Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Well, well, well, look who broke some Dodger news late on a Sunday night.
Ahhh, Bobby. Even he couldn’t get the wording right. The Dodgers have avoided arbitration with Scott Alexander by agreeing to a 1-year, $875,000 contract.
Alexander, 30, had been projected to make $1 million via arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors. So, the Dodgers are “saving” $125,000 with this agreement.
Update (12/1/19, 8:37 p.m.): J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California New Group tweets that Alexander’s contract is fully guaranteed, which isn’t normal for arbitration deals.
Alexander was acquired in January 2018 in a 3-team deal that sent Erick Mejia and Trevor Oaks to the Royals, Joakim Soria to the White Sox and Alexander and Jake Peter to LA. Alexander had been a non-tender candidate, but it looks like the Dodgers are betting on him recovering.
He is, however, coming off an injury-plagued season that saw him log just 17 1/3 innings and pitched to a 3.63 ERA and 5.06 FIP. A ground ball maven, Alexander saw his ground ball rate drop to 61 percent (down from 70.9 percent in 2018).
His season ended due to nerve decompression surgery in his left arm. He also suffered forearm inflammation and thumb injury during his rehab assignment. There’s no word if he’ll be ready for opening day. But with a low salary and minor-league options remaining, he’s a safe bet to remain with the org for the 2020 season.
The non-tender deadline is tomorrow at 5 p.m. Yimi Garcia is likely the only arbitration-eligible Dodger on the proverbial bubble.
