The Los Angeles Dodgers and catcher Will Smith have agreed to a 10-year contract extension worth $140 million, the team announced Wednesday. Almost $45 million of that will be deferred, according to The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya, and includes a $30 million signing bonus, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
This is the third largest in MLB history ever given to a catcher. Ahead of Smith's pact would be Joe Mauer's $184 million extension with the Twins (2011-18) and Buster Posey's $167 million extension with the Giants (2013-21).
Smith, who turns 29 on Thursday, was slated to reach free agency after the 2025 season, but this contract pushes back that timeline by almost a decade. Smith is a one-time All-Star who has emerged as one of the top-hitting catchers in baseball.
Originally the No. 32 overall pick out of the University of Louisville in 2016, Smith was regarded as a top-100 overall prospect leading up to his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2019. Since then, he's batted .263/.358/.484 (126 OPS+) across parts of six major-league seasons. Over that span, Smith has averaged 30 home runs per 162 games played. In the recently completed Seoul Series against the Padres, Smith went 5 for 10 to start the 2024 season.
On the defensive front, Statcast for 2023 graded Smith as above-average at blocking pitches in the dirt and in terms of his "pop time" on throws to second base. However, he was below average at pitch-framing.
Notably, CBS Sports recently ranked catchers Dalton Rushing and Thayron Liranzo as the No. 1 and No. 3 prospects, respectively, in the Dodgers' system right now.
The Dodgers this offseason have notably committed more than $1 billion in future salary to free agents like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
