For the second time in as many years, the Dodgers have reached deals with all of their arbitration-eligible players – in this case, all 14 of them – prior to the February 17 deadline.

The last and arguably biggest of the 14 occurred on Tuesday afternoon, when 28-year-old Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin agreed to a two-year / $6.65 million deal that will run through the 2024 season, thus avoiding arbitration.

Just last week, the Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth-round draft pick in 2016 out of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA rejected the Dodgers one-year / $3 million offer, seeking instead a one-year / $3.4 million deal.

It certainly doesn’t (didn’t) take an astrophysics degree to conclude that the two sides would quickly come to an agreement over a mere $400,000 at a time when half a billion dollar contracts are being signed almost daily. That being said, the $400K salary discrepancy and rapidly approaching arbitration deadline left a good many Dodgers fans squirming in their (Dodger Stadium) seats.

It also doesn’t (didn’t) take one of those degrees to figure out that midway point of $6.65 million is extremely close to the $3.4 million AAV that Gonsolin and his agents were seeking over the life of the (now) agreed upon two-year deal, meaning that Gonsolin scored nearly all of the additional $400K he and his agents at Beverly Hills Sports Council were seeking over the Dodgers original offer – $325,000 of it, to be exact.

Realistically, it is hard (if not impossible) to believe that had the two sides gone into an arbitration hearing, the hard-throwing right-hander (and his agents) would not have prevailed.

Truth be told, when you look at the outstanding 16-1 record and 2.14 ERA that Gonsolin posted in 2022, coupled with his four-year career 26-6 record and career 2.51 ERA, a two-year / $6.65 million contract is an absolute steal by Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. In fact, re-signing Gonsolin for only $6.25 million for two seasons while in his prime ranks right up there with The Great Train Robbery for Friedman and the Dodgers.

Welcome back, Goose!

Play Ball!

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