Well that came out of nowhere! On Friday, Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a one-year deal with free agent outfielder David Peralta. The deal is for one year, and is reported to be for $6.5 million. However, incentives can take it up to $8 million.
This move definitely came out of nowhere, but also makes a ton of sense. The Dodgers currently had Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor and a bunch of question marks in the outfield. Trayce Thompson or James Outman were likely to get the first crack at centerfield, however, neither provided much stability or known value.
While Peralta isn’t exactly the hitter he once was, he’s been extremely solid over the course of his nine-year career, slashing a career .281/.339/.457 with 110 home runs and 486 RBIs.
Peralta spent the first eight-plus years of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays last season. Overall in 2022, Peralta hit .251 with 12 home runs, 59 RBIs and an above-average OPS+ of 109.
Peralta won the Silver Slugger Award in 2018, when he crushed a career-high 30 home runs and 87 RBIs, hitting .293 with an OPS+ of 127 and an OPS of .868. And in 2019, he won a Gold Glove in left field, where he’s spent a majority of his big league career. Peralta has spent 736 games in left field, 176 in right and 23 in center. He’s also thrown one career big league inning — and hey, with Hanser Alberto gone, the Dodgers may need another late-inning reliever.
Peralta is likely going to compete for a starting spot off the bat. I actually expect him to not only win the Opening Day starting outfield spot, but do so in left field, pushing CT3 to center. This would move Thompson to an off-the-bench role, and could push Outman to Triple-A to start the season.
The move definitely came out of left field (pun intended), but I really like it for the Dodgers. I thought they desperately needed to add more depth in the outfield, and with the 35-year-old Peralta, that’s exactly what they did.
In his 209 career plate appearances at Dodger Stadium, Peralta has three home runs, 15 RBIs and nine doubles. Those numbers are sure to increase this season. Welcome to LA, David!