One of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ most pressing offseason priorities is now in the rearview after the team agreed to a contract extension with third baseman Max Muncy.
The Dodgers and Muncy, 33, agreed to a two-year extension Thursday, according to the team. The news was first reported by Fansided’s Robert Murray and later confirmed by ESPN’s Alden González.
Muncy returns to the Dodgers, who were bounced from the MLB playoffs in a 3-game sweep by the eventual National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks, after batting .212 on the season and tying a career-high with 36 home runs.
Muncy is a two-time MLB All-Star with the Dodgers and has the tenth-most home runs in Dodgers history.
The Dodgers had Muncy under a team option for the 2024 season with a salary set at $14 million, according to Spotrac. This new deal will replace the 2024 team option and keep Muncy under contract through at least 2025, González said on X, formerly Twitter.
The deal is worth $24 million, the team says, and will include a $10 million team option for the 2026 season.
The uncertainty surrounding Muncy’s future was one piece of a high-profile and high-stakes puzzle facing the team this offseason following its unceremonious bouncing from the MLB Playoffs for the second straight year.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
The Dodgers still have decisions to make regarding future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who is an unrestricted free agent, and a handful of other impending free agents, including 2023 NL All Star DH J.D. Martinez, fan favorite Kiké Hernández, and regular rotational starters Jason Heyward, David Peralta and Amed Rosario.
Always a threat to make a splash in free agency, the Dodgers have been often linked to L.A. Angels do-it-all phenom Shohei Ohtani as well as his countryman, pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto who is expected to sign with an MLB team once free agency begins on Nov. 6.
Earlier this year, Muncy’s alma mater, Baylor University, announced the slugger would be inducted into the team’s baseball Hall of Fame.