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James Paxton and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a one-year, $11 million contract, according to the New York Post‘s Jon Heyman.
Jon Heyman @JonHeyman
James Paxton and Dodgers now in agreement. $11M plus $1M Opening Day roster bonus plus $1M incentives.
The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reported on Monday night that the two sides were nearing a deal.
Paxton will join a revamped Dodgers rotation that has already added the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow this offseason. Those additions along with Walker Buehler have given Los Angeles a formidable rotation.
The Dodgers also signed two-way star Shohei Ohtani, though the two-time American League MVP is not expected to be able to pitch in 2024 after undergoing elbow surgery in September.
With this one-year deal, Paxton will have a chance to prove himself in 2024.
Paxton spent the previous two seasons with the Boston Red Sox, though he didn’t pitch in 2022 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
After missing the first six weeks of the 2023 campaign, Paxton made his debut on May 12 with five innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. He was able to pitch for four months without issue until a right knee injury landed him on the injured list on Sept. 10 and ended his season.
Paxton finished 2023 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 101 strikeouts over 96 innings in 19 starts. Even though his season was shortened because the elbow and knee injuries, it was his best year since 2019.
In just six appearances from 2020 to ’22, Paxton allowed 16 earned runs and 23 hits in 21.2 innings. It looked like his career might be nearing an end, especially when factoring in the Tommy John surgery.
There are also reasons to be encouraged that Paxton will be even better in 2024. His average fastball velocity of 95.3 mph last season was its best since 2019 (95.5).
Per Baseball Savant, Paxton ranked in the 60th percentile or better in xERA, xBA and whiff percentage.
While those aren’t the kind of numbers that will dramatically improve a pitching staff, Paxton can be a solid mid-rotation starter for a contending team. Being two years removed from elbow reconstruction surgery should allow him to pitch more innings per start.
This is a solid buy-low move for the Dodgers as they look to make a World Series push in 2024.
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