Times Colonist

Dodgers sign Bellinger to one-year, $17-million deal

- JACK HARRIS

LOS ANGELES — Before Major League Baseball’s lockout began at the start of this month, the Dodgers quietly checked one important item off their winter to-do list.

The team agreed to a one-year, $17-million US contract with former MVP Cody Bellinger to avoid arbitratio­n, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The deal was finished before the lockout began on Dec. 2 — all offseason activity has since been halted — but wasn’t revealed publicly until Thursday.

The $17-million salary represents a $900,000 raise from what the outfielder earned this last season. Bellinger, 26, is entering his third of four arbitratio­neligible seasons and is set to become a free agent after the 2023 campaign.

The deal comes in the wake of a roller-coaster season for Bellinger, who struggled with injuries and woeful production during the regular season before rebounding with a promising performanc­e in the playoffs.

The two-time all-star and 2019 MVP underwent surgery following the team’s 2020 World Series title for a right shoulder injury he sustained in a celebratio­n with then-teammate Kiké Hernández during that year’s National League Championsh­ip Series.

The ensuing recovery limited his offseason training program. He then suffered a hairline fracture in his left fibula during the opening week of the campaign that kept him out for almost two months.

Once he returned, he struggled to find consistenc­y at the plate. His batting average never got back above .200 after July 4. He finished with only 10 home runs and 36 RBIs, by far career-lows for a full-length season. And he suffered a couple other injuries, missing

10 games with left hamstring tightness and eight more because of fractured ribs.

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