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LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers reached one-year contract agreements with eight players including left-hander Julio Urias on Friday, avoiding arbitration with the group.
Also agreeing to deals were catcher Will Smith, pitchers Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Caleb Ferguson, Brusdar Graterol and Yency Almonte and outfielder Trayce Thompson.
Friday was the deadline for teams to exchange salary figures with arbitration-eligible players. The Dodgers reached contract agreements with all but two of their 10 arbitration-eligible players. Only pitchers Tony Gonsolin and Evan Phillips remain unsigned.
Teams and players can continue to negotiate while awaiting hearings to be scheduled Jan. 30 through Feb. 17. The Dodgers have gone to arbitration hearings with just two players during Andrew Friedman’s tenure with the team. Both came in 2020 (Joc Pederson and Pedro Baez).
After finishing third in the National League Cy Young Award voting last season, Urias received a big raise from $8 million to $14.25 million for 2023. It is Urias’ final season of arbitration eligibility and he can become a free agent next winter.
In his first year of arbitration eligibility, Smith agreed to a $5.25 million salary for 2023. Smith was voted to the All-MLB second team after hitting .260 with an .807 OPS and 24 home runs in 2022 while playing a career-high 137 games and driving in a personal-best 87 runs.
Buehler agreed to an $8.025 million salary for 2023, a season that he will spend rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery. The Dodgers are hopeful that Buehler might be able to return late in the season but a 2024 comeback is more likely.
May returned from his Tommy John surgery and made six starts in the regular season last year. He agreed to a one-year, $1.675 million deal in his first year of arbitration eligibility.
Thompson was also in the first year of eligibility and agreed to a $1.45 million salary. Relievers Almonte ($1.5 million), Graterol ($1.225 million) and Ferguson ($1.1 million) also avoided hearings.
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