Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — Finally, some good news! According to MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, Chris Taylor and your Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed on deal that will keep the utilityman in Dodger uniform next season and beyond.
No details have emerged about the length of the contract or the monetary value, but given the value that Taylor brings to the club, there will no doubt be plenty of money for all of CT3’s holiday gift-buying needs.
Taylor has emerged over the last few seasons as a vital cog in the Dodgers’ machine. Playing six different positions over the course of last season (everything but pitcher, catcher, and first base), Taylor put up clutch at bats all year long. He was especially valuable during the Corey Seager/Cody Bellinger injury period in the early summer, when he seemed to be carrying the team on his back at times. In July, he hit .333 with an OPS of .988. And while he did have some drop off in the latter stages of the regular season, he came on like gangbusters in the postseason, hitting four home runs and driving in a dozen runs in October.
Plus, he delivered two of the biggest highlights of 2021. First, he drilled a walk-off home run in the Wild Card game against the Cardinals, taking reliever Alex Reyes deep to left field in the bottom of the ninth for the game winner.
Then, Taylor had the biggest game of his life in the NLCS in the Dodgers’ game five victory against the Atlanta Braves. He went 4-for-5 with three home runs and thirteen total bases. Not a bad evening’s work at the ball park.
It’s true, with Taylor you get a lot of swing-and-miss at the plate, and sometimes I wish he’d work on a little more consistent two-strike approach. However, that is the lone downside with this guy, who has talent and grit to spare. What you get with Taylor is versatility and consistency. He can give you quality innings all around the diamond, and as he proved in the postseason last year, no moment is too big for him. It’s a vital piece to the Dodger’s plans for 2022.
Welcome back, CT3!!
UPDATE: We now have numbers on Taylor’s deal with the Dodgers, via an article in the Associated Press. It looks like it’s basically a $60 million-dollar contract over four years, with a club option for year five:
2022: $15 million
2023: $15 million
2024: $13 million
2025: $13 million
2026: $12 million club option ($4 million buyout)
