The Dodgers avoided arbitration with two pitchers Friday, agreeing to contracts for next season with right-handers Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, both of whom will be returning to the mound after missing all of this past season because of injuries.
According to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, May settled with the Dodgers at $2.135 million and Gonsolin at $5.4 million. The deals came ahead of Friday’s deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players.
May, 27, has a 3.10 earned-run average in 46 appearances but has yet to fulfill his promise as a top prospect because of struggles with injuries. Since the start of 2021, May has made just 20 starts. In May 2021 he underwent Tommy John surgery. After returning near the end of 2022, his 2023 season was cut short by another elbow surgery, this time to repair his flexor tendon. Then, after hoping to return this past season, May required esophageal surgery in July, sidelining him for the remainder of the year.
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Despite that, the Dodgers still envision May as a potential impact player in his final season under team control before free agency, hopeful that he still will possess much of his old, wicked stuff.
Gonsolin, 30, is in a similar situation. After his breakout All-Star campaign in 2022 was derailed by a late-season arm injury, Gonsolin struggled in 2023 before undergoing Tommy John surgery that August. He came close to returning at the end of this past season, including completing a minor-league rehab assignment. But the Dodgers didn’t put him on their postseason roster, deciding against rushing him back.
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Both Gonsolin, who won’t be a free agent until after the 2026 season, and May are expected to be ready for opening day.
The Dodgers have six other players still eligible for arbitration: Evan Phillips (who is estimated to receive $6.2 million, per MLB Trade Rumors), Michael Kopech ($5.2 million), Brusdar Graterol ($2.7 million), Gavin Lux ($2.7 million), Alex Vesia ($1.9 million) and Anthony Banda ($1.1 million).
Another arbitration-eligible player, reliever Connor Brogdon, was outrighted to triple-A Oklahoma City last week.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
