Dodgers 2023 salary arbitration overview

This Friday, January 13 is the deadline for arbitration-eligible players and their teams to exchange salary figures, which serves as a soft deadline that usually spurs deals. This week could be especially busy for the Dodgers, who have 10 players eligible for arbitration.

Julio Urías, the Dodgers’ NLDS Game 1 starter last season who finished third in National League Cy Young Award voting, headlines the group, heading into his final year before free agency.

Several starting rotation mates are also eligible for arbitration, including Tony Gonsolin coming off a career year and Dustin May, who returned in August from Tommy John surgery. Both are eligible for arbitration for the first time. Walker Buehler is also eligible for arbitration this year, and coming off his second career Tommy John surgery plus flexor tendon repair in his elbow last August, he’s unlikely to pitch much if at all in 2023.

Catcher Will Smith, who earned second-team All-MLB honors in 2022, is arb-eligible for the first time, as is Trayce Thompson, who excelled in his half-season back in Los Angeles. Rounding out the group are four relief pitchers who combined for a 1.82 ERA in 182⅔ innings in 2022.

We previewed every Dodger eligible for arbitration this winter, and you can click on the table below to see more info beyond my salary projection for 2023. Also included in the table are the salary projections from Steve Adams and Matt Swartz at MLB Trade Rumors, and from Jeff Euston at Cot’s Baseball Contracts at Baseball Prospectus.

Since Andrew Friedman took over as the president of baseball operations in October 2014, the Dodgers have been a “file and trial” team in arbitration, meaning generally that if the player and team cannot reach agreement on a contract by the mid-January deadline to exchange salary figures, negotiations will cease, at least specifically for that season.

In the previous eight years, the Dodgers had 60 player seasons going through the arbitration process, which includes multiple years for several players. Fifty-four times, the Dodgers have reached agreement on a contract before the exchange deadline.

In 2020, the Dodgers had two arbitration hearings, winning their case over outfielder Joc Pederson (paying him $7.75 million instead of $9.5 million) and losing to reliever Pedro Báez (who earned $4 million instead of $3.5 million). Those were the first two arbitration hearings for the Dodgers since winning a hearing over Joe Beimel in 2007.

Four other times in the last eight years, the Dodgers have exchanged salary figures with players, then soon after reached multi-year contracts to avoid a hearing.

Max Muncy signed for $26 million before the 2020 season, covering all three of his arbitration years. Chris Taylor that year signed for $13.4 million over his final two arb years. Before the 2021 season, Buehler signed an $8-million deal that included incentives and covered his first two arbitration seasons, and catcher Austin Barnes signed a two-year, $4.3-million contract that bought out his final arb years.

But reaching deals by the exchange deadline 54 out of 60 times (90 percent) over the last eight offseasons established a pretty clear track record with this Dodgers front office. In other words, expect several agreements this week.