Dodgers designate veteran left-handed pitcher James Paxton for assignment, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The team has not yet formally announced the move.
Paxton, 35, signed with the Dodgers on a complicated one-year deal that pays him a $3 million signing bonus, a $4 million salary, a $2 million roster bonus for making the Opening Day roster and a series of $600,000 and $1 million bonuses that unlock periodically based on the number of games he plays. Paxton has made 18 starts this season, the final milestone he needed to max out his contract. He will receive the full $13 million possible under the deal, but it appears he will finish the season with another club one way or another.
It will be a move that surprises some. Paxton has a solid 4.43 ERA and, despite a litany of injury problems in recent years, is the Dodgers’ healthiest starter. He is tied for Tyler Glasnow And Gavin Steen leads the team with 18 starts, but is well behind both right-handers in total innings, as he has averaged less than five frames per start.
Paxton’s earned run average also betrays some far less encouraging numbers. His 16.4% strikeout rate is nearly six percentage points shy of the league average of 22.3%, while his 12.3% walk rate is well above the league average of 8.2%. He’s benefited from the help of a .267 average on balls in play, which stands as the lowest mark of his career, despite giving up a career-high 90.8 mph average exit velocity and a 43.3% hard-hit rate, which is the second-worst mark of his tenure in the majors. Paxton has been hit particularly hard of late; since June 5, he has a 6.03 ERA in 37 1/3 innings (eight starts). Stretch that end point out to mid-May, and Paxton has been burned to a 5.82 ERA in his last 11 starts — all while averaging fewer than 4 2/3 frames per outing.
The Dodgers will have both Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back to their rotation this week. Glasnow has been out since July 9 with lower back stiffness and will ultimately spend only a minimum of 15 days on the injured list. Kershaw has not pitched this season while he recovers from shoulder surgery last November. That veteran pair will join Gavin Steen, Landon Knack And Justin Wrobleski as starting options for manager Dave Roberts, although there are also rumors that the Dodgers are promoting a top pitching talent River Ryan for his debut this week. Both Ryan and Kershaw will require the Dodgers to open up 40-man spots, and it appears Paxton’s DFA will create one of those two vacancies.
In addition to Kershaw and Glasnow, the Dodgers hope Hiker Buehler And Yoshinobu Yamamoto back from the injured list sometime next month. Right-handed Bobby Miller was just dismissed due to some ongoing issues, but gives the team another rotation option. And of course, starting pitching is reportedly one of the Dodgers’ top priorities heading into next week’s trade deadline. It would be a surprise if president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman doesn’t expand his rotation in some way.
As for Paxton, he’s now set to be released or traded within the next week. The veteran left-hander has more than enough service time to decline an immediate assignment and retain his full salary, so the Dodgers likely won’t even try to outright him. It’s easy enough to see a team looking for rotation help showing interest, but at the same time, it’d be difficult for any club to give up much in a trade given Paxton’s recent struggles, his relatively notable salary, and the fact that he’ll receive no more than the league’s prorated minimum once released.