Walker Buehler, Dodgers agree on contract to avoid arbitration

The Dodgers and right-hander Walker Buehler on Wednesday agreed on a two-year, $8 million contract to avoid arbitration this month and next winter, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Buehler will receive a $2 million signing bonus. The Dodgers will pay him a $2.75 million salary in 2021 and a $3.25 million salary in 2022.

Buehler’s deal leaves catcher Austin Barnes as the Dodgers’ only unsettled arbitration-eligible player.

The 26-year-old Buehler qualified as for Super Two status, meaning he was eligible for arbitration for four years rather than the standard three. As a result, the two-year contract will still leave him eligible for arbitration after the 2023 and 2024 seasons before becoming a free agent.

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A first-round pick in 2015, Buehler made his major-league debut in 2017 and solidified himself as a budding ace in 2018.

Oozing confidence, Buehler sports a 3.15 ERA in 70 career regular season outings (61 starts) and has emerged as a big-game performer in his three full seasons.

His dominance in important games began in 2018 when he held the Colorado Rockies scoreless over 6 2/3 innings in the Dodgers’ win in Game 163 to claim the National League West title.

The success has continued in the postseason. The Vanderbilt product owns a 2.35 earned-run average in 61 1/3 innings across 11 career playoff starts. He overcame blisters on his right hand last October to limit opponents to five runs in 25 innings over five starts as the Dodgers went on to win their first World Series in 32 years.