Report: Ex-Red Sox LHP James Paxton signs with Los Angeles Dodgers
The free spending Los Angeles Dodgers have struck again, reportedly signing a former Red Sox left-hander to further bolster their starting rotation.
According to multiple reports, the Dodgers have signed James Paxton to a one-year, $11 million contract that could be worth up to $13 million if certain bonuses and incentives are met.
Paxton becomes the Dodgers’ latest addition amid an offseason in which the club has already committed more than $1 billion to future payroll obligations. Los Angeles first signed two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million megadeal, the largest in MLB history, and then followed that up by signing Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million deal, the largest ever for a pitcher.
Los Angeles then traded for Tampa Bay ace Tyler Glasnow and signed him to a five-year extension, and now Paxton is set to join him, Yamamoto and a returning Walker Buehler in the Dodgers rotation. Future Hall of Famer and longtime Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw also remains a free agent and could conceivably still return as well.
Paxton is coming off a bounce-back season in which he started 19 games, threw 96 innings and posted a 4.50 ERA for the Red Sox after being limited to just 21.2 innings over the prior three years by injury. Upon his return from Tommy John surgery Paxton briefly emerged as arguably Boston’s best pitcher, posting a 2.73 ERA over the first half, but he ran out of gas down the stretch and posted a 6.98 ERA over his final nine starts before his season was cut short due to injury in September.