Andre Ethier and the Dodgers reached an agreement on a one-year contract worth almost $11 million. That’s actually a fairly generous contract given his performance over the last few seasons. I wonder if the Dodgers ownership situation kept the team from signing him long term? Maybe the contract was a bit generous so that when the team is sold, Andre might be more tempted to sign an extension than test free agency.
Ethier actually stood to earn more through salary arbitration – the Dodgers saved money with this deal.
Jon Weisman » Really? Players in the final year of arbitration usually get 80% of their free agent value. There’s no reason to believe Ethier is worth more than $12 million, so he should have earned about $9.6 million in arbitration.
Ethier got an 18 percent raise from 2011. That is distinctly below what a player of his type would normally get.
Look at James Loney – he has gotten raises of 57% and 31% the past two years. The base salaries are different than Ethier’s, but given his lack of quality, it really makes Ethier’s low raise stand out.
Jon Weisman » I terms of WAR, Loney did have an above average year for him in 2011.