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Now that the Dodgers have signed nine of their ten players eligible for salary arbitration, the 2023 payroll is more clear.
The only such player who didn’t agree on a new contract on Friday was pitcher Tony Gonsolin, who exchanged salaries with the Dodgers on Friday. If the two sides can’t agree to a contract, they will head to an arbitration hearing, to be scheduled some time between January 30 and February 17.
That means 21 players have guaranteed contracts for this season, which is damn near a complete active roster. But considering that Buehler and Blake Treinen will open the season on the injured list, and maybe Daniel Hudson as well as he recovers from last June’s knee surgery, there are a little more than a handful of active roster spots left to fill.
New old friend Miguel Rojas and his $5-million salary was also added to the payroll this week. He’ll be on the roster when he’s active, but considering he’s still managing a right wrist injury that hampered his second half in 2022 and required surgery in October, it’s conceivable that he could also start the season on the IL.
Gavin Lux and Alex Vesia are roster locks. Miguel Vargas will definitely have a long runway for playing time with a plane that figures to take off around opening day. The other roster spots are filled in with educated guesses, but in reality if someone else takes the roster spot the payroll won’t change too much. Even if, for instance, non-roster invitee Jason Heyward makes the team, he’d only make the major league minimum of $720,000 since the Cubs are on the hook for the remainder of his $22-million salary.
Don’t get too concerned about the positional alignments in the active roster. All of that will be figured out during spring training.
Dodgers 2023 payroll for competitive balance purposes
| Player | Pos | 2023 CBT number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | 2023 CBT number | Comments |
| Will Smith | C | $5,250,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Freddie Freeman | 1B | $24,699,249 | 6/$162m w/$57m deferred |
| Chris Taylor | IF/OF | $15,000,000 | 4 yrs, $60 million |
| Max Muncy | 3B | $13,500,000 | 1 year, plus 2024 option |
| Gavin Lux | SS | $750,000 | |
| Miguel Vargas | 3B/2B/LF | $750,000 | |
| Trayce Thompson | OF | $1,450,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Mookie Betts | RF | $25,554,824 | 12/$365m w/$115m deferred |
| J.D. Martinez | DH | $10,000,000 | 1-year deal |
| Miguel Rojas | IF | $5,000,000 | trade (Marlins), 1/11/23 |
| Austin Barnes | C | $3,500,000 | 2 yrs, $7 million |
| James Outman | OF | $750,000 | |
| Yonny Hernández | IF | $750,000 | |
| Julio Urías | SP | $14,250,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Clayton Kershaw | SP | $20,000,000 | 1-year deal |
| Tony Gonsolin | SP | $3,200,000 | Midpoint of arb salary exchange |
| Noah Syndergaard | SP | $13,000,000 | 1-year deal |
| Dustin May | SP | $1,675,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Daniel Hudson | RHP | $6,500,000 | 1 year, plus 2024 option |
| Evan Phillips | RHP | $1,300,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Yency Almonte | RHP | $1,500,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Alex Vesia | LHP | $750,000 | |
| Brusdar Graterol | RHP | $1,225,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Shelby Miller | RHP | $1,500,000 | 1-year deal |
| Caleb Ferguson | LHP | $1,100,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Phil Bickford | RHP | $750,000 | |
| Walker Buehler | IL | $8,025,000 | 1-year deal to avoid arbitration |
| Blake Treinen | IL | $8,000,000 | 1 year, plus 2024 option |
| J.P. Feyereisen | IL | $750,000 | |
| Trevor Bauer | gone | $24,537,634 | 3 yrs, $102m, less 50g in '23 |
| Minor leaguers on 40-man | $2,500,000 | ||
| Team benefit costs | $16,750,000 | was ~$16m in 2022 | |
| Pre-arb bonus pool | $1,666,667 | $50m split between 30 teams | |
| Totals | $235,933,374 |
As currently constructed, the Dodgers have a payroll of roughly $236 million for competitive balance tax purposes. That’s over the $233-million threshold, which would incur a 50-percent tax on the first $20 million over as a team paying the luxury tax for a third straight year.
It’s been obvious since the now-released Trevor Bauer — the highest-paid Dodger in 2023 — was reinstated by MLB on December 22 that the Dodgers would not realistically be able to avoid paying the competitive balance tax in 2023.
Now, with a month until spring training, it’s just a matter of how much more the team might add to the roster.
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