Dodgers settle on contracts with pair of injured pitchers ahead of comeback seasons

With all of the pitching injuries the Dodgers sustained this season, it was sort of easy to forget that they were also missing two big guns in Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, whose 2024 fates were sealed the year before, when May underwent a flexor tendon surgery and Tommy John revision and Gonsolin had his first Tommy John.

Both made progress throughout the season. Gonsolin even got close enough to returning that the Dodgers considered bringing him back for the postseason, but May hit another snag when he sustained an esophageal tear unrelated to baseball and had to undergo another surgery to treat it.

On Friday, the non-tender deadline, May seemed like he could be at risk for a swift and brutal departure from the Dodgers because of how little he's actually been able to pitch throughout his career. His contract in arbitration probably wouldn't have cost LA very much, but they could've dumped him in order to clear the 40-man space.

However, before the 5 PM deadline, the Dodgers reportedly reached agreements with both Gonsolin and May, the former for $5.4 million and the latter for $2.135 million.

Dodgers agree to new contracts with Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May ahead of non-tender deadline

Both players' salaries are identical to what they made in 2024, which makes sense. Walker Buehler didn't get a raise for 2024, either, when he was coming back from a full year off the mound.

This is Gonsolin's third year of arbitration eligibility, so the Dodgers still have team control through 2026, and May is due for free agency at the end of the 2025 season. Next year, healthy bounce back seasons are paramount for both of them but especially May, who has never pitched over 56 innings in his career and will need to put his best foot forward when he does hit the market.

Anthony Banda, Gavin Lux, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech, and Evan Phillips all have yet to either agree on a deal or be non-tendered, but the Dodgers have some wiggle room here to keep all of them, with the Dodgers' 40-man roster currently only housing 38 players.