DODGERS AVOID ARBITRATION WITH PITCHER GONSOLIN

The Dodgers won’t have any arbitration hearings this offseason after all.

On Tuesday, the team announced it had agreed to terms with pitcher Tony Gonsolin on a two-year contract worth $6.65 million plus significant escalators, thus avoiding an arbitration hearing.

Of the Dodgers’ 10 arbitration-eligible players this winter, Gonsolin was the only one who failed to settle with the team on a salary for 2023 ahead of a mid-January deadline. Instead, Gonsolin filed at $3.4 million while the

Dodgers filed at $3 million.

Typically, the Dodgers are a “file and trial” team, meaning they don’t continue negotiations after the filing deadline while awaiting an arbitration hearing. They have, however, made exceptions for multi-year contracts. And this year, Gonsolin became the latest example.

Gonsolin had a breakout performance in 2022, earning his first All-Star selection while going 16-1 with a 2.14 ERA, by far the best season of his four-year career.

He helped anchor the rotation while Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler battled injuries. He spent much of the summer near the top of the major league ERA leaderboard. And he looked primed to play a key role in the team’s postseason plans.

But the right-hander suffered a forearm strain in late August that limited him to just one more regular season start and hampering him during a brief outing in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Still, as they went through the arbitration process — Gonsolin’s first after he qualified as a “Super Two” player, giving him four years of arbitration eligibility instead of the customary three — the pitcher and the team weren’t far apart and ultimately settled in the middle for a 2023 salary of $3.25 million.

In 2024, Gonsolin’s base salary will be $3.4 million but includes escalators based off the number of starts he makes in 2023 that could increase his total earnings to more than $6 million.

Notable

Dexter Fowler says he is retiring at age 36 after 14 major league seasons.

An All-Star outfielder in 2016 when he won a World Series title with the Cubs, Fowler hit .259 with 127 homers and 517 RBIs.

A 14th-round pick by Colorado in the 2004 amateur draft, Fowler played for the Rockies, Houston, the Cubs, St. Louis and the Angels. Fowler signed a minor league contract with Toronto last March 31.

He went-5 for-12 (.417) with three RBIs in three games for Triple-A Buffalo from April 28-30, then was released on May 3.

Rays INF Yandy Diaz agreed to a $24 million, threeyear contract on that avoided a salary arbitration hearing. Diaz’s agreement could be worth $36 million over four seasons.

Diego Castillo and the

Seattle Mariners have gone to salary arbitration, with the relief pitcher asking for $3,225,000 and the team offering $2.95 million. A decision is expected today.

A 29-year-old RHP, Castillo was 7-3 with a 3.64 ERA and seven saves in 59 relief appearances last year for the Mariners, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2001 and lost to eventual World Series champion Houston in the Division Series.