Muncy excited for future in LA with 1-year extension

LOS ANGELES -- The future suddenly appears bright for Max Muncy, who’s been looking like his old self at the plate recently. Now, he has a deal in place to keep him in Los Angeles for at least another year.

The Dodgers announced on Monday that they have signed Muncy to a one-year contract extension worth $13.5 million for the 2023 season. The contract includes a '24 club option for $10 million with incentives. The deal does not contain a buyout, per the Associated Press.

“This place means everything to me and my family,” Muncy said ahead of the Dodgers’ 4-0 loss to the Brewers at Dodger Stadium, in which he singled and walked twice. “There’s not anywhere else that I’d rather play. A chance to come back for another year, it was a no-brainer.”

Muncy, who had been in the final season of a three-year deal with the Dodgers, noted the peace of mind that comes with knowing exactly where he’ll be in 2023. On the existing contract, Los Angeles had a club option with Muncy for next season worth $13 million, which included a $1.5 million buyout.

Perhaps there’s a correlation between the extension and Muncy’s recent offensive performance. Although the deal only became official Monday, it started coming together in July. This was in spite of the fact that Muncy has struggled for much of 2022. His first-half slash line of .164/.320/.319 was a far cry from the All-Star level production he’s put up throughout most of his seven-year tenure with Los Angeles.

Muncy’s keen batting eye was still there, as the on-base percentage suggests. Now, thanks to some swing adjustments, the results are starting to match up with the approach. In 16 August games entering Monday, he had gone 19-for-58 (.328) with seven homers, five doubles and 15 RBIs.

Whether or not it’s the reason for his uptick with the bat, the extension was a show of faith in Muncy’s abilities as a player.

“For me, I have an easier time betting on makeup and guys that prepare, guys that compete, guys that play to win,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I know the organization feels the same way. So I'm not surprised by a production increase. And yeah, I didn't waver. I don't think any of us internally wavered on [the fact that] he was going to get back to being the player that he's always been.”

“I think the stuff under the surface was better than the surface line, and we kept telling him that, reiterating it,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “But obviously, he has really high expectations for himself. He cares less about the underlying numbers and more about the actual production. And so I think there was some frustration on his end. But at every turn, we kept trying to positively reinforce that progress in what we were seeing.”

From a mental standpoint, at least, that steadfast belief in his potential has made a big difference for Muncy.

“It really is like a family here,” Muncy said. “And it’s been incredible this year, just seeing the support from the guys [that makes] you want to go out there that much more and get right, because you feel like you're letting your family down a little bit. Just having the support from them has been everything.”

Though Muncy repeatedly refused to blame his performance on his injuries, he hasn’t been playing at full strength for a while. Muncy tore the UCL in his left elbow on the final day of the 2021 regular season, missed the postseason and spent time on the injured list with left elbow inflammation earlier this year.

Finally, Muncy is just about back to being fully healthy -- and he’s playing like it.

“I'm not going to say I’m back to 100 percent, but I feel pretty close,” Muncy said. “Everything feels good. The elbow was actually getting a little bit sore when I started making some swing changes, and that's because it was being used in a way that it hadn't been used all year, so that was to be expected. But it was kind of a good sore, because I knew I was using it how I was supposed to be using it.”

This deal is another chapter in what’s been something of an improbable baseball journey for Muncy, who turns 32 on Thursday. He was released by the A’s during Spring Training in 2017, at which point the Dodgers signed him to a Minor League deal. He spent that season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, before earning a callup in April 2018.

Muncy proceeded to hit 35 homers in both ‘18 and ‘19, and though his numbers declined in the pandemic-shortened ‘20 season, he came roaring back in ‘21 with a 36-homer campaign. He was an All-Star in ‘19 and ‘21, and he received National League MVP Award votes in ‘18, ‘19 and ‘21.

Now, Muncy will be taking at least one more ride with the organization that helped make him into the player he is today.

“Hopefully, there’s more after that,” Muncy said. “But I try not to look ahead too much. I'm trying to look at what we're doing right now. We have a pretty special thing going right now. And so I'm trying to kind of really focus on that.

“This is nice to have, and now that it’s out of the way, I can really just focus on what we're doing right now.”