It’s an early birthday current for Smith, who turns 29 Thursday and has considerably quietly been among the finest catchers within the sport in recent times. Courting again to his 2019 debut by way of the top of 2023, he hit 91 dwelling runs and drew walks in 10.9% of his plate appearances. His .261/.357/.483 batting line coming into the 2024 season interprets to a 128 wRC+. Amongst certified catchers over that span, solely Mitch Garver and Adley Rutschman had a better wRC+. Every of these two had been at 130 however in just half as many plate appearances.
His glovework has additionally acquired robust grades, together with 26 Defensive Runs Saved to this point in his profession. Statcast considers him to have been roughly league common by way of blocking and controlling the operating sport. It’s much less enthused about his framing however FanGraphs considers him to be proper round par in that division, whereas Baseball Prospectus considers him to be effectively above common. His 15.8 wins above substitute from FanGraphs because the begin of 2019 are second amongst main catchers, behind solely J.T. Realmuto.
Smith was going into his second of three arbitration seasons. He made $5.25M final yr and prevented arbitration again in January by agreeing to a wage of $8.55M for 2024. He would have been eligible for one more cross at arbitration in 2025 earlier than qualifying totally free company after his age-30 season, however the Dodgers have locked him up as an alternative.
The construction of the contract stands out as uncommon, as a ten-year deal for a catcher is unprecedented. Per MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, which has information going again to the 2009-10 offseason, no backstop has ever signed a deal longer than eight years. Every of Joe Mauer, Buster Posey and Keibert Ruiz signed eight-year extensions, the longest offers for catchers previously decade-plus.
Catchers typically expertise quite a lot of put on and tear as a result of rigors of the place, which might make it troublesome to realize longevity within the place. By way of offers three years or longer, the oldest age for the participant’s closing season was 37, which applies to the three-year deal Carlos Ruiz signed with the Phillies again in 2013 and an extension Yadier Molina signed with the Cardinals. Russell Martin’s five-year deal with the Blue Jays went into his age-36 season, the oldest age for the ultimate season of any deal longer than three years for a catcher.
The Dodgers have dedicated to Smith for a long term than any of these offers and later into his profession. However in doing so, it appears they had been in a position to compromise by way of the typical annual worth and aggressive steadiness tax hit, which relies on AAV. Smith’s AAV can be simply $14M earlier than accounting for deferrals, which decrease the present-day worth of the deal and the AAV as effectively. Mauer obtained a assure of $184M and a $23M AAV again in 2010. Posey obtained $166.5M and a $20.8M AAV in 2023. Martin’s five-year deal got here with an $82M assure and $16.4M AAV again in 2014.
That’s not to counsel that Smith is pretty much as good as these gamers, merely to level out that the assure isn’t as unprecedented because the size. Whereas the 10-year span is a brand new report for catchers, there are 12 offers with larger AAVs listed on the Contract Tracker. Smith might even transfer down a number of pegs if the deferrals are in depth sufficient to considerably knock down the AAV.
Smith was possible one shot at a life-changing deal when he hit free company after 2025, however he’ll lock up that cash now as an alternative of ready. Maybe he’s sacrificing some future incomes energy however he now foregoes any threat of a big damage slicing into these plans. The Dodgers get to maintain a catcher who has established himself as a key piece of the roster whereas tamping down the luxurious tax hit. The size of the deal will preserve it on the books for a very long time however the modest wage shouldn’t be an albatross for a high-spending membership just like the Dodgers.
In the long term, there’ll inevitably be questions that must be answered in regards to the domino results of this deal. Smith could must be moved from behind the plate to a delegated hitter function over time however the presence of Shohei Ohtani will forestall Smith from getting any form of common function within the DH slot. The Dodgers even have three catching prospects who’re thought-about to be high 100 skills in Diego Cartaya, Dalton Speeding and Thayron Liranzo. As these gamers strategy the Majors, the membership might be going through a little bit of a logjam, although that may be a great downside to have and will enable the Dodgers to bolster different areas of the roster through commerce.
For at this time, it’s a pleasant little bit of safety for each the participant and the membership, cementing a relationship that had a ticking clock with lower than two years remaining.
