The Los Angeles Dodgers have made the James Paxton signing official. On Monday, the team announced that they signed Paxton to a one-year deal. The 40-man roster was at 39, so there was no corresponding move and the roster is now full.
Paxton, 35, spent the 2023 season with the Boston Red Sox. He had a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts, in his first season coming off Tommy John surgery.
The Canada-native has a career 3.69 ERA in 156 starts, and brings a different look to the Dodgers’ rotation as a left-handed pitcher.
He joins a righty-filled rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan, and likely fills the rotation at this point in the offseason. He doesn’t necessarily take the Dodgers out of the Clayton Kershaw sweepstakes, though, as Kershaw won’t return to the mound until the late summer.
Paxton has five pitches, but his main pitch is his four-seam fastball. He also has a knuckle curveball, cutter, changeup and occasional sinker.
Paxton brings a strong veteran presence to the L.A. rotation, and has made at least 19 starts in five of his 10 seasons.
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