Add another potential starter to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spendy off-season.
ESPN and several other media outlets are reporting left-hander James Paxton has agreed to a one-year, $11-million US deal, an important footnote considering he has a total of 25 starts since the 2020 season due to back and elbow surgeries.
He will also receive a $1 million opening day roster bonus plus $1 million in incentives.
The 35-year-old from Ladner, B.C., would slot into a rotation that underwent a dramatic facelift but won’t yet include the biggest off-season addition, Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani, a two-way star and MVP with the Angels, will not pitch in 2024 due to elbow surgery.
The Dodgers signed Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, acquired Rays No. 1 starter Tyler Glasnow and welcome back Walker Buehler from Tommy John surgery. Bobby Miller and Paxton could become the No. 4 and No. 5 starters, in some order, when the signing becomes official.
Yamamoto pitched as part of a six-man rotation common in Japanese professional baseball, Glasnow had Tommy John surgery in 2021, and Paxton missed the entire 2022 season.
Paxton sat out the month of September 2023 with the Boston Red Sox due to left knee soreness, and his reliability was likely a concern in the free agent market given his recent but repetitive injury history.
He is 64-38 in 156 major league starts with 932 strikeouts in 850 2/3 innings with the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Red Sox.
His career ERA is 3.69, but Paxton has made more than 20 starts only three times since breaking into the league in 2013 and last did so in 2019 with the Yankees.
