Our next look at Dodgers eligible for salary arbitration brings us to James Loney, the first baseman who forged an interesting path in 2011. In the first half of the season, Loney looked like he was following the Casey Kotchman patch to a tee.
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The Dodgers entered the offseason with seven players eligible for salary arbitration. These players, with between three and six years of MLB service time, has been whittled down to three through a series of transactions. We begin our look at the 2012 arbitration-eligible Dodgers with Ethier, who has one year before being eligible for free agency.
The Los Angeles Dodgers at their core are strong, with a duo as strong as any team in baseball. Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw had magnificent seasons in 2011, but it wasn't quite enough as the team won just 82 games and had to rally to reach .500 with a strong finish to the season.
Major League Baseball is expected to announce its new collective bargaining agreement early in the week. The five-year agreement will have several new provisions, such as blood testing for HGH, a luxury tax on draft and international signings, and more Super Twos, per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. In addition, the minimum salary in MLB will rise to $480,000 in 2012.
It's official, or at least will be at 11 a.m. PST when the Dodgers hold a press conference at Dodger Stadium. Matt Kemp will be with the Dodgers through 2019. The All-Star center fielder on Friday finalized his eight-year, $160 million contract extension with the club, the largest contract in National League history.
$120,000,000 Payroll Thread
The Dodgers 2011 opening day payroll is a shade over $113 million, an increase of 21.3% over last year. This includes actual money paid out this year to the 25 players on the active roster, any players on the disabled list, and any "dead money," which are deferred payments or buyouts to players no longer here.
The Dodgers today signed pitcher Chad Billingsley to a three-year contract extension through the 2014 season, with an option for 2015. The deal, worth a total of $35 million guaranteed, buys out Billingsley's final arbitration season, plus two and possibly three years of free agency.
The Dodgers' contract offer to Russell Martin earlier this winter was not guaranteed, a source has confirmed to True Blue LA
A review of Dodger contract incentives in 2010, and a look forward to performance bonuses in 2011.
