Max Muncy and the Dodgers Lock it In
Max Muncy is a Dodgers success story. He’s compiled 10 (10!) WAR over the past two seasons, walking and homering and standing at second base in ways that would have been hard to predict two years ago. What would have been easy to predict, though, is his salary. As a pre-arb player, the Dodgers had absolute discretion over his pay (subject to the major league minimum) and chose to give him $545,000 in 2018 and $575,000 in 2019.
Muncy was scheduled to head to an arbitration hearing with his club. He asked for a $4.675 million salary for 2020, and Los Angeles countered with $4 million. We’ll never know what the outcome of that hearing will be, though, because as Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday, he signed a three-year extension worth $26 million dollars. The contract also includes a team option for a fourth year, at a salary of $13 million, with a $1.5 million buyout (the contract is actually for $24.5 million plus the buyout, which places the option year at $11.5 million net).
At first glance, this looks low. Muncy has been worth 10 WAR over the past two seasons! He’s one of the best hitters on one of the game’s best teams. Look upon his ZiPS, ye mighty, and despair:
Year | BA | OBP | SLG | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | OPS+ | DR | WAR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | .255 | .374 | .508 | 427 | 80 | 109 | 19 | 1 | 29 | 91 | 77 | 130 | 4 | 133 | 5 | 4.0 |
2021 | .257 | .375 | .521 | 413 | 78 | 106 | 20 | 1 | 29 | 91 | 74 | 124 | 3 | 136 | 5 | 3.9 |
2022 | .251 | .368 | .496 | 399 | 73 | 100 | 18 | 1 | 26 | 83 | 71 | 118 | 3 | 129 | 5 | 3.3 |