Who’s a free agent, who has a contract option and who is eligible for arbitration? A position-by-position look at the status of the players who made up the 2017 Dodgers.
One day after coming up a game short in the World Series, is it too soon to turn our attention to how the Dodgers will look next season?
Who’s a free agent, who has a contract option and who is eligible for arbitration? Here’s a position-by-position look at the status of the players who made up the 2017 roster.
Ages in parentheses, followed by their 2017 salaries (not pro-rated):
CATCHERS
Austin Barnes (27): $540,000
In his first full season in the big leagues, Barnes earned the trust of Manager Dave Roberts for his handling of the pitching staff and consistent quality of his at-bats. By playoff time, he was the Dodgers’ primary catcher.
Kyle Farmer (27): $535,000
Farmer made himself a viable third catcher by learning to play other positions in Triple-A (second, first and third base).
Yasmani Grandal (28): $5.5 million (arbitration eligible)
Grandal is in his final arbitration year and was looking forward to the riches of free agency after 2018. But his status tumbled badly with a second-half slump and his MLB-high passed ball total.
INFIELDERS
Cody Bellinger (22): $535,000
Bellinger arrived sooner than expected and now ranks as one of the top young sluggers in baseball with a bright future.
Charlie Culberson (28): $550,000
Culberson spent most of the 2017 season as a popular teammate and solid influence at Triple-A. He has value as a versatile bench player.
Logan Forsythe (30): $5.75 million
The Dodgers hold a $9 million option that they will almost certainly exercise. After an injury-riddled season, he emerged as a plus-defender and difficult out in the postseason – just what they expected when they traded for him last winter.
Adrian Gonzalez (35): $21.5 million
The expensive veteran is the Dodgers’ biggest offseason dilemma. His recurring back problems and Bellinger’s emergence have left the Dodgers with no use for Gonzalez going forward. But those back problems and his contract mean they are stuck with him for 2018.
Corey Seager (23): $575,000
The 2016 NL Rookie of the Year avoided any sophomore slump. But his nagging late-season injuries – to his elbow and back – are reason for concern. The 6-foot-4,220-pound Seager might not be too big to play shortstop. But the position’s physical demands might be a problem.
Justin Turner (32): $12 million
The best $1 million investment of the Guggenheim ownership, Turner is a leader in the clubhouse and an All-Star on the field. Re-signing him to a four-year, $64 million deal was one of the critical moves last winter that led to this year’s World Series.
Chase Utley (38): $2 million
The Dodgers bought a clubhouse culture when they re-signed Utley each of the past two winters. With that established, Utley (who will turn 39 in December) might have to choose between retirement or a low-money minor-league deal to make another team’s roster next spring.
OUTFIELDERS
Andre Ethier (35): $17.5 million
After two seasons gutted by injury, Ethier might have played his last game in a Dodgers uniform. The Dodgers will use the $2.5 million buyout to avoid a $17.5 million salary in 2018 – though they could re-sign him at a lower salary.
Curtis Granderson (36): $15 million
The August trade acquisition from the Mets is best forgotten. Granderson will be a free agent.
Franklin Gutierrez (34): $2.6 million
The Dodgers gambled a one-year $2.6 million contract that Gutierrez would be a lefty-killing option in left field. It was a bad gamble.
Joc Pederson (25): $555,000 (arbitration eligible)
Pederson regressed offensively and defensively so badly that he had dropped completely out of the Dodgers’ plans – until he burst back to life with three home runs in the World Series.
Yasiel Puig (26): $6.5 million
A year ago, Puig’s future with the Dodgers was very much in doubt. But he surged back to relevance in 2017 with Gold Glove-caliber defense and career-highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (74) while showing more plate discipline than anyone thought possible. Puig is sure to be motivated in 2018, the final year of his original seven-year, $42 million contract.
Trayce Thompson (26): $535,000
Thompson lost his place in the Dodgers’ outfield mix this year and has a long way to go to get back into it for 2018.
Andrew Toles (25): $540,000
The Dodgers remain very high on Toles. But the 2017 season was lost to a torn ACL and he might not return until well into 2018.
Alex Verdugo (21): $535,000
The Dodgers’ top position-player prospect, Verdugo made an underwhelming first impression as a September call-up.
Chris Taylor (27): $535,000
One of the most surprising stories of the 2017 season, Taylor went from “a fringy 4-A player” – Roberts’ description – to a crucial piece of the Dodgers’ core group, remaking his swing and learning to play center field.
Kiké Hernandez (26): $555,000 (arbitration eligible)
The kind of multi-position player craved by new-age roster-builders, Hernandez has niche value as a right-handed offensive weapon against left-handed pitching.
LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS
Luis Avilan (28): $1.5 million (arbitration eligible)
Serviceable lefty reliever came down with a bad shoulder on the eve of the postseason but still figures into next year’s bullpen.
Tony Cingrani (28): $1.825 million (arbitration eligible)
The lowest-profiled of the Dodgers’ three trade-deadline acquisitions, Cingrani pitched well as a lefty specialist down the stretch.
Grant Dayton (29): $540,000 (arbitration eligible)
Tommy John surgery will likely sideline Dayton for all of 2018.
Rich Hill (37): $12 million
The Dodgers’ recent pitching investments have not paid great dividends (Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy). Hill’s three-year, $48 million contract signed last winter is looking good so far.
Scott Kazmir (33): $16 million
Kazmir didn’t throw a pitch for the Dodgers in 2017 and probably won’t in 2018 either, the final year of his three-year, $48 million contract.
Clayton Kershaw (29): $33 million
The 2018 season could be a pivotal one for the Dodgers’ ace. His seven-year, $215 million contract has three years and $98 million remaining but he can opt out after 2018. What would a third consecutive year with back problems do to that plan?
Adam Liberatore (30): $535,000
Elbow injuries have plagued Liberatore since the middle of 2016.
Edward Paredes (31): $535,000
Paredes, who was first signed to a pro contract by Seattle in 2005, made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in September.
Hyun-Jin Ryu (30): $7 million
The left-hander returned after two years lost to shoulder and elbow surgeries and pitched well at times in 2017. He is owed $7 million in 2018, the final year of his six-year, $36 million deal.
Tony Watson (32): $5.6 million
Acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, Watson became an important part of the Dodgers’ bullpen. He is a free agent.
Julio Urias (21): $535,000
One of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Urias had shoulder surgery in June and will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2018 season.
Alex Wood (26): $2.8 million (arbitration eligible)
Can we stop asking about moving him to the bullpen? The young left-hander was outstanding for most of 2017 and was the Dodgers’ best pitcher in the World Series (one run, one hit in 7-2/3 innings).
