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Chris Taylor, Dodgers Reportedly Agree to 4-Year, $60M Contract in MLB Free Agency
December 1, 2021
Chris Taylor has agreed to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a four-year, $60 million contract, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Rosenthal noted the deal includes a fifth-year option worth $13 million.
ESPN's Jeff Passan was the first to report on the two sides making progress toward a deal. Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Audacy added that Taylor and the Dodgers were in "serious talks" about a multi-year deal.
The eight-year veteran hit .254 (.782 OPS) with 20 home runs, 73 RBI and 13 stolen bases for the Dodgers in 2021, a year that marked his first-ever All-Star Game appearance.
Over his career, he's split time at shortstop, center field, left field and second base. He's also played a bit at third base and right field as well. Taylor mostly played left and center for the Dodgers this past season.
The 31-year-old's MLB career started with the Seattle Mariners in 2014. The M's dealt Taylor to the Dodgers in 2016, and since he's helped L.A. become the best team in baseball over the past five seasons.
He's been a full-time member of the lineup since the 2017 season and hit .265 (.804 OPS) with 78 home runs and 292 RBI for the Dodgers since that year.
This year, Taylor came through in the clutch multiple times.
He smacked a two-run walkoff homer against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2021 Wild Card Game to vault his team to the National League Division Series.
Taylor also hit three homers and drove in six runners in an 11-2 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series.
The 106-win Dodgers ended up losing that series in six games.
ESPN's Alden Gonzalez explained what this deal meant to the Dodgers in light of already losing starting pitcher Max Scherzer and shortstop Corey Seager in free agency:
Taylor signed a two-year, $13.4 million contract before the 2020 season that kept him in Dodger blue through the 2021 campaign.
And now he'll be sticking around even longer after agreeing to terms with L.A.