Dodgers News: Austin Barnes Agrees to Contract Extension with LA
The Dodgers rewarded a roster mainstay with a contract extension this weekend. According to multiple reports, the Dodgers and backup catcher Austin Barnes agreed to a two-year extension on Sunday prior to first pitch against the Padres.
MLB Insider Robert Murray was one of the first to report, with The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya confirming the news.
Catcher Austin Barnes and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a two-year contract extension, according to sources familiar with the situation.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 3, 2022
The terms of the new deal are not known at this time. Barnes signed a two-year, $4.3M deal that was set to expire at the end of this season.
Barnes first broke in with the Dodgers in 2015 and garnered considerable playing time 2017 and 2018 (200 games). From an offensive standpoint, his finest campaign was in 2017 where he posted a .895 OPS in 262 plate appearances.
However, Barnes’ value to the Dodgers lies behind the dish. Dodgers pitchers constantly applaud the former Arizona Sun Devil’s ability to call a game and has formed quite the bond with franchise hurler Clayton Kershaw.
His value to the Dodgers isn’t lost on his teammates. Shortstop Trea Turner recently started a campaign of calling Barnes “captain” and even went as far as making t-shirts with Barnes’ number 15 and the letter “C” above the traditional Dodgers logo.
Trea explained the meaning behind the new custom shirts in an interview with AM570’s David Vassegh.
“He’s our captain. He led us early in the year, he hit our first homer of the year. He put us on our back early with all those homers. We started to call him captain and it stuck. He hates it so I had these shirts made to make everyone know that he’s our fearless leader, and I remind them every single day.”
Fear not Dodgers fans, the captain will be around for a while.
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