Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Following the end of the season, local psycho Dustin reset the 40-man of the Dodgers and highlighted that they have six arbitration-eligible players and 17 others who are pre-arbitration. In around a few weeks on November 20, the non-tender deadline will hit, and it feels worth it to take a closer look at the aforementioned players.
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The six arbitration-eligible players are Brock Stewart, Jake Cousins, Alex Call, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, and Andy Pages, so let’s take a closer look at their cases and make a prediction on whether they’ll be tendered or not.
Note: All arbitration estimates are via MLB Trade Rumors.
RHP Brock Stewart – 5 Years 93 Days Service Time – Arbitration 3 – $1.8MM Projected
Ever since returning from an almost unfathomable four years off due to injury, the 35-year-old righty reliever has been effective … when healthy. Stewart has thrown just 107.2 innings in the last four seasons, but does have an impressive 2.51 ERA/3.18 FIP/2.78 xERA with a 29% K rate and 10% BB rate over that span, and there haven’t been any red flags in his stuff grades either.
At the projected salary, it’s really just a matter of whether the Dodgers want to use a roster spot on him, and it’s hard to see why they wouldn’t. The upside is a leverage-quality middle relief option and the downside is injury, which would mostly solve any roster issue for them if it happened. A trade is a possibility, but his archetype seems more valuable to the Dodgers than anybody else.
Prediction: Tendered
RHP Jake Cousins – 4 Years 91 Days Service Time – Arbitration 2 – $1.0MM Projected
Signed by the Dodgers to a $950k deal last off-season despite undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of 2025, Cousins made it back for rehab appearances in AAA at the end of 2026. He pitched 4.1 innings over five games, giving up five runs, striking out four and walking five. That’s a bit misleading, though, as he was scoreless in three of his first four outings before getting shelled in his fifth.
For his career, Cousins has 90.2 innings in the majors across four seasons, posting a 2.78 ERA/4.10 FIP/3.84 xERA with a 32.6% K rate and 14.8% walk rate. That FIP spike is mostly due to a worrisome 15% HR/FB rate, which is a problem if it’s a legit skill issue.
Cousins has formerly sat 95 MPH with his sinker and 82 MPH with his heavily-uesd slider, and he was at 94 MPH and 82 MPH (respectively) in his AAA rehab outings, also working in more four-seam use and flashing a changeup. The stuff coming back doesn’t appear to be an issue at least, and we’ll see if the Dodgers add any wrinkles.
I’m not personally enamored with his high-whiff, worrisome-command, homer-prone profile, but the Dodgers essentially signed him for 2027 and beyond, and there’s nothing from his rehab to indicate he’s something different now than what they paid for. Should be interesting to see if they can tweak his profile a bit to be more effective, but if nothing else he deserves the money for starting the rally that ended in Freddie Freeman‘s walk-off grand-slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series.
Prediction: Tendered
OF Alex Call – 3 Years 161 Days Service Time – Arbitration 2 – $1.9 MM Projected
Call was actually a Super Two player last year, a status that’s usually associated with burgeoning stars and not bench players. But he’s mostly been solid enough in his role, posting a .241/.343/.360/.703 line for a 98 OPS+ — he’s also 100 points better against lefties — and featuring the ability to handle all three outfield positions. However, as his playing time fell in 2026, so did his production, and he posted a .233/.349/.307/.655 line for an 84 OPS+. Call saw the team actively trying to shop him at the deadline as he became increasingly redundant to the roster, but they couldn’t find a suitor and likely missed the window to get any meaningful return for him, and they later fully revealed their hand when his year ended with being left off the playoff roster.
While his salary number isn’t a big deal to the Dodgers, his roster spot is, as he only figures to get more redundant as their outfield prospects get closer to the majors. Call still projects as a useful role player to another team, so a trade before the non-tender deadline is a real possibility (any return isn’t likely to be much), but teams probably know they can just wait the Dodgers out at this point.
Prediction: Non-Tendered Or Traded
RHP Emmet Sheehan – 3 Years 63 Days Service Time – Arbitration 1 – $2.1 Million Projected
After a breakout 2025 season following his return from Tommy John surgery, Sheehan struggled in 2026 with his velocity and effectiveness. He posted a 4.57 ERA/4.27 FIP over 112.1 innings with a 28% K rate and 7% walk rate, but there was still hope in his underlyings that saw him get a 3.56 xERA and 3.42 SIERA, both of which were more in line with his 3.36 xERA/3.59 SIERA career numbers that showcase his promise.
All of that isn’t really relevant, though. The Dodgers aren’t non-tendering a 27-year-old potential mid-rotation starter with a past history of success in the majors, and he’ll be a key component to their starting depth as they hope he can find more consistency to fulfill the aforementioned promise.
Prediction: Tendered
RHP Gavin Stone – 3 Years 34 Days Service Time – Arbitration 1 – $1.2 Million Projected
Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October of 2024, missed all of 2025, and then had a setback to start 2026 that caused him to miss most of this past season as well. He returned to make six rehab starts, giving up nine runs over 15.1 innings, striking out 21 and walking four. Most importantly, the 28-year-old’s stuff and arsenal were mostly back to his 2024 form.
And that form in 2024 is what makes this a no-brainer, as he carried that rotation for most of the year by just being available, making 25 starts and giving a desperate rotation 140.1 innings of 3.53 ERA/4.01 FIP ball with a 20% K rate and 6% walk rate. Shoulder injuries are always scary, but the stuff seems like it has returned and he should be a back-end rotation candidate or valuable pitching depth with some upside.
Prediction: Tendered
OF Andy Pages – 2 Years 155 Days Service Time – Arbitration 1 – $4.9 Million Projected
All I have to say about this case is a congrats to him on getting Super Two status, as the money is well-deserved. A breakout 2026 resulted in an All-Star selection after he put up an .811 OPS/122 OPS+ and really emerged as one of the best defenders in baseball (might’ve been a Gold Glover if it wasn’t for that one guy).
Hopefully he continues to improve, but even if he doesn’t, the Dodgers are likely getting a bargain while he’s under team control. The only debate on this is whether they extend him or not.
Prediction: Tendered Or Extended
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The 17 pre-arbitration players are Eliezer Alfonzo, Ben Casparius, Josue De Paula, Jack Dreyer, Hunter Feduccia, Alex Freeland, Paul Gervase, Seth Halvorsen, Edgardo Henriquez, Kyle Hurt, Will Klein, Landon Knack, Ronan Kopp, Bobby Miller, Dalton Rushing, Roki Sasaki, and Justin Wrobleski. There’s basically no reason to not tender their contracts since they’ll be making something close to the minimum, and many of them figure to factor into next year’s plans.
That said, being designated and/or traded feels like a distinct possibility for Alfonzo, Gervase, Halvorsen, Knack, Kopp, and Miller if the Dodgers feel like they need 40-man space for Rule 5 Draft additions or just because they could get prospects who are further down the road in exchange for their current depth pieces. Knack and Miller actually provide solid redundancy for the rotation, but feel like possibilities here due to being out of options for a team that loves options for said depth.
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So out of all the arbitration cases, I can only see the Dodgers potentially non-tendering or trading Call, while it feels like they have plenty of potential options to clear 40-man room if they need it, whether it’s designating a player or dealing them.
Usually teams want to avoid even exchanging figures in arbitration by settling beforehand, and the date for that is scheduled for January 8, though I’m not sure when it’ll all happen with the lockout looming. Quite frankly, everything is gonna get pretty wonky due to the work stoppage, and the follow-up events to this deadline are no exception. Get ready for the weirdness.
