but the organization seemed opposed to putting a sixth year on the table. Freeman turned 32 years old in September, and Braves brass apparently had real reservations about guaranteeing him a notable salary through his age-37 campaign.

Throughout the lockout, industry chatter picked up that Freeman and the Braves might be heading their separate ways. That became all but official when Atlanta struck a deal to acquire A’s star Matt Olson on Monday afternoon, then signed him to a $168MM extension the next day. Freeman penned a farewell to his former teammates, coaches and the Atlanta fanbase on Instagram this afternoon.

It’s not hard to see the Braves reasoning for letting Freeman walk. Olson is more than four years younger, so his extension only takes him through his age-35 season. There’s real risk in committing to any player into his late 30’s, and that’s particularly true given that Freeman needs to continue to hit at a very high level to be an elite player. He’s a solid defensive first baseman but unlikely to be a perennial Gold Glove winner into his mid-30’s.

Recent six-plus year contracts for free agents at the position haven’t been particularly fruitful. Each of the past four deals of six-plus years for first basemen — the Padres’ eight-year Eric Hosmer agreement, the Orioles’ bringing back Chris Davis on a seven-year pact, Prince Fielder’s nine-year contract with the Tigers, and the Angels’ ten-year investment in Albert Pujols — turned out to be missteps for the club.

Of course, that’s not to say Freeman’s deal with Los Angeles will end the same way. It’s shorter than those precedents, for one, and Freeman has a much more consistent track record than either Hosmer or Davis did at the time they signed their deals. There’s essentially nothing to nitpick in his offensive profile. Freeman doesn’t chase many pitches, and he makes plenty of contact on offerings both inside and outside the strike zone. He posts high-end exit velocities and hard contact rates annually. As is the case with most left-handed hitters, he’s better against right-handed pitching. Yet Freeman’s career .266/.348/.436 mark against southpaws demonstrates he’s more than capable of holding his own without the platoon advantage.

Even after the Braves dropped out, a few teams remained involved in the running for his services. The Red Sox, Blue Jays and Padres were superficially tied to Freeman in recent days, but it seems the surprising Rays may have proven one of the Dodgers strongest challengers in the end. Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets that Tampa Bay made a “strong push” throughout the process, but L.A.’s willingness to acquiesce on the sixth year proved a deal-breaker.

It’s a return to Southern California for Freeman, an Orange County native. In addition to the financial and geographical appeal, he’ll step into a lineup that’s among the best in recent memory. It’s conceivable the Dodgers will roll out an Opening Day lineup consisting of Freeman, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Will Smith, Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger and AJ Pollock. Betts, Freeman and Bellinger are each former league MVP’s. Eight of those nine players have garnered at least one All-Star selection; the one player who hasn’t yet gone to the Midsummer Classic, Smith, is among the top handful of catchers in MLB.

The Dodgers have assembled a similarly star-studded pitching staff, and the construction of this kind of roster required a sizable investment from ownership. Los Angeles blew past all three luxury tax tiers last season, incurring nearly $33MM in fees. They’re in line for another huge expenditure this year.

The exact financial structure of Freeman’s deal isn’t yet known, but contracts’ average annual values are used for luxury tax purposes anyhow. Adding $27MM to that mark pushes the 2022 CBT tab north of $277MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Because they exceeded the CBT last season, the Dodgers will be subject to escalating fees as a second-time payor. They’ll be taxed at a 30% rate for every dollar spent between $230MM and $250MM, a 42% clip on overages between $250MM and $270MM, a 75% rate on overages between $270MM and $290MM and a 90% tax on all expenditures north of $290MM.

In addition to the financial cost, the Dodgers will take on some non-monetary penalties for signing a player who had rejected a qualifying offer. Because they paid the luxury tax last year, they’ll lose their second-highest and fifth-highest picks in the upcoming draft and be stripped of $1MM in international signing bonus space. The Braves, as a team that neither received revenue sharing nor paid the luxury tax, will receive a compensatory pick after Competitive Balance Round B in the upcoming draft. Those selections typically fall in the 70-75 overall range.

That pick will be little consolation to Braves fans disheartened by Freeman’s departure, although that the organization replaced him with a hometown star of their own in Olson should soften the blow. Even when it became clear he’d be leaving Atlanta, however, there were presumably many Braves fans hoping he’d wind up somewhere other than L.A.

Freeman moves on from the reigning World Series winner to join the team he played an instrumental role in defeating in last year’s NL Championship Series. His departure from the defending champs to sign on with what appears to be MLB’s best team adds plenty of intrigue to what’ll be an entertaining battle for control in the National League.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com first reported the Dodgers and Freeman were making progress on a deal that would guarantee $150+MM. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the sides were discussing a six-year deal in the $160MM range. Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Freeman and the Dodgers were in agreement on a six-year, $162MM contract.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Dodgers Sign Tyler Anderson

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The Dodgers continue to add to their roster, announcing this evening they’ve agreed to terms with Tyler Anderson on a one-year deal. It’s reportedly an $8MM guarantee that also contains an additional $500K in incentives if he exceeds 100 innings next season.

Anderson was one of the better remaining options in a free agent rotation market that has been mostly picked through. The southpaw is coming off a decent season split between the Pirates and Mariners, in which he combined for a 4.53 ERA over 167 innings. Anderson only averaged a bit more than five innings per start, but he took the ball 31 times and was generally successful with regards to keeping his team in games. He allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but five of his outings.

