PLAYOFF STAR TAYLOR AGREES TO STAY
Dodgers’ valuable, versatile utility player lands a multiyear deal before CBA expires.
After striking out on two of their top free agents over the last three days, the Dodgers managed to retain one Wednesday.
Utility man Chris Taylor agreed to a four-year contract worth $60 million guaranteed to stay in Los Angeles, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, hours before Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expired at 9:01 p.m. PST and the owners imposed a lockout. The deal includes a $12million club option for a fifth season situation with a $4million buyout. The Dodgers designated infielder Sheldon Neuse for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Taylor.
Taylor, 31, picked the best time for a resurgent season in 2021, riding a strong first half to his first All-Star appearance. He stumbled mightily at the plate in the second half — he batted .223 in 62 games — but rebounded to star in the postseason and again raise his stock in free agency.
Taylor began the playoffs as a bench player, but he delivered the walk-off home run in the wild-card game and started the Dodgers’ 10 final playoff games. In Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, he went four for five with three home runs and six RBIs. He
batted .351 with a 1.202 onbase-plus-slugging percentage in 43 postseason plate appearances.
The Dodgers used Taylor at six positions in 2021, but he regressed defensively from his previous levels. Whether that was an aberration or the sign of things to come in his early 30s remains to be seen.
Ultimately, signing Taylor became almost imperative for the Dodgers after losing shortstop Corey Seager to the Texas Rangers, who introduced him at a news conference Wednesday. The Dodgers are expected to move Trea Turner from second base to shortstop. They could then try Gavin Lux at second base again after he struggled in the everyday role to start the 2021 season before bouncing back in September and October as an outfielder.
The depth is slim after that. Taylor gives them premium insurance while bouncing around the diamond. He could also play more third base in 2022 if the universal designated hitter is implemented as expected. That would give the Dodgers more opportunities to get 37-yearold Justin Turner off his legs.
The Dodgers acquired Taylor in an overlooked trade with the Seattle Mariners in 2016. Zach Lee, a former top pitching prospect, went to Seattle. Taylor went to Los Angeles with a .240 career batting average in 86 games. He broke out in 2017, batting .288 with 21 home runs and an .850 OPS, before leading the majors in strikeouts in 2018. After two seasons of relative struggles, he bounced back with an .842 OP Sin the pandemic shortened 2020 campaign, culminating in the Dodgers’ first championship in 32 years.
The Dodgers have lost significant pieces from that team over the last two offseasons. They could lose more with Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen among the unsigned free agents. Taylor won’t be one of them.
Pitch count hurt him, Scherzer says
Max Scherzer wasn’t on the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series team. He was acquired in July to help the Dodgers secure back-to-back titles. It didn’t happen and Scherzer’s time in Los Angeles officially ended Wednesday.
Scherzer made his first media appearance as a member of the New York Mets on a Zoom conference call. He was joined by his agent Scott Boras in Texas, where he was one of eight players representing the union in negotiations with owners in the final hours before the league’s CBA expired. Mets owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler represented his new club, which currently doesn’t employ a manager.
The Mets acquired a future Hall of Famer to place alongside Jacob deGrom atop their starting rotation. Scherzer was guaranteed $130 million over three seasons — the highest annual average value for a player in major league history — after his 37th birthday. Smiles all around.
Scherzer’s final media appearance as a Dodger wasn’t as cheery. It happened in front of the visiting dugout at Truist Park hours before Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. He explained why he wouldn’t make his scheduled start that night against the Atlanta Braves to keep the Dodgers’ season alive. He informed the Dodgers the day before that he couldn’t. He told them his arm was dead after a heavy workload over the previous 11 days. Walker Buehler instead started. The Dodgers’ season went poof that night. At the end of Wednesday’s virtual meeting with reporters, Scherzer addressed the anticlimactic conclusion to his brief Dodgers career.
He said he told the Dodgers he felt confident he could handle an increased workload in the postseason because he successfully handled one during the Washington Nationals’ World Series run in 2019. So he was willing to pitch in relief to close Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants three days after throwing seven innings in Game 3. Three days later, he ran out of stamina in 41⁄3 innings in Game 2 of the NLCS. He was slated to start six days later in Game 6 but his arm never recovered. He was acquired from the Nationals in July for that moment and he decided he couldn’t deliver. He said he was flummoxed. He believes the Dodgers’ pitching plan during the regular season set him up for failure.
“We made decisions to give extra days out on a consistent basis and watch our pitch counts for the postseason,” Scherzer said. “I just feel like that lowered my capacity so that when I tried to do the 2019 formula of being able to pitch out of the ’pen, my arm wasn’t able to respond to that because I came from a lower pitch count, per se. That’s why I didn’t get hurt. That’s why I didn’t hurt myself, but I was definitely compromised trying to execute what I was trying to do in 2019.”
The theory was news to Dodgers officials. They didn’t know of it until Scherzer told reporters. The club expressed interest in re-signing him but wasn’t willing to offer three guaranteed years.