by Cary Osborne
The Dodgers, for the second consecutive season, have inked a power-hitting veteran corner outfielder to a short-term deal.
This year it’s Michael Conforto, a nine-year veteran who spent the last two seasons with the San Francisco Giants and hit 20 home runs in 2024 (including 17 on the road). Conforto agreed to a one-year contract with the Dodgers on Tuesday.
President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said the Dodgers have admired Conforto from afar for some time and checked in on his availability at the trade deadline last season.
Conforto, a 2017 All-Star with the New York Mets, batted .237/.309/.450/.759 with a 116 OPS+ and 50 extra-base hits with the Giants in 2024.
“It’s not often with a guy that they are both a floor-raiser with ceiling,” Friedman said. “And we feel like he will come in and hit middle-ish somewhere in our lineup and drive in a lot of runs, and that there’s a real professional at-bat in there, but also with some upside.”
The left-handed hitting outfielder showed significantly better away from San Francisco’s Oracle Park the last two seasons.
Conforto’s splits (2023–2024):
· Home:.225/.308/.353/.661
· Road: .253/.332/.471/.803
Conforto was one of the most productive outfielders in the game in the four-year span between 2017–2020. He ranked the following among MLB outfielders:
· Home runs (97): 10th
· OPS+ (134): Eighth
· Total bases (825): Ninth
· OPS (.864): 10th
· SLG (.495): 12th
· fWAR (13.5): Seventh
· bWAR (12.2): 12th
Conforto will be 32 on Opening Day.
He missed the entire 2022 season due to right shoulder surgery. He batted .238/.322/.418/.740 with 35 home runs and a 108 OPS+ over the last two seasons with the Giants.
The Dodger outfield has been one place of uncertainty after their World Series championship. Teoscar Hernández, who the Dodgers signed last offseason to a one-year deal, is a free agent. Mookie Betts is moving back to shortstop. Tommy Edman signed an extension with the Dodgers this offseason and will play center field. The other outfielders on the Dodger 40-man roster are Andy Pages (after an impact rookie season) James Outman (who split the season between the Majors and Minor Leagues) and multipositional Chris Taylor.
Conforto adds more power from the left side, joining Shohei Ohtani (.646 slugging percentage in 2024), Freddie Freeman (.476) and Max Muncy (.494) in the Dodger lineup.
Dodgers add former All-Star outfielder Michael Conforto was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.