LA right-hander was eligible for salary arbitration for a third time, after a 3.62 ERA and 18 saves in 2024
Evan Phillips and the Dodgers avoided salary arbitration, agreeing to terms on a one-year contract for 2025, per multiple reports. The relief pitcher will earn $6.1 million this season, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times and Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic.
With four years, 136 days of major league service time, Phillips is going through the arbitration process for the third of potentially four times. He was a Super Two in 2023, among the top 22 percent in service time among players with at least two years but not yet three years of accrued time. Phillips earned $1.3 million in 2023, and made $4 million last year.
Phillips has been one of the best relief pitchers in baseball since joining the Dodgers on a waiver claim in August 2021, ranking seventh in ERA (2.28), 11th in FIP (2.79), and 15th in strikeout-minus-walk rate (22.3 percent) among relievers with at least 150 innings.
In 2024, Phillips posted a 3.62 ERA and 3.27 xERA in his 61 games, with 63 strikeouts and 17 walks in 54⅔ innings. His 18 saves were the second-most of his career, though only saved three games over the final two months after a rough July, allowing 11 runs in 10 games over 7⅔ innings.
Phillips suffered a shoulder injury in Game 6 of the NLCS that kept him off the World Series roster, though he’s expected to be ready to go in spring training.
MLB Trade Rumors projected Phillips to make $6.2 million this season, while Cot’s Baseball Contracts predicted a $5.95 million salary. I guessed $6.25 million for Phillips.