3 players the Dodgers need to sign to contract extensions this offseason

2. Cody Bellinger

Cody Bellinger is a future piece of this Dodgers team.

This scenario can probably wait the longest, but Cody Bellinger is about to make a ton throughout the arbitration process. He’s due close to $16 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility after earning Super Two status before the start of the 2020 season.

You can expect that number to approach $30 million by the time the third year of arbitration rolls around, and given he’s entering his age-25 season and has already captured Rookie of the Year and MVP honors, why not give him a 10-year extension and line him up with Mookie Betts for the next decade?

Bellinger transitioned to center field this season and was a revelation. Though he didn’t have a great year at the plate in the abbreviated season and didn’t really blow anybody away with his postseason numbers, he came up with clutch hits and tremendous defensive plays that kept the Dodgers’ run alive.

He only has 506 career games under his belt and he’s one of the best all-around players in the game. Fans so often talk about how 10- or 12-year contracts hamstring franchises financially, but not when you’re paying for the best years of a player. Give Belli a long-term lucrative deal that covers him through his age-35 season and that’ll maximize the output and not have anybody complaining about having to pay a player $35 million when they’re nearing 40 years old.

Maybe a 10-year, $250 million contract could work here. Players always want more, but this kind of security at the age of 25 could change the game for Belli.

1. Corey Seager

Corey Seager is entering his final year as a Dodger and needs a new deal.

This one will be the hardest because Corey Seager is repped by super mega evil agent Scott Boras, who won’t settle for a penny less than what he feels his client is worth. And after Seager won the NLCS and World Series MVP, this task for the Dodgers just got a lot tougher.

But consider this. Seager will make around $15 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility before he becomes a free agent. He’s played in just 212 game since the start of 2018 and his best seasons came in 2016 and 2017. How much leverage does Boras actually have in negotiations? Is he just going to harp on Seager’s blackout 2020 postseason performance?

It’s possible, and that’s what ultimately could end up getting him paid the big bucks, but the Dodgers have Gavin Lux, who was the top prospect in baseball before exceeding his rookie limits in 2020, in their back pocket. If Boras is asking for an insane amount of money for his client, the Dodgers can wipe their hands clean and move on with a new and clear plan for 2022.

But Seager might want to stay in LA. He’s a homegrown talent of the franchise and couldn’t fit in any better. And the Dodgers have bottomless pockets when it comes to spending money. Why would Seager want to risk hitting the open market with the qualifying offer attached to him when teams are still reeling from financial losses due to the global pandemic after the 2021 season? We still don’t know where we will be at at the start of next year.

So why not see if he’ll accept an eight-year, $136 million deal? That’ll lock him up through his age-35 season and make him among the highest-paid shortstops in the game at $17 million per year. It seems reasonable, and it would give the Dodgers a mean core of Betts, Bellinger and Seager for the foreseeable future.

Then they can maybe trade Gavin Lux for another controllable starter and really be in business…

Dodgers: LAD can win offseason with one signing and one trade

The Los Angeles Dodgers really don't need to make a ton of moves in order to remain World Series favorites in 2021. This signing and trade will do.