The Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday afternoon announced the signing of left-handed pitcher James Paxton to a one-year contract for the 2024 season. Early reports indicate that Paxton will receive an $8 million base salary and a $3 million signing bonus with several other potential incentives.
Paxton, 35, made 19 starts for the Boston Red Sox in 2023, posting a 7-5 record with a 4.50 ERA. He recorded 101 strikeouts in 96.0 innings while allowing 33 walks. It was his first near-full season since 2019, when he went a career best 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA and 186 strikeouts with the New York Yankees. Despite his success last year, he still missed 22 games with a knee issue and another 42 games with hamstring problems.
Paxton had a banner season in 2018 with the Seattle Mariners, posting career highs with 160+ innings, 208 strikeouts, 11.7 strikeouts per nine, two complete games and a 1.098 WHIP. Paxton is best known for his no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018, striking out 16 batters while becoming the first Canadian born left-hander to toss a no-hitter in Canada and the second Canadian born pitcher to toss a no-hitter in Major League Baseball history.
The British Columbia native enters his 11th Major League season and his first in the National League. Over 10 MLB seasons, he has gone a combined 64-38 with a 3.69 ERA in 156 career starts. He was originally drafted by the Mariners in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draft out of the University of Kentucky.
If Paxton stays healthy enough and earns a spot on the 2024 Opening Day roster, he will bring a much-needed lefty arm into the rotation mix. With righty Walker Buehler potentially missing the early portion of the year due to an innings limit, Paxton could conceivably join right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Bobby Miller as the club’s primary starters. If this indeed becomes the case, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and Landon Knack would theoretically compete for the fifth spot, with Michael Grove and Kyle Hurt being utilized as relievers.
Paxton primarily features a four-seam fastball, a slider and a curve, with his heater topping out around 94 MPH.
(Juan Dorado furnished some information provided in this report)