*Photo from FanGraphs*
The franchise catcher is in town for a while. The Los Angeles Dodgers and C Will Smith have agreed to a 10 year, $140 million contract extension, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The Dodgers have confirmed the signing.
Smith gets a $30 million signing bonus and $5 million of his annual salary will be deferred, with the $45 million total in deferred money to be paid between 2034 and 2043. Smith's contract is the 3rd largest contract given to a catcher in baseball, trailing only Buster Posey's $167 million deal and Joe Mauer's $184 million deal.
Last season was Smith's 5th year in the majors. He ended the season with a .261/.359/.438 slash line with a 114 OPS+, hitting 19 home runs and 21 doubles with 76 RBI's in 126 games, making the NL All Star team. He had 5 hits and two RBI's in 12 plate appearances over 3 playoff games.
Smith said of signing his contract that "I’ve loved being here since I got drafted in 2016. I don’t think I would be the player I am without being here. So for me to probably finish my career a Dodger means a lot. I couldn’t be happier and more excited moving forward. There’s no better organization that’s more committed to winning a World Series and that’s most important to me when it comes to baseball. I’m looking forward to these next 10 years."
Originally a first round pick of the Dodgers, Smith now becomes the 4th Dodgers player to be signed past the 2032 season. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are the others, with Tyler Glasnow and Freddie Freeman also under contract for the next 5 and 4 years respectively.
The contract comes as Smith was previously scheduled to hit free agency at the end of the 2025 season. He had initially agreed to an $8.5 million contract for 2024 to avoid arbitration, but that deal is now nullified as his extension kicks in immediately.
Los Angeles president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said of extending Smith that "It is something that has been on top of our to-do list, was to figure out how to keep Will and Cara (his wife) in the Dodgers family for as far as we can see out. Throughout conversations they have maintained their strong desire to be here and we have reiterated that back. So for it to culminate with this extension today is extremely exciting for all of us."
Smith has spent all of his career in the Dodgers organization, making his major league debut in 2019. He has a career .263/.358/.484 slash line with a 126 OPS+ and 128 wRC+, hitting 91 home runs and 85 doubles with 308 RBI's in 486 games. He has a .221/.297/.390 slash line with 21 RBI's and 5 home runs in 41 playoff games.
The Dodgers have played two games in the season already, going 1-1 in South Korea against the division rival San Diego Padres. They continue their schedule Thursday as the rest of baseball starts the season, with the Dodgers starting a series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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