Dodgers sign Will Smith to 10-year, $140M extension

Yet another core piece of the Los Angeles Dodgers is sticking around for the long haul.

The Dodgers signed All-Star catcher Will Smith to a 10-year extension, the team announced Wednesday. The contract kicks in immediately and will keep Smith in Dodger blue through 2033.

The deal is worth $140 million, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan. It contains no opt-outs, Dylan Hernández of the Los Angeles Times reports.

"For me to probably finish my career a Dodger means a lot," Smith said, according to MLB.com's Juan Toribio. "I couldn't be happier and more excited moving forward. There's no better organization that's more committed to winning a World Series and that's most important to me when it comes to baseball. I'm looking forward to these next 10 years."

The pact includes 32% deferred money (nearly $45 million), a source told The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.

Smith's contract is the longest ever signed by a primary catcher, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, and the third largest for a backstop by total value.

MLB's largest catcher contracts

The deal also includes a $30-million signing bonus that'll be paid over the next two years, a source told Hernández.

Smith earned his first All-Star nod in 2023. In 126 games last year, he put up a .797 OPS with 19 homers and 76 RBIs along with a career-best 12 defensive runs saved.

The 28-year-old has become an indispensable piece of the Dodgers' machine since breaking into the majors six years ago, sporting a lifetime .263/.358/.484 slash line with 91 homers and 308 RBIs. Smith's 128 wRC+ and 15.8 fWAR both rank second among all qualified catchers since 2019, while his 26 DRS place third among backstops with at least 3,000 innings over that span.

Originally the Dodgers' first-round pick (32nd overall) out of Louisville in 2016, Smith has helped Los Angeles reach the playoffs in every year of his career. He was behind the plate for the team's run to the World Series title in 2020.

Smith, who avoided arbitration earlier this winter by agreeing to an $8.5-million deal, was scheduled to reach free agency after next season.

The extension caps a monumental offseason for the Dodgers, who spared no expense to build what they hope is another championship team. L.A. added two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, prized pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, and former Silver Slugger winner Teoscar Hernández this winter to a star-studded club that already featured Smith, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman, among other stars.

All told, the Dodgers spent over $1.16 billion on players this offseason, putting them more than $83 million above the highest competitive balance tax threshold. The contracts of Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Betts, Freeman, and Smith total $1.828 billion, a figure that exceeds what the Baltimore Orioles were sold for Wednesday, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

The core of Smith, Betts, Ohtani, and Yamamoto are all under contract to the Dodgers through 2032.