The exchange date for salary arbitration is this Thursday, and we’ve already looked at comparable players to pitcher Brusdar Graterol, outfielder Alex Call, and left-hander Anthony Banda. The other Dodgers player eligible for arbitration this year is right-hander Brock Stewart.
Stewart has four years, 93 days of major league service time, and is eligible for arbitration for a second time. You’ll recognize the comparable pitchers listed below from Banda’s arbitration preview from Tuesday, as both have
similar service time.
Stewart was originally drafted by the Dodgers in 2014 and was reacquired at the trade deadline last season, but in between bounced around to various teams and was interrupted by several injuries, such that his 37 2/3 innings in 2025 between the Twins and Dodgers represent his major league career high. The 34-year-old Stewart had shoulder surgery in October will sideline him for a big chunk of 2026 as well, which adds another layer to his arbitration case.
These pitchers, after Banda and Stewart, are sorted by salary in the arbitration year in question, with the top three on the list all having double-digit career saves to this point. Banda is coming off two solid seasons in a row, and starting from a higher spot, having earned $1 million in 2025 compared to $870,000 for Stewart.
Platform year
Stewart has been effective for the last three seasons, with 2.44 ERA and 2.83 xERA, but totaled just 81 innings since the start of 2023 thanks to various injuries. And he’s only totaled 186 2/3 career major league innings, with his comparable pitchers coming from lower in the above list than Banda.
Let’s look at a few pitchers from the list above, with their season directly preceding their four-year arbitration case:
- Brock Stewart (2025): 43 G, 37 2/3 IP, 2.63 ERA, 2.66 xERA, 0 saves, 19.5-percent K-BB
- Keegan Akin (2024): 66 G, 78 2/3 IP, 3.32 ERA, 2.45 xERA, 1 save, 24.9-percent K-BB
- Drew Smith (2022): 44 G, 46 IP, 3.33 ERA, 3.78 xERA, 0 saves, 20.3-percent K-BB
- JT Chargois (2023): 46 G, 42 1/3 IP, 3.61 ERA, 3.63 xERA, 1 save, 9.8-percent K-BB
- José Ruiz (2024): 52 G, 51 IP, 3.71 ERA, 4.22 xERA, 1 save, 16.1-percent K-BB
- Josh Sborz (2024): 17 G, 16 1/3 IP, 3.86 ERA, 4.01 xERA, 2 saves, 18.8-percent K-BB
Keegan Akin made the most of this group during this year of arbitration, earning $1.475 million in 2025 after making $825,000 the year before. But he more than doubled Stewart’s innings in the season immediately preceding this arbitration year, and due to starting for two previous years had 63 percent more career innings than Stewart to this point. To me that makes Akin’s $1.475 million beyond what Stewart might make in 2026.
Drew Smith had a more comparable launch year to Stewart, who had 53 percent more innings than Smith in their careers to this point. Smith earned $1.3 million in 2023, a 73.3-percent raise over his previous-year salary of $750,000.
How Stewart’s shoulder surgery factors into his potential arbitration case remains to be seen, with him expected to miss time at the start of the season while rehabbing. Josh Sborz, like Stewart another former Dodgers draft pick, was in a similar situation last offseason, coming off shoulder surgery that November. Sborz was expected to miss the beginning of 2025 but ended up not pitching at all last season. Sborz, who had similar career numbers to Stewart — worse ERA and ERA+, better strikeout rate and FIP — made $1.1 million, though that was after pitching only 17 games in 2024.
MLB Trade Rumors projected a $1.4 million salary in 2026 for Stewart, while Cot’s Baseball Contracts predicted of $1.25 million. I’m inclined to pick in the middle, slightly more than Smith’s number, at $1.35 million for Stewart.
