The Dodgers have avoided arbitration with utilityman Chris Taylor, per a team announcement. He’ll ink a two-year deal that resolves his arb salaries for both 2020 and 2021, providing respective payouts of $5.6MM and $7.8MM, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
Taylor had been headed for an arbitration hearing. He was seeking a $5.8MM salary, with the Dodgers offering $5.25MM in return. Instead, the sides saw eye to eye on an agreement that provides Taylor some security and gives the club cost certainty.
The 29-year-old Taylor hasn’t quite performed to the level of his breakout 2017 season, but has remained a highly valuable contributor for the Dodgers in the ensuing two seasons. All told, he carries a cumulative .268/.340/.468 batting line since the start of the 2017 season.
Taylor adds value on the bases and in the field, where he’s especially useful given his ability to handle every non-battery position. Obviously the Dodgers foresee another productive campaign from the former fifth-round pick.
Meh. 1 and done.
Kinda underrated, and he’s not being paid that much by current MLB standards. Hasn’t quite lived up the the hype around him a couple of years ago, though.
Hype? He was retrieved from the garbage and has turned into a solid piece on the team. Taylor has never been hyped. If you want someone who hasn’t lived up to the hype look at Carlos Correa.
Correa is still a great player
When he knows what pitch is coming.
LOL right. Correa, Altuve, Bregman at al need to prove themselves this coming season. Watch out for the A’s…
When he cheats.
Yes, let’s see the Astro’s stats this year.
Lol well said
I got the missing the playoffs. the A’s win the division and the Angels win the wildcard
Agree but I expect the entire Astros team will catch hell from all fans around MLB, starting with Opening Day at the Big A. Deservedly so!
Quite the trend. It’s interesting that the 17 world champs cheated and that years AL MVP cheated. The 18 world champs apparently cheated and perhaps that years AL MVP cheated.
True story. He had that one very strong season (2017) which brought him a lot of attention. Since then he’s settled in as a consistently above-average super-utility player. The Dodgers trying him in the OF was a great stroke of insight into the player’s abilities.
Well said.
He was traded for a Dodgers pitcher from Seattle
Turned out to be a great trade for the Dodgers. Taylor is a useful, super utility role player on the Dodgers. The guy LA traded to get him, Zach Lee, has pitched all of 3 games in the bigs since the trade, & got lit up in 2 of them.
Lmfao shows how much you know
When he was a prospect, he absolutely was hyped as the next Mariner SS of the future. Him and Brad Miller were supposed to be their DP combo of the future and both flamed our… till Taylor got to LA and developed Turner’s swing
He was a borderline top 10 Mariner prospect and never appeared on a major top 100 list, so calling him hyped is questionable at best. However he hasn’t disappointed even if he was a top 100. The majority of top prospects do not average 2+ WAR through their team controlled seasons and Taylor has already accumulated 10+ WAR through his first 4 seasons with 2 more cost controlled seasons left to add to that total. If you’re expecting the 10th best prospect in any organization to consistently be a 3+ WAR/season
player you’ll end up being extremely disappointed all the time.
@Commonsenseslapsyou: You are incorrect. The franchise named Taylor their 2013 Minor League Player of the Year. While you might believe that being recognized as the PotY means he was a hyped prospect, it does not. It simply means that he had an outstanding year, & having an outstanding year doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to be an outstanding major leaguer.
Even after SEA’s Minor League PotY Award-winning season, most publications still had Taylor rated 7th to 10th rated prospect. One article that aggregated the rankings of 17 different prospect ranking lists (Bleacher Report, Baseball America, etc.) & had him as SEA’s 9th best prospect. And in a few of these scouting reports, Taylor is described as trade bait b/c Brad Miller was SEA’s SS of the future.
Bottom line: Taylor was never a hot, hyped prospect.
Dude, what are you talking about? Cheating notwithstanding, Correa is a great player. He had a down 2018 (interestingly, several Astros players did…), & had a fractured rib part of last season. He still hit .279/.358/.568 w/ 21 HRs in just 75 games. When healthy, Correa is one of the best SS’s in the AL, if not in baseball.
The trash can had an off year in 2018. It happens
Sophomore jinx
Apparently, you really are 13. Chris Taylor has been an important piece for the Dodgers most since he got here. Good move on both sides.
Almost, not most.
Nice. Taylor is an athletic, good team player.
I’ve always wondered. Is Chris Taylor the player in the MLBTR banner photo? If not he looks pretty similar to me.
I don’t think so… I think the image was in use before Taylor made a name for himself in 2017… I always thought it was an old picture of Jeff Bagwell…
The funny thing is last season CT was garbage until Corey Seager was injured for 8 weeks. He played exclusively SS and put up the same type of numbers Seager would have during that time…
The funny thing is last season CT was garbage until Corey Seager was injured for 8 weeks. He played exclusively SS and put up the same type of numbers Seager would have during that time…
He got off to a poor start, but that’s been the pattern throughout his career.
“Garbage? “ Perhaps, a bit of hyperbole?
Idiot!
My posts come up twice too. Embarrassing. Anyone know why the f?
Hes been extremely valuable so far. He’s averaged 3.8 bWAR over the past 3 years and it looks like with these trades that he should continue to get plenty of opportunity to provive value over the next 2 yrs.
Solid move. I’m wondering if this tips the Teams thinking of CT>KH. Both are versatile depth pieces, but I always wondered if they were eventually going to have to keep one and move the other as they became more expensive. I always liked CT for his 2017, and he also made it easier to deal with the frustration of Zach Lee not planning out.
Maybe, but LA isn’t afraid to pay their players.
I think Taylor has more potential to be a low level starter. Kike, personally, I don’t think he could hold down a platoon all year alone
True but while taylor is better at a few spots I’d say overall kike plays around the entire field better. Shoot remember last year? Only thing he didn’t do was catch
No it’s not unless Taylor works to cut down his record setting strikeout pace
Hot and cold player, gets real hot and real cold. Plays good defense, including CF and SS
nice bench piece who’s had a long road to here, good job for him locking in some money
One thing that Taylor is consistent at is striking out
Which really makes him no different from about 75% of today’s big league “hitters”.
omg he has stunk the last two years
I don’t think so. When the chips are down these guys get it done. They all need to stay together to keep that late inning magic. They come alive in the ninth inning when it matters
Idiot!
Way to lock down our Swiss Army knife! First Muncy and now Taylor… good news Dodger fans
Taylor needs to cut down on his record setting strikeout pace or he needs to be relegated to bench duty
If you don’t play it takes longer to get your timing. A guy who has been hurt sometimes takes a couple of weeks to get his timing. Taylor is a good hitter. He will be fine
I would say any deal with Taylor should require him to work to cut down on his record setting strikeouts or he would be relegated to bench duty.
The Muncy article discussed how his extension raises his tax hit for this season but this article does not discuss how this extension increases Taylor’s tax hit for this season. Any reason for the inconsistency?
Different writers
A lot of cake for a backup.
I like this. He’s a solid player.
Taylor was the guy that broke up the no hitter last year in Atlanta. In the last at bat. He has been solid. Why Roberts don’t play him more is a mystery. But there are young guys that need time I guess
Taylor may be a backup but he’s a starter everywhere. Baez? We don’t got no Baez! We don’t need your stinkin’ Baez!