Less than a month after winning the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending big again to add one of Major League Baseball’s best starting pitchers to their star-studded roster.
Left-hander Blake Snell and the Dodgers have agreed to a $182 million, five-year contract, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal is subject to a successful physical.
Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner (with one in each league) broke the news Tuesday night that he had found a new baseball home by posting a photo of himself on social media in a Dodgers uniform wearing a No. 7 jersey.
The 31-year-old Seattle native — he turns 32 on Dec. 4 — is set to receive a $52 million signing bonus, payable on Jan. 20, and annual salaries of $26 million, of which $13 million each year will be deferred. Because he is a Washington resident, the signing bonus will not be subject to California income tax.
Snell would join two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — a pair of standout right-handed pitchers from Japan — atop the rotation in Los Angeles while giving the Dodgers the first megadeal this offseason after Ohtani’s $700 million, 10-year contract and Yamamoto’s $325 million, 12-year agreement last December.