Hey there! It’s been a while, hope all is well. As we get things going here at AllDodgers.com, and with spring training camp opening this week, it feels as good a time as any to step back and revisit a busy offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The club committed to more than $1.3 billion in salary that will essentially be spread out over the next 20 or so years (thanks to the insane deferrals in Shohei Ohtani’s contract). It was a winter where it was apparent early that they were done looking like chumps in October.
President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and company completely rebuilt a beleaguered starting rotation that lost Lance Lynn, Julio Urias (although he was on paid administrative leave to end the season), and Clayton Kershaw.
Lynn signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Urias remains under investigation for domestic violence allegations. Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery in November and isn’t signing anywhere until he knows how that Hall of Fame left shoulder responds to throwing.
With that trio out of the picture and knowing that Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin would miss most or all of the 2024 season as they recover from elbow surgeries of their own, the Dodgers had to be aggressive to be competitive in the new year.
So they got to work.
Who Did the Dodgers Sign This Offseason?
Shohei Ohtani
The unicorn of the winter, Shohei Ohtani came to terms with the Los Angeles Dodgers on record-setting a 10-year, $700 million contract that will keep him in Dodger blue until he’s 38 years old. The landmark contract included massive salary deferrals — $68 million annually of his $70 million per year contract — The deferred payments begin the year after his contract expires following the 2033 season.
For Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold purposes, his contract counts as $46.6 million on LA’s payroll.
While Ohtani’s signing with the Dodgers was a signal to the start of a busy offseason, he wasn’t going to help the team’s top need in the starting rotation. Ohtani underwent a season-ending elbow operation in September of 2023 and will not pitch in 2024. So, clearly the Dodgers needed more help. And that help came in the form of…
Tyler Glasnow
On the day of Shohei Ohtani’s introduction to members of Dodgers media, the team also completed a deal to acquire right-hander Tyler Glasnow in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Dodgers sent rookie starter Ryan Pepiot and rookie outfielder Jonny DeLuca to Tampa in exchange for Glasnow and veteran outfielder Manuel Margot.
Margot is expected to platoon in right field with Jason Heyward, who re-signed with the team early in November.
The Dodgers and Glasnow immediately came to terms on a 5-year, $136.5 million contract extension keeping him in LA through the 2029 season.
It was a nice addition to the rotation that was set to be filled mostly with rookies at the time. But Glasnow clearly wasn’t going to be enough. The Dodgers needed an ace… and they landed the next big prize of the 2023-2024 offseason.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
A superstar in Japan, right-handed starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto earned the right to be posted after the last NPB season and was courted by every top team in baseball. Ultimately, the Dodgers won out, offering Yamamoto a 12-year, $326 million deal to the ace.
With Yamamoto added to the rotation mix, things were starting to feel better for the Dodgers… but not quite complete. They still needed one more starting pitcher, preferably a left-hander, and the projected starting lineup needed some right-handed thump.
They took care of that first with the surprising signing of…
Teoscar Hernandez
As a long-time American Leaguer, Teoscar Hernandez was certainly not the most familiar of names for Dodgers fans. But his body of work over parts of 8 seasons shows that the boys in blue added a good one.
The Dodgers and Hernandez agreed to a one-year, $23.5 million deal for the 2024 season ($8 million deferred), giving the club a right-hand hitting outfielder with 25-35 home run pop. He’ll take the lion’s share of playing time in left field alongside second year center fielder James Outman and the aforementioned platoon of Jason Heyward and Manuel Margot in right.
Offense set? Check. Now, one last starting pitcher… Enter Big Maple.
James Paxton
After taking a few weeks off in January, the Dodgers remerged with the signing of James “Big Maple” Paxton to a one year deal worth upwards of $13 million. Ken Rosenthal broke down the incentive-laden deal on Twitter/X:
Final provision on Paxton:
$2M for 20 starts if not on active roster 3/20, 3/28 or on or before 4/15. ($1M for 20 starts *if* he already had earned $1M for being on 26-man roster on or before 4/15.
Maximum if all bonuses met: $13M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 31, 2024
Paxton gives the starting rotation a high-upside veteran on a very team friendly deal. As for his role, he just needs to stay healthy enough to make somewhere between 16-25 starts this season.
Who is in the Dodgers’ Starting Rotation?
After all these moves, what will the starting rotation shape up to look like? The below chart features the likely top 5-6 in the rotation – it’s widely expected that the team will pivot to an unofficial 6 man rotation this season to reduce the workload on the staff.
Note: Walker Buehler will not open the season on the active roster but I left him on the below chart since he will eventually play a key role in the Dodgers’ plan this season. More on Buehler’s status is coming up.
Top 6
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Minor League Depth
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*= Not on 40 man roster.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be transitioning to the States and the Major League Baseball schedule as opposed to the NPB schedule which has starters pitching every sixth day.
Buehler is coming off injury and will be held back for at least the first few weeks of the season. That much was confirmed at the annual “DodgerFest” event that took place at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. The reason? The team hopes to keep him healthy and pitching strong into and through the playoffs.
I talked more about that here in this video a few weeks ago.
Tyler Glasnow is not without his injury concerns and has never pitched more than 120 innings in a season. I also talked about his interesting injury history here:
James Paxton is 35 now and hasn’t surpassed the 100 inning mark since 2019. And Bobby Miller is entering his first full season as a big leaguer.
Certainly, there’s a reason to monitor the workload of this top 5 in the rotation. Additionally, the organization will want to continue to develop guys like Gavin Stone, Emmet Sheehan, and some of the other big time pitching prospects down on the farm. Giving them all spot starts or extended runs with the team in the rotation will be not only a key for their futures, but also a key to potential postseason success for the Dodgers in 2024.
One name noticeably missing from all of this is The GOAT.
When Will Clayton Kershaw Sign with the Dodgers?
Clayton Kershaw remains unsigned as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery. There are a few schools of thought as to why he hasn’t re-signed with the Dodgers yet. Two of the more popular opinions being that he is
- Waiting to be healthy enough to throw before deciding on the next steps in his career.
- Waiting for spring training to kick off and the 60-day injured list to open for MLB rosters so the Dodgers can clear a spot for his return.
I feel there’s a blend of both for sure. I also feel that he is way more likely to come back to Los Angeles than sign a deal with the Texas Rangers. …after an offseason like the Dodgers have had, how could you want to go anywhere else?
Dodgers Key Dates to Know for Spring Training 2024
All home games are at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
Pitchers and catchers report: Friday, Feb. 9
Full squad workouts: Wednesday, Feb. 14
Cactus League Lid Lifter: at Padres on Thursday, Feb. 22
First home game: vs Padres on Friday, Feb. 23
Final Cactus League Game Before Korea Series: Wednesday, Mar. 13
Exhibition vs Kiwoom Heroes: Sunday, Mar. 17
Exhibition vs Team Korea: Monday, Mar. 18
2024 Regular Season Opener (Korea Series): Wednesday, Mar. 20
Spring Training Freeway Series vs Angels (Exhibition): Sunday, Mar. 24 – Tuesday, Mar. 26
2024 Regular Season Continues (USA): Thursday, Mar. 28
Final Thoughts
It’s good to be back here writing on the internet. I hope you consider following us along the way. But, beyond sharing my gratitude for your readership, I leave us all with the video clip below to help get us all even more hyped for the upcoming season.
Take it away, Vin…
