The Dodgers and lefty reliever Scott Alexander agreed to terms on a one-year deal this week, not long before Wednesday’s deadline of offering contracts to potential non-tender candidates.
Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports was among the first to report the news, indicating that Alexander’s deal was worth a flat $1 million, all of which is fully guaranteed.
The non-tender deadline allows teams to offer contracts to players on the 40-man roster who are normally on the edge of the big league side, often being eligible for salary arbitration.
Alexander found himself in a similar predicament last year.
Many fans wondered if Los Angeles would tender a contract to the 31-year-old native of Santa Rosa, especially after he was not included on any of the club’s 2020 postseason rosters.
During the shortened 2020 season, Alexander made 13 appearances, posting a 2.92 ERA over 12-1/3 innings of work. However, some of his other metrics—a whopping 6.03 FIP and a 1.459 WHIP—were perhaps more indicative of his effectiveness.
Indeed, the three-batter minimum rule in 2020 prevented Alexander from being used as he normally would have, as he has typically been known as a lefty specialist for the majority of his professional career.
After dealing with a hamstring injury at the beginning of 2019, he later struggled with nerve issues in his left arm that eventually trickled down to his thumb, allowing him to make just 28 appearances during the 2019 campaign. During that season, he threw 17-1/3 innings, registering a 3.63 ERA and a 5.06 FIP with nine strikeouts and seven walks.
In 2018, he made a career-high 73 appearances, posting a 3.68 ERA and a 3.57 FIP over an even 66 innings.
His best year as a professional came in 2017 for the Kansas City Royals when he made 58 appearances and posted a 2.48 ERA with a 3.23 FIP alongside 59 punchouts in an even 69 innings.
The Dodgers originally landed Alexander in a three-team trade with the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals in January 2018. In the deal, Los Angeles received Alexander from the Royals and minor league infielder Jake Peter from the White Sox. Chicago received left-handed pitcher Luis Avilan, right-handed pitcher Joakim Soria and cash considerations, while Kansas City received infielder Erick Mejia and right-handed pitcher Trevor Oaks.
Over the course of his six-year, major league career, the former 37th round pick of the 2007 draft by Cincinnati has made 193 appearances, producing a 3.18 ERA and a 3.73 FIP with 152 strikeouts and 81 walks in 189-2/3 innings.
Mainly utilizing a sinker and a slider, he has been known in recent years for his ability to induce ground ball outs. Lifetime, he has a 70.9% ground ball rate per balls in play. For the Royals in 2017, he registered an impressive 73.8% ground ball rate.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
AF made a great deal tonight in getting Corey Knebel from the Brewers just before they non tendered him. He’s just recovered from TJ surgery but at his best he was great. Came back from the surgery in August last year and got off to a slow start but by the end of the year he was doing very well. This could be another Morrow-type move.
Two other guys who were non-tendered today are of interest to me (and I hope possibly to Andrew).
David Dahl – lefty hitting outfielder who made the AS team a couple years ago. Perfect platoon partner for Pollock because neither of them can stay healthy.
Matt Wisler – righty pitcher who can start or relieve. Had an excellent 2020 season and won’t cost very much.
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Excellent Post.
I really like the Knebel acquisition. HUGE upside for around $5M plus a low level prospect or cash. This is Friedman taking advantage of the new reality in MLB.
I looked over the non-tender list and missed Dahl. Great catch! He’s a stud, I believe I remember him hurting the Dodgers in the past. Former #10 overall draft pick and only 28 yrs old. Injury history, but for around $2-3M a nice replacement for Pederson. I’d still like to see Pederson come back, for what he is, a platoon left fielder, but unless he is taking a pay cut he probably won’t be back. Dahl is a great replacement for much less money, but less power.
Not sure about Wisler, great ERA in 2020, but we need and can afford ELITE relievers. That is where we should spend, in my opinion. So far looks like the following locks for next years pitching staff:
Urias-L
Price-L
May-R
Gonsolin-R
Beuhler-R
Kershaw-L
Alexander-L
Gonzalez-L
Graterol-R
Jansen-R
Kelly-R
Knebel-R
That’s a total of 12, how many will they carry 13? We’ve got several other possibilities on the 40 man roster already. Friedman still has some work to do with this pitching staff, I see some trades coming.
