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Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas has signed a contract extension for two years and $11 million that will change the terms of his deal a bit in 2023, tack another year onto his existing contract, and also add an option for 2025.
Rojas was scheduled to make $5 million in 2023 as a part of the final year of a two-year deal signed with the Marlins, and he still will make that amount as part of this extension. However, instead of being paid $5 million in installments, he’ll now get a $1.5 million signing bonus and $3.5 million in salary. Rojas will then make $5 million in 2024 and either $5 million in 2025 or get a $1 million buyout, depending on what the club wants to do. The deal guarantees at least an extra $6 million for Rojas, which is a nice piece of business for what seemed like the Dodgers acquiring a stopgap and/or insurance policy just for 2023.
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The most frequently asked question with regards to this deal on the Dodgers side of things appears to be, “Why?” While people are asking about the luxury tax impact, this doesn’t actually help that at all … actually, it hurts. Due to the buyout money, his CBT number goes up by $500k after this deal, so that certainly was not a factor.
Rather, what this seems to indicate is that the Dodgers value him as their insurance policy/utility man of the immediate future. Granted, it’s not exactly difficult to find defense-first utilitymen on the cheap, and giving an extra year to Rojas coming off a down season is a bit of a surprise. But it’s likely that they value what he can contribute to the team’s young players off-the-field, as the Dodgers clearly rate the infamous Veteran Presents™ he’ll provide.
It’s a bit dubious as far as reasoning goes, but to be fair, Rojas has not wasted any time in helping anyway he can.
That’s definitely going to be one of his main roles on the team, and as he said, he’s already working with Miguel Vargas.
I suppose that aspect is a fair enough reason to lock him down for a bit, though he’ll ultimately provide an impact there that we can’t fully know or measure. Regardless, even if things are a disaster with Rojas and he ends up in Hanser Alberto territory on the field, the Dodgers should be able to brush off the financial commitment without much problem.
