Of the four Los Angeles Dodgers players eligible for salary arbitration this offseason, relief pitcher Brusdar Graterol was the easiest to project in terms of his salary, making his one-year deal to avoid arbitration the first to be reported.
Graterol’s predictable arbitration outcome comes as no surprise, given his established track record, recent performance, and service time, which all contributed to a straightforward negotiation with the Dodgers’ front office.
By contrast, Evan Phillips and Tony Gonsolin presented more complicated arbitration scenarios, as both were recovering from Tommy John surgery and were projected to miss significant portions of the 2026 season, leading the team to non-tender them in November.
Phillips, who underwent Tommy John surgery in June, was expected to miss at least half of the 2026 season, making a guaranteed arbitration deal difficult and financially uncertain for both sides.
Similarly, Gonsolin, eligible for arbitration but recovering from surgery in August, was projected to be unavailable for a large chunk of the season and was subsequently designated for assignment in November.
Graterol, however, is expected to be fully healthy and ready to pitch once spring training begins, making his arbitration salary easier to predict and his presence on the roster almost assured.
In 2024, Graterol struggled with shoulder trouble and a hamstring strain, limiting him to just 10 games, but when healthy, he has been one of the Dodgers’ most reliable relievers over the past decade.
From 2020 to 2024, Graterol appeared in 178 games across 181 innings, posting a 2.69 ERA and a 3.03 xERA, utilizing a 61.9-percent groundball rate and inducing soft contact, which has made him a trusted bullpen piece.
With five years and 167 days of major league service time, Graterol is projected to become a free agent after the 2026 season, giving him leverage while still remaining arbitration-eligible this year.
He was a Super Two player in 2023, ranking among the top 22 percent of players with at least two but fewer than three years of service time, which allowed him earlier access to arbitration.
Graterol made $1.225 million in 2023 and $2.7 million in 2024, reflecting the incremental increases typical for arbitration-eligible players, especially those coming off missed or partially missed seasons.
His reported $2.8 million salary in 2026 matches what he earned in 2025, which aligns with recent Dodgers arbitration trends for players returning from injury, such as Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Walker Buehler.
This predictability made Graterol’s arbitration outcome straightforward, as projections from MLB Trade Rumors and Cot’s Baseball Contracts matched the $2.8 million figure, confirming expectations around his contract.
Other Dodgers still eligible for arbitration this offseason include right-hander Brock Stewart, left-hander Anthony Banda, and outfielder Alex Call, all of whom are expected to finalize their deals ahead of Thursday’s soft deadline.
Thursday serves as the date for teams and players to exchange proposed salaries, which could become pivotal in any potential arbitration hearings, effectively acting as a negotiation checkpoint for remaining arbitration-eligible Dodgers.
Expect the Dodgers to finalize more one-year deals in the coming days, as the arbitration process progresses and both sides work toward mutually agreeable contracts without resorting to formal hearings.
For Dodgers fans, Graterol’s return to a healthy, predictable rotation provides reassurance, while the remaining arbitration-eligible players will likely see similar clarity in their deals before spring training begins.