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Jeff, I think you were way off there with your spelling of “Kluber.” 🙂
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Do I at least get credit for the “K” ?
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Not sure what I think about this Knebel acquisition, Dennis I think we’re going to need an article with some facts and figures on this one.
Bear, and Jeff, I left a post about parking lot ownership and revenue on the last thread. Hope it clears up some misconceptions about McCourts involvement.
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I’m guessing they’ll carry 13 pitchers. It’s getting to the point where Kelly might have to be dumped on someone. At his best he’s great, but he’s rarely at his best. Floro was much more valuable to us than Kelly last year and I’d still like to add a high-end reliever like Hendriks (very doubtful we would be high bidder there), Hand, Rosenthal or Colome.
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Oops, that last comment was supposed to be in answer to Boxout.
Thanks for clarifying the McCourt parking lot situation Keith. Looks like we’re tied to him for 99 years. Fun times!
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I agree Jeff D, 13 pitchers will probably be on the roster.
It would be great if Kelly started earning his salary, he has wonderful stuff and looks unhittable on TV, just needs to stay healthy and hit his spots. He is also useful if you need someone to nail somebody in the ribs. Hope he pulls it together because dumping his $8.5M 2021 salary with his $4M 2022 buyout or $12M salary will be tough. Maybe not as tough as dumping Jansen’s $20M 2021 salary or Price’s 2021 and 2022 $32M (less what Boston pays) but still tough.
I can see a possible trade of bad contracts with another team for one of the three above and trading Alexander’s $1M semi valuable contract with another year of control after 2021 to make room for an upgrade. How about Kelly for Kris Bryant? The rest of the guys I listed above have great contracts (Kershaw of course a special situation) with multiple years of future control and seem to be keepers unless we get something VERY valuable in return.
If nothing else, trade Alexander and replace with Hand, sign one other ELITE free agent reliever.
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I have no desire to trade Price at this point. We’re only paying half his salary and as people have been pointing out at various sites, most pitchers are going to have a hard time going through a 162 game schedule this year when they only played 60 last year (adjust accordingly for starting pitchers since they don’t play every day). I would say we’ll need at least 8 or 9 starters before the year is over and we may be happy to have Price.
Not sure who would take Kenley’s contract even in exchange for another bad contract of about equal value. Do you have any thoughts on that one? I expect KJ to be here.
Kelly for Bryant – it’s definitely going to take more than just Kelly to get Bryant. Others will certainly make the Cubs a better offer. I’m not even all that anxious to have Bryant (would rather just resign JT) but if you want them to take Kelly off our hands I think we’d have to include a decent prospect as well.
Alexander – a million really isn’t bad for a guy who, at his best, is a fairly decent bullpen piece. He just walks too many guys. If he could solve that problem he could be a big help. I would include him in a trade if someone insisted on him but I wouldn’t be all that anxious to get rid of him.
There you have my two cents worth, which I figure is actually only worth about 1.5 cents.
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Alexander for 1 mil. Not a bad deal. Knebel will be two years removed from surgery, so he should be healthy. Meetings start Monday, but don’t expect too much action from AF..
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Lots of questions on 35 yr old Price and his $16M salary (net of Boston’s money) after him sitting out a year. I think there is much better options out there. Good chance in my opinion that Alex Wood will pitch just as well in 2021 at about $4M. I’d like to see Dodgers trade all three of these guys, however, I TOTALLY expect all three to be with the Dodgers in 2021, so I hope I’m wrong and Price excels. But, If anyone can find a taker for these guys, it’d be Friedman. I never thought in a million years he’d find someone for Gonzalez, Kazmir and McCarthy. So I guess anything is possible.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Cubs do with Bryant and his $19M salary. Cubs are another team reporting they lost about $150M this year. I think he’s available for very little, but I agree with you, I’d rather the Dodgers go with Turner and all their other in house options.
Lastly, I agree with you guys Alexander at $1M is a good signing. But this is where I’d like to see Dodgers spend, trade Alexander for a nice prospect and sign Hand for two years for about $12M. Get one more stud reliever for the last roster spot and that’s a killer bullpen.
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