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

ByThomas Carannante|
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 22: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates the solo homerun of Corey Seager #5, to take a 6-2 lead over the Oakland Athletics, during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 22, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 22: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates the solo homerun of Corey Seager #5, to take a 6-2 lead over the Oakland Athletics, during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 22, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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Corey Seager #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

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…

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