Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler is set to become a free agent when the 2024 season comes to a close. Buehler got a one-year, $8.025 million deal last offseason, his final year of salary arbitration eligibility, but is not guaranteed to return for the 2025 season as a free agent.
Will Buehler test the market?
Bob Nightengale of USA Today doesn't think he will. Nightengale told Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation that he thinks Buehler will re-sign once all is said and done.
"He's going to have to sign a one-year contract, maybe a club option, player option, that sort of thing," Nightengale told McKain. "So it makes all the sense in the world for him to come back to L.A. He knows the trainers, the staff, and then he'll hit the market again. But he's going to have to go with a short-term contract just because he hasn't shown that he's bounced back yet with all the struggles. I can't see him signing more than a one-year deal with an option or two?"
Nightengale thinks it's more likely Buehler stays rather than tests the market. After all, the Dodgers are the team that opted to take a chance on Buehler in the 2015 MLB Draft despite him needing Tommy John surgery coming out of college. The Dodgers have stuck with Buehler through a couple injury setbacks, most recently as his rehab from his second Tommy John procedure caused him to miss nearly two years worth of baseball.
"As long as he trusts the Dodgers' staff and the trainers, why not have the same regimen going? They know him better than anybody else," Nightengale said. The Dodgers would make more sense than some other team, just taking a gamble having never seen him, haven't done the medical reports on him, that sort of thing."
The question might come down to whether another team has more faith in Buehler's ability to rebound in 2025 than the Dodgers -- and is willing to spend the money to back it up. The two-time All-Star has not been consistent since his return, going 1-5 with a 5.54 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 14 starts. He has given up at least three earned runs in nine of those starts.
Buehler is coming off one of his best starts of the season Monday. Facing the Atlanta Braves, Buehler pitched six innings and allowed three hits, two runs (one earned), walked five, and struck out five. Along with Buehler showing some improvement, the Dodgers could want to keep him for depth.
It's no secret that the Dodgers' starting rotation is depleted. Outside of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching next season, there are plenty of questions marks, especially surrounding the ability of players like Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, River Ryan, and Kyle Hurt to return and/or stay healthy.
With these injuries and the Dodgers' currently looking at a limited rotation heading into October, it could make sense for the Dodgers to retain a starting pitcher they know.
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