Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Tommy Edman has already keyed one World Series run after coming over from the Cardinals in a trade, and he had a year left on his contract so he was sticking around for at least 2025 anyway. But the Dodgers have pursued him for a long time now, and they will be keeping him around for years to come, as they have agreed on a five-year, $74 million extension with a club option.
BREAKING: Superutilityman Tommy Edman and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a five-year, $74 million contract extension, sources tell ESPN. The deal runs from 2025-29 and includes a sixth-year club option. There’s a $17 million signing bonus and deferred money included.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 29, 2024
The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed on a contract extension with IF/OF Tommy Edman for five years for $74M through the 2029 season with a club option for the 2030 season.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 29, 2024
In effect then, it’s really a four-year extension beyond what team control already existed, and then the club option. Almost as if to piss people off, there will be a significant signing bonus and deferrals involved as well.
The deal tears up the final season of a two-year contract Edman previously signed and replaces it with one that runs from 2025 through the 2029 season. The contract includes a sixth-year club option for $13 million with a $3 million buyout and will give Edman a $17 million signing bonus, sources said. About one-third of the overall value of the deal is deferred, according to sources.
So $14.8MM AAV with a lower luxury tax hit due to the deferrals but balanced out by getting a chunk of the contract upfront. Smart.
Those deferrals will start to be paid out five years after the completion of the deal (which runs through 2029, but has the club option for 2030), the source said.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) November 29, 2024
I now see Fabian followed up on Twitter by saying the Edman deferrals don't even start until five years after the deal is up, or nine years after year one. That brings the effective AAV of the deal down to $13,097,304.61. Final answer on this, I hope!
— Jon Becker (@jon-becker.com) November 29, 2024 at 2:43 PM
As far as analysis of why the Dodgers did this … well, you just witnessed it, right? The reason the Dodgers have pursued him for a while was on full display during his time with the team, as his speedy, gritty, contact-oriented, lefty-killing, versatile defensive profile showed up time and again when they needed him most. Obviously we know he’s not afraid of the limelight and he fits in well with the clubhouse as well, so he effectively takes Chris Taylor‘s superutility role with the team.
It actually makes sense outside of descriptive generalities as well. Despite slumping later in the season, he did post a .237/.294/.417/.711 line for a 98 wRC+ that was actually near league average — despite a career-low .257 BABIP that is unlikely to continue. He’s a consistently plus baserunner that has played every position besides first base, catcher, and pitcher. Moreover, he grades out as a plus defender across all infield positions, and in a smaller sample size has graded out well in the outfield, too. All that meant he was worth about one WAR last year in a quarter of a season, which actually matches his value of around 3.5-4.0 WAR per 600 PA over his career, and at about ~$9 million per WAR for a player in his prime, he figures to clear things from a value perspective if he’s even a league-average producer for the Dodgers in a utility role. The utility also has tangible value in free agency with other players because the Dodgers don’t have to over-commit in negotiations because they now always have Edman to fall back on at short or second or center or wherever, really.
Beyond that, he’s more important in key matchups, as he has killed lefties to a .284/.325/.506/.831 clip for his career and whopping .412/.417/.882/1.299 in 2024 with the Dodgers. His playoff line is actually just .277/.315/.412/.727, which is more in line with his career numbers. Edman actually didn’t hit in the NLDS this year either, but finished the NLCS and World Series with a ridiculous .364/.396/.614/1.0009 run in the last 11 games. Unfair to expect that going forward, but certainly it seems like proof he won’t be afraid of the moment.
——
So, basically, the only thing worth complaining about regarding Tommy Edman’s extension is the timing of it on Black Friday after Thanksgiving. Other than that, he’s exactly the kind of player the Dodgers have loved to have at least one of on their roster at all times, and he’s already proven everything he can prove. Excited to have him around for the long haul.
