Thursday is the date for players and teams to exchange salaries for those eligible for arbitration, which serves as a soft deadline of sorts for deals to be struck. All four Dodgers eligible avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to one-year deals.
Right-hander Brusdar Graterol was ahead of the curve, agreeing to terms on Wednesday on a one-year deal at $2.8 million. On Thursday, right-hander Brock Stewart, outfielder Alex Call, and left-hander Anthony Banda came to agreements, per multiple reports.
Banda has found stability the last two seasons in the Dodgers bullpen after playing for seven major league teams in his first seven years. At four years, 135 days of service time, Banda is going through arbitration for the second time. After earning $1 million in 2025, he’ll make $1,625,000 million in 2026, per Katie Woo at The Athletic.
MLB Trade Rumors projected a $1.7 million salary for Banda, who earned $1 million in 2025 in his first year eligible for arbitration. Cot’s Baseball Contracts predicted a $1.55 million salary for Banda. This week, I guessed in between those projections at $1.6 million.
In the 12 offseasons since Andrew Friedman was hired to run the front office, the Dodgers have signed 83 of 91 arbitration-eligible players (91.2 percent) by the exchange deadline. They’ve only had two salary arbitration hearings in the last 19 years — Joc Pederson and Pedro Báez, both in 2020.
Stewart has a lengthy injury history of his own, and is coming off shoulder surgery in October that will keep him out for the start of the 2026 season. With four years, 93 days of service time, Stewart was eligible for arbitration for a second time, and this year will earn $1.3 million, per Jack Harris now of the California Post and Woo, a 49.4-percent raise over his $870,000 salary last year.
The Dodgers acquired Call from the Nationals at the trade deadline, and with two years, 161 days of service time was eligible for arbitration for the first time this year as a Super Two player, among the top 22 percent of players with at least two but not yet three years of service. Call will make $1.6 million this season, per Harris and Woo.
With these agreements, the Dodgers now have 19 players under contract for 2026. With assumptions for minor league salaries, team benefits, and the pre-arbitration bonus pool, the team’s payroll for competitive balance tax purposes this year is estimated at roughly $323.3 million.
