Notes: Báez prevails; Kershaw touts Dreamfields
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Pedro Báez snapped a serious losing streak Wednesday, becoming the first player in 19 years to beat the Dodgers in a salary-arbitration decision.
Baez was awarded his asking submission of $4 million, over the Dodgers’ $3.5 million offer. He’s the first Dodger to beat the club at arbitration since Terry Adams in 2001.
The Dodgers went 1-1 in hearings this month, having earlier scored a technical decision over Joc Pederson, who was in limbo with a pending trade to the Angels that was nixed. Pederson will receive $7.75 million, instead of his $9.5 million ask. It was the club’s first hearing since 2007.
Since the inception of salary arbitration 44 years ago, the Dodgers are 15-7 in cases decided by a hearing, and 7-2 since 1991.
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• The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, in partnership with Kershaw’s Challenge and the City of Compton, hosted a ground-breaking ceremony at Gonzales Park to begin construction of its largest Dodgers Dreamfields project to date. Clayton Kershaw, Compton Mayor Aja Brown and Ayo Robinson joined to celebrate the legacy of the latter's grandfather, Jackie Robinson. Actor Anthony Anderson served as emcee.
With a multimillion-dollar investment, the Dodgers Dreamfields renovation will continue LADF’s partnership with the City of Compton and will provide safe park access to 28,000 local youth under 18 (29 percent of residents). The Dodgers Dreamfields at Gonzales Park will honor the Jackie Robinson family and revive baseball and softball play in the area, as local kids develop their skills and advance from T-ball to high school and college athletics.
Field 42 will be designed for baseball and softball players ages 5-8; Rachel Robinson Field will be designed for baseball players ages 9-12 and softball players ages 9-18; and Jackie Robinson Stadium will be designed for baseball players ages 13+.
The project will include fitness and training zones, named for Kershaw’s Challenge, complete with an outdoor training area, two enclosed batting cages and bullpens, an infield practice area and outdoor fitness equipment. The Dodgers Dreamfields at Gonzales Park will host LADF’s sports-based youth-development program, Dodgers RBI and be the first set of fields to infuse STEM and LADF’s Science of Baseball curriculum, created with its grantee, Science of Sports.
• The City of Glendale this week opened a new 1.8-mile stretch of road that connects Camelback Ranch-Glendale with the Loop 101, Westgate and Glendale’s Sports and Entertainment District.
The new road should greatly alleviate the traffic jams entering and exiting the complex for Dodgers and White Sox Spring Training games.
Dodgers president Stan Kasten and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf participated in Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.