Dodgers: Joc Pederson Agrees to Biggest Contract of His Career
Former Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson, who has played for three teams since leaving Los Angeles after the 2020 season, hit free agency last week for the third straight offseason. The Dodgers didn't make a qualifying offer to Joc after 2020 because they weren't interested in paying him that much money to be a platoon player, and last year he wasn't eligible for a QO because the Braves had acquired him from the Cubs at mid-season.
That meant the QO was still on the table this year — a player can only receive a QO once in his career — and the Giants jumped on it, knowing they'd be happy to pay him $19.65 million next year if he took the offer and they'd be happy to receive draft compensation if he rejected it and went elsewhere.
On Tuesday, Pederson accepted the Giants' QO, so he will be back in San Francisco for at least one more year. The deal marks a huge pay raise for Joc, who made a career-high $8.5 million last year between his buyout from the Braves and his contract with the Giants.
Joc had his best offensive season last year, batting .274 with an .874 OPS (144 OPS+) in 433 plate appearances. He even hit lefties okay, posting a .742 OPS in 57 plate appearances, but with only 13% of his PA coming against lefties, it's clear the Giants don't totally trust him in those situations.
Joc's defense was a career-worst in 2022, though, which the Giants are surely hoping he can bounce back from. Pederson began his career as a passable center-fielder and, as recently as three years ago, was a solid defensive left-fielder. In 2022, his UZR/150 was -17.7, the worst of any outfielder with at least 700 innings on defense.
So the Giants were betting on Joc maintaining his offense and re-finding his defense when they made the QO, and now they're really hoping for those things now that he's accepted it.
The Dodgers will be seeing a lot of their old friend next year.
