Dodgers: Looking Ahead to the Monster 2018 Free Agent Class

Although it’s early in the Dodgers’ season, the allure of next year’s monster free agent class is just too tantalizing to wait until October.  Here is a breakdown of who will be available this winter and who makes sense for the Dodgers.

Assuming the Dodgers don’t make any in-season acquisitions that take them over the salary cap, they will reset the luxury tax for 2019.  This will take their penalty from 50% down to 20%. Given the Front Office’s lack of off-season upgrades, this clearly seemed to be the marching orders going into 2018.

Resetting the penalty frees up a nice stockpile of cash for the Dodgers to make some big moves to build around a solid core of young talent.  But the biggest question may be whether their ace left-hander, Clayton Kershaw opts out of his contract, and if so, how much money are the Dodgers willing to commit to bring him back.