Dodgers' quiet arbitration day spoiled by petty disagreement with bullpen arm

World Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees - Game 5
World Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees - Game 5 | Al Bello/GettyImages

It wouldn't be surprising if the last thing on the Dodgers' mind was settling on new contracts for their arbitration-eligible players, which would explain why most of their decisions came down long after the publicly stated Thursday, 10 AM PST deadline (which, to be fair, many other teams didn't really respect either).

The Dodgers already settled on deals for Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May back on non-tender deadline day — $5.4 million Gonsolin and $2.135 million for May. They were easy enough, after all; neither pitched in the majors in 2024, so neither warranted raises.

By the Jan. 9 deadline, however, the Dodgers had to settle with five other players, all relievers: Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, and Anthony Banda.

News about Kopech's $5.2 million salary came first; Graterol followed at $2.8 million, Banda at $1 million, and Phillips at $6.1 million. But not everyone is guaranteed to avoid a potentially nasty arbitration hearing; Vesia and the Dodgers could not agree to terms (Vesia asked for $2.35 million, the Dodgers wanted to give him $2.05 million).

It's important to note that Thursday's deadline isn't a guarantee that things will go straight to a hearing, and the two sides will have time to try to figure out a solution.

Dodgers reach arbitration-avoiding agreements with five members of the bullpen on deadline day

None of the four arb-eligible Dodgers who agreed to their figures deviate too far from the contracts predicted for them by MLB Trade Rumors. In fact, MLBTR landed right on the money for Kopech and was just $100,000 off for the other four. For Vesia, they predicted $1.9 million, so neither his own nor the Dodgers' figures are too far off the mark.

Kopech got the biggest raise, up $2.2 million from what he made when he agreed to a contract with the White Sox last year, and Phillips followed close behind with a $2.1 million bump. Graterol gets just $100,000 more than he did in 2024, but that isn't altogether surprising, given that he was hurt for most of the season.

The last time the Dodgers went all the way to hearings, it was with Pedro Baez and Joc Pederson in 2020; Baez won his, Pederson did not. Panels tend to agree with teams, which can create hurt feelings all around and is usually why all parties involved like to avoid them. Let's hope it won't get that far with Vesia.

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