It took less than three months for Tommy Edman to endear himself to Dodgers fans.
Now he’ll be playing in front of them for the next half-decade.
The Dodgers agreed to a five-year, $74-million contract extension with Edman on Friday, the team announced, locking up their key trade deadline acquisition and National League Championship Series MVP in the second major move of their offseason.
Edman, 29, is a super utilityman whom the Dodgers had coveted for some time before this season, enamored from afar with his defensive versatility and switch-hitting capabilities as a Gold Glove winner on the St. Louis Cardinals.
As they approached this year’s trade deadline with needs at both shortstop and center field, the Dodgers acquired Edman, a product of La Jolla Country Day School and Stanford University, in a deal that sent Miguel Vargas and two prospects to the Chicago White Sox.
Though Edman didn’t make his season debut until Aug. 19 — he’d missed the first four months with wrist and ankle injuries — he batted .237 with a league-average .711 OPS in 37 regular-season games, collecting six home runs and 20 RBIs.
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Then, in the postseason, Edman emerged as a critical piece of the Dodgers’ offense, batting .328 with 13 RBIs in 16 playoff games. He won NLCS MVP honors after batting .407 with 11 RBIs in the six-game series against the New York Mets.
Edman’s new deal, which runs through 2029 and includes a club option for 2030, will ensure he not only helps defend the team’s title next year (which would have been his last under club control), but remains a factor in their lineup for years beyond that.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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