Dodgers pick up club options on Max Muncy and Alex Vesia
The Dodgers, now two-time defending World Series champions, took their first steps of the offseason on Thursday.
The taller will ensure a familiar face is back for their quest for a treble next year.
The team picked up its $10 million club option for third baseman Max Muncy, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, bringing back the now-longest-tenured member of the roster for what will be his ninth season in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers also picked up a $3.55 million club option for reliever Alex Vesia (keeping him out of arbitration), according to several people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. Additionally, they shook up the 40-man roster with a series of moves that included Tony Gonsolin being designated for assignment.
None of the decisions were too surprising, starting with the option the Dodgers exercised at the end of a two-year, $24 million deal Muncy signed during the 2023 offseason.
Even at 35, Muncy was a bargain at $10 million next season for a player who, before suffering an injury in the second half, had overcome a slow start to the year by being one of the hottest hitters in the majors in May and June.
His return will also help keep a key piece of the club’s veteran core intact, bringing back a player who — following the retirement of Clayton Kershaw — has been with the Dodgers longer than anyone.
Muncy’s 2025 season hasn’t gotten off to a great start. After an offseason in which trade rumors involving Nolan Arenado swirled and a spring training spent working through the lingering aftereffects of an oblique and rib injury that limited him in 2024, Muncy hit .176 over his first 34 games and had just one home run.
In early May, however, he began wearing glasses to treat astigmatism in his right eye. Around the same time, he also found a breakthrough in his swing, which helped him start punishing fastballs in the zone. From May 7 to the end of June, he hit .315 with 12 homers and a 1.039 OPS, one of the best stretches of his 10-year two-time All-Star career.
That streak was derailed on July 2, when Muncy injured his knee after being slid into third base. His return a month later was also cut short when his oblique began bothering him during a batting practice session in August.
Those IL stints preceded a September slump that continued into the postseason, when Muncy hit just .173 before Game 7 of the World Series.
But that night, he collected three hits, hit the crucial eighth-inning home run off Trey Yesavage that put the Dodgers back within one, and became one of six players to contribute to the Dodgers’ three recent World Series titles.
“It’s starting to get a little more comfortable here,” he joked from the top of the stage during the Dodgers World Series celebration Monday. “Let’s continue like this.”
Vesia will also be part of this three-round chase and also had his $3.55 million club option picked up on Thursday. Vesia negotiated this option in the contract he signed last offseason to avoid arbitration. Next year will be his last under team control before free agency.
Vesia has been one of the few consistent players in the Dodgers bullpen this year, posting a career-high 3.02 ERA in 68 appearances. He was also one of their most reliable relief arms in the postseason, bouncing back from a two-run outing in Game 1 of the wild-card series with 4 ⅓ scoreless innings the rest of the way.
He was unavailable for the World Series because he and his wife were dealing with what the team described as a “deeply personal family matter.” But he looks to be a key cog in their bullpen again next season, having established himself as one of the best left-handed relievers in the sport.
The only notable subtraction from the list Thursday came in Gonsolin’s DFA news. The right-hander was an All-Star in 2022, but has made just 27 starts since then due to two elbow surgeries (Tommy John in 2023 and an internal brace last year). This latest procedure risked keeping him sidelined next season, his last under team control.
Gonsolin was one of three cuts made to the 40-man roster Thursday, as outfielder Justin Dean (a member of the Dodgers’ postseason roster) and injured pitcher Michael Grove (who was also coming off a season-loss to surgery) were both cut outright by the minors. The open spots gave way to outfielder Ryan Ward (the 2025 Pacific Coast League MVP in triple-A) and left-handed pitcher Robinson Ortiz (a 25-year-old who moved from high-A to triple-A last year) to be added to the 40-man pool.
