Dodgers pick up club option on Max Muncy,

The now two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers made their first transfer of the offseason on Thursday.

It will guarantee a acquainted face is back for their pursuit of a three-peat next yr.

The group picked up its $10 million club option for third baseman Max Muncy, according to a particular person with information of the state of affairs not licensed to communicate publicly, bringing the now longest-tenured member of the roster back for what will probably be his ninth season in Los Angeles.

The choice was not shocking. This yr, Muncy had maybe his best all-around season at the plate since a 2021 marketing campaign in which he obtained MVP votes. He hit .243, his highest mark since that 2021 season, with 19 home runs, 67 RBIs and an .846 OPS in 100 video games. He atoned for a comparatively quiet postseason by hitting a essential home run in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, setting the stage for the group’s ninth-inning comeback and eventual extra-innings, title-clinching victory.

Muncy was in the ultimate season of a two-year, $24 million extension he signed in the 2023 offseason. And at 35 years outdated, accidents have been a downside for him in current years (he was restricted this past season by a knee contusion in July and an indirect pressure in August).

However, the $10 million option was a relative cut price for a participant who, prior to second-half accidents, had shaken off a slow start to the yr by being one of the most well liked hitters in the majors in May and June.

His return will also help keep a key half of the club’s veteran core intact, bringing back a participant who — in the wake of Clayton Kershaw’s retirement — has been with the Dodgers longer than anyone else.

Muncy’s 2025 season didn’t start effectively. After an offseason in which commerce rumors involving Nolan Arenado swirled, and a spring training spent working through the lingering after-effects of an indirect and rib injury that restricted him in 2024, Muncy hit .176 through his first 34 video games, and had only one home run.

In early May, however, he began sporting glasses to deal with an astigmatism in his proper eye. Around that same time, he also discovered a breakthrough with his swing, one that helped him start punishing fastballs up the zone. From May 7 to the end of June, he hit .315 with 12 home runs and a 1.039 OPS, one of the best stretches of his 10-year, two-time All-Star profession.

That streak was derailed on July 2, when Muncy suffered his knee injury after getting slid into at third base. His return a month later was cut short, too, when his indirect started bothering him during a batting apply session in August.

Those IL stints preceded a September stoop that carried into the postseason, when Muncy hit just .173 getting into Game 7 of the World Series.

But that night time, he collected three hits, had the pivotal eighth-inning home run off Trey Yesavage that obtained the Dodgers back within a run, and turned one of six gamers to contribute to all three of the Dodgers’ current World Series titles.

“It’s starting to get a little bit comfortable up here,” he joked from atop the stage at the Dodgers’ World Series celebration on Monday. “Let’s keep it going.”

On Thursday, the group ensured his run with the Dodgers will, for at least one more season.

Alex Vesia’s option also picked up

The Dodgers on Thursday also picked up their $3.55 million club option for reliever Alex Vesia in 2026, according to a number of people with information of the state of affairs not licensed to communicate publicly. That was also not a shock, though Vesia still would’ve been under group control and eligible for arbitration if they hadn’t.

Vesia was one of the few constant performers in the Dodgers’ bullpen this yr, posting a 3.02 ERA in a career-high 68 appearances. He was also one of their most trusted reduction arms in the playoffs, bouncing back from a two-run outing in the wild-card sequence opener with 4 ⅓ scoreless innings the remainder of the way in which.

Vesia was not out there for the World Series as he and his spouse dealt with what the group described as a “deeply personal family matter.” But he figures to be a key cog in their bullpen again next season, in what will probably be his last before reaching free company.