Signed by Pittsburgh to a $2.5MM guarantee last offseason, he settled in as perhaps the most reliable member of the Bucs’ starting staff. Over 18 outings, Anderson worked 103 1/3 frames with a 4.35 ERA. He was an obvious trade candidate as an impending free agent on a rebuilding team. After a reported agreement with the Phillies fell through due to concerns about the medical evaluation of one of the prospects involved, the Pirates pivoted and flipped him to Seattle for prospects Carter Bins and Joaquin Tejada at the deadline. Anderson spent the final couple months with the M’s, performing alright until a nine-run blow-up against the Angels tanked his overall numbers.

Anderson isn’t the most overpowering arm on the market. His fastball averaged 90.6 MPH last season, and he struck out a below-average 19.1% of opposing hitters. Yet he was adept at getting opponents to chase pitches outside the strike zone, and his mediocre strikeout percentage belied a solid 11.5% swinging strike rate. That’s partially because batters swung so often against him — among pitchers with 100+ innings, only Michael Wacha had a higher opponents’ swing rate — but Anderson nevertheless generated more whiffs per swing inside the strike zone than the average starter.

In addition to getting opponents to frequently chase, Anderson threw pitches in the zone at a higher-than-average rate. Those contributed to keep his walks down, as he doled out free passes at just a 5.4% clip. He’s been a low-walk arm throughout his career, and he’s posted an ERA between 4.37 and 4.55 in each of his last three seasons (excluding a 2019 campaign in which he was limited to five starts by left knee issues). A fly-ball pitcher, Anderson has been prone to the home run ball throughout his career. He also generates his fair share of pop-ups, though, and he’s typically adept at avoiding hard contact.

Anderson has started all but four of his 117 MLB appearances. He’ll presumably join the back-of-the-rotation mix in Los Angeles, joining offseason signee Andrew Heaney, David Price and Tony Gonsolin among the options for Dave Roberts. Walker Buehler, Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw will be the top three options from the outset of the season. Trevor Bauer remains on the roster, but his paid administrative leave was recently extended through April 16.

The $8MM guarantee only adds to an ever-mounting payroll in Los Angeles. The Dodgers now have an estimated $282MM in actual payroll, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Their luxury tax ledger is up to $284MM, just $6MM shy of the highest tier of penalization.

Because they exceeded the CBT last season, the Dodgers will be subject to escalating fees as a second-time payor. They’ll be taxed at a 30% rate for every dollar spent between $230MM and $250MM, a 42% clip on overages between $250MM and $270MM, a 75% rate on overages between $270MM and $290MM and a 90% tax on all expenditures north of $290MM.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Dodgers and Anderson had agreed to a deal. Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic reported it was a one-year pact. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the $8MM guarantee, while Jon Heyman of the MLB Network was first with the incentives.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rays Acquire Luke Raley From Dodgers

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The Rays and Dodgers agreed to a deal this afternoon, announcing that corner outfielder Luke Raley has been traded to Tampa Bay. Los Angeles is acquiring pitching prospect Tanner Dodson in return. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, the Rays placed Yonny Chirinos on the 60-day injured list.

Raley made his major league debut this past season. He didn’t perform well over his first 72 plate appearances, striking out 25 times while drawing just a pair of walks. The 27-year-old has a much better minor league track record, as he’s hit .289/.367/.489 in five minor league campaigns since being drafted in the seventh round in 2016. That includes a .297/.384/.553 showing over 456 plate appearances in Triple-A.

A lack of defensive value has limited Raley’s prospect appeal, but he’s ranked near the back half of the Dodgers’ top 30 farmhands for the past few seasons in the estimation of Baseball America. The outlet credits Raley with big raw power, albeit with some trepidation about an aggressive approach at the plate. Tampa Bay isn’t the only other organization who has tried (and succeeded) in prying Raley away from the Dodgers. The Twins acquired him from Los Angeles at the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for Brian Dozier. Minnesota sent him back to L.A. a year and a half later in the three-team Mookie Betts/Kenta Maeda trade.

Raley is affordable and can step right into the big league mix for Tampa Bay. He still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Rays needn’t carry him on the active roster. Yet he’ll bolster the organizational depth and could see a more immediate path to playing time if Tampa Bay pulls the trigger on an Austin Meadows trade. Recent reports have indicated the Rays are considering shipping Meadows elsewhere.

The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for the Dodgers, who have signed each of Jimmy Nelson, Danny Duffy and Freddie Freeman in recent days. They’ve devoted just one immediate roster spot to that trio — Los Angeles purposefully waited to finalize Freeman’s deals until after signing Duffy and Nelson so they could put both pitchers on the 60-day injured list — but they’ve also agreed to terms with Tyler Anderson. They’ll need to clear another roster spot to accommodate Anderson’s arrival.

In addition, Los Angeles picks up Dodson, whom the Rays selected 71st overall in the 2018 draft. A two-way player at Cal, he continued to work in both capacities early in his professional career. Scouts have long questioned how much offensive upside he’d have due to a lack of raw power, though, and he’s worked primarily off the mound in recent years. He tallied just 30 plate appearances in High-A last season but worked 56 1/3 innings as a reliever.

Between High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery, Dodson combined for a 3.20 ERA. He struck out a solid 26.3% of opponents against a 9.5% walk rate. The Rays declined to add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft (which never ended up taking place) this offseason. He didn’t appear among Baseball America’s top 30 organizational prospects this winter, but Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote in January 2021 that his low-mid 90s fastball and slider could make him a viable big league reliever.

Chirinos, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2020. The righty fractured his elbow last year, a setback that was always expected to prevent him being ready for Opening Day. Precisely when he might return isn’t clear, but he’ll miss at least the first two months of this season.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the terms of the trade.

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