Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers went right down to the midnight deadline for tendering contracts to unsigned players on the 40-man roster, and they had to make a decision on eight players eligible for salary arbitration in pitchers Kenley Jansen and Juan Nicasio, catchers A.J. Ellis and Drew Butera, utility infielders Justin Turner and Darwin Barney, utility outfielder Chris Heisey, and second baseman Dee Gordon. The Dodgers tendered contracts to seven of the players and signed Darwin Barney to a one-year, $2.525 million contract, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
The Dodgers tendering contracts to Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner, and Dee Gordon were no-brainers given their value to the team in 2014 and projected value for 2015. Additionally, Juan Nicasio and Chris Heisey were probably always going to get a contract since they were traded for, and despite the attempts at making a controversy over A.J. Ellis, he too wasn’t likely to get set loose. Reserves Drew Butera and Darwin Barney were the two main question marks due to the presence of Tim Federowicz and the abundance of utility infield types, but they were both deemed valuable enough.
The MLB Trade Rumors projected arbitration salaries for the Dodgers players are $8.2 million for Kenley Jansen, $3.8 million for A.J. Ellis, $2.5 million for Dee Gordon, $2.5 million for Darwin Barney (about the right value), $2.4 million for Juan Nicasio, $2.2 million for Justin Turner, $1.7 million for Chris Heisey, and $900,000 for Drew Butera.
The date for the players to file for salary arbitration is Jan. 13. The 40-man roster is full.
