by The Dodgers and the right-hander Tony Gonsolin signed a two-year, $6.65 million contract to avoid arbitration, the team announced. The deal does not affect the club’s squad control window as it is still controllable throughout the 2026 season.
The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports the financial breakdown of the Beverly Hills Sports Council client (on Twitter). Gonsolin will earn $3.25 million in the upcoming season, slightly north of the midpoint between his $3.4 million deposit figure and the team’s $3 million offer. The deal contains a fairly modest base salary of $3.4 million for 2024, but would allow the right-hander to tack on a decent amount if he stays healthy this year. Gonsolin’s 2024 salary would increase by $500,000 apiece if he makes 14, 16, 18, 20, 24 and 28 starts this season, which could add $3 million to his 24-year-old salary. The contract also contains bonuses based on his finishes in Cy Young’s vote.
The Associated Press reports that Gonsolin’s 2024 salary is increased by $1.125 million if he wins the Cy Young next season, with $625,000 available for a top-three finish and $500,000 if he finishes fourth overall. fifth. According to the AP, any appearance of relief of at least 3 1/3 would be tantamount to a start for the ends of the escalators – presumably a way to protect Gonsolin’s path to unlock the escalators in case he is deployed behind a door opener .
It’s a relatively inconsequential transaction overall, but it does provide some cost certainty for club and player over the next two years. Gonsolin, who qualified for arbitration at the start of the winter as a Super Two player, will have two more seasons of arbitration eligibility spanning 2025-26. The agreement concludes the Dodgers’ arbitration work for this offseason, as they had agreed to terms with their nine other arb-eligible players by the Jan. 14 deadline for the parties to swap numbers.
Gonsolin debuted in 2019 and worked as a deep starter for his first two-plus seasons. Although the Saint Mary’s product was consistently effective, he failed to land a permanent spot in the Dodgers’ strong rotation until last year. During the 2022 campaign, Gonsolin established himself as one of the best pitchers in the sport. He posted a brilliant 2.14 ERA in 130 1/3 innings spanning 24 starts. A .207 batting average on balls in play makes it unlikely he will maintain that ace-level run prevention, but the 28-year-old has knocked out 23.9% of opponents above average with a strong rate 7% walking. Even though his ERA is receding, he looks like a quality mid-rotation pitcher.
The Dodgers’ payroll sits at just under $222 million, according to Roster Resource calculations. The team’s competitive tax balance sits a few million dollars above the base threshold of $233 million, with Gonsolin’s average annual value of $3.325 million counting in the ledger. They represent approximately $238 million in estimated CBT obligations.
