Will Smith Contract Extension Continues Dodgers' Wild Spending Spree

The Los Angeles Dodgers just keep on spending. On Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the franchise had agreed to a 10-year, $140 million contract extension with catcher Will Smith. The deal marks yet another massive contract the Dodgers have handed out since the end of the 2023 season. They are in the midst of a spending spree unlike anything baseball has ever seen.

Los Angeles selected Smith with the 32nd pick in the 2016 MLB Draft and he has developed into one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball. Since 2021, Smith leads all big league backstops in OPS (.822), and is second in slugging (.466), home runs (68) and WAR (11.8). He debuted in 2019, and since then he leads all qualifying catchers in wRC+ (128). Smith will turn 29 on Friday and was set to hit free agency after the 2025 season, so this deal makes sense for both sides.

Smith had a slightly down year by his standards in 2023. He slashed .261/.359/.438, posting a career-low OPS of .797. He hit 19 home runs and 76 RBI, with 63 walks against 89 strikeouts, but did tie his career high in WAR (4.1). Los Angeles has determined his bat is worth a long-term commitment.

The Dodgers shelled out an incredible amount of money this offseason. The big free agent deals went to Shohei Ohtani ($700 million), Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million) and Teoscar Hernandez ($23.5 million). But they also re-signed Clayton Kershaw ($10 million), Jason Heyward ($9 million), and Joe Kelly ($8 million), while adding James Paxton ($7 million) and Kike Hernandez ($4 million). That's $1.087 billion just on free agents. Add Tyler Glasnow's $136.6 million contract extension to Smith's $140 million deal and you have $276.6 million spent on contract extensions. All told, Los Angeles has spent more than $1.35 billion in contracts over the past few months.

Smith's contract will move the Dodgers' competitive balance tax payroll to more than $326 million, which now ranks second-highest in baseball behind the New York Mets ($332.7 million). It will ensure a hefty luxury tax bill at the end of the season.

Smith is an excellent catcher and keeping him in the lineup for the next 10 years solidifies things down the middle for Los Angeles. With Smith, Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Freddie Freeman all signed through 2027, the Dodgers have a wide open championship window. It'll cost them a ton of money, but will be worth every penny if their loaded roster lives up to expectations.

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer for The Big Lead.