The Friday deadline for submitting contract tenders in Major League Baseball often acts as a soft cutoff for players eligible for salary arbitration and those on the roster’s fringe. Dustin May falls into the former category and has already agreed to terms with the Dodgers for the 2025 season.
According to the Associated Press, May and the Dodgers reached a deal on Friday for a $2.135 million contract for 2025. This is the same amount he earned in 2024, avoiding arbitration last January as well.
May missed the first half of this season recovering from elbow surgery in July 2023, and any hopes of returning late in 2024 were dashed by an esophageal tear requiring surgery in July.
It’s common for players who miss an entire season to receive the same or similar salary during their arbitration years. This was the case for Walker Buehler last offseason, who, after missing the previous year, avoided arbitration in January with a $8.025 million deal for 2024, matching his 2023 salary.
May, who has 5 years and 59 days of service time, has pitched only 191⅔ major league innings with a 3.10 career ERA. Due to elbow surgeries in 2021 and 2023, he hasn’t exceeded 56 professional innings in a season since 2020.
Now that May’s contract is settled, and with Connor Brogdon opting for free agency after being removed from the 40-man roster, the Dodgers still have seven players eligible for salary arbitration this winter: Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol, Tony Gonsolin, Evan Phillips, Gavin Lux, Alex Vesia, and Anthony Banda.
Leave a Reply