Why the Dodgers are bound to trade for Chris Archer this season

1. His contract is perfect for the Los Angeles Dodgers

A big narrative for the Los Angeles Dodgers this off-season has been trimming down the salary cap to get underneath the MLB Luxury Tax line. The Dodgers are multiple offenders of going over said line and wanted to avoid the harsh penalties that would have ensued if that continued. Thus, multiple moves were made in the off-season, and now, the Dodgers are indeed under.

This luxury tax initiative is what ultimately kept Yu Darvish out of LA. The Dodgers simply did not have the salary cap space for Darvish and could not free it up in time.

However, this same problem does not exist with Chris Archer. Archer’s contract is very team friendly and is ultimately what makes him so intriguing to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Archer is under contract through the 2019 season, in which there are two team options for 2020 and 2021. Assuming Archer continues to thrive, the Dodgers will have him locked down for four years.

This is not coming at a heavy price, either. Archer is owed a little over $30 million over those four seasons and is owed $6.25 million this season. Even if LA did not free up any cap space (which they inevitably would in this trade alone) they would still be under the luxury tax.

That alone makes Archer a very intriguing option for LA. Without this favorable contract, Archer would likely not be a target at all.