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Dodgers payroll now that salary arbitration is almost complete

Dodgers pitchers Julio Urías and Walker Buehler both agreed to 2023 contracts before Friday’s exchange deadline, avoiding salary arbitration.
Dodgers pitchers Julio Urías and Walker Buehler both agreed to 2023 contracts before Friday’s exchange deadline, avoiding salary arbitration.
Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images

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 of January 13 (after salary arbitration exchange day)

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.