Right-hander Walker Buehler and the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided salary arbitration on Thursday by settling at $8.025 million for the 2024 season, according to a source. Buehler will receive the same salary from 2023 after he missed all of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The 29-year-old will no longer be eligible for arbitration and will become a free agent following the 2024 campaign. He started a minor-league rehab assignment last September but never pitched in a major-league game. Barring any setbacks this offseason, Buehler should be good to go for Opening Day, although LA could look to limit his innings after not pitching at all last year. Buehler will be a risk/reward fantasy starter that might have to shake off some rust early on.

Left-hander Max Fried and the Atlanta Braves settled at $15 million for the 2024 season to avoid salary arbitration on Thursday, according to a source. This was Fried's final year of arbitration eligibility, and the talented 29-year-old southpaw will become a free agent for the first time in his career after the 2024 season concludes. Injuries were the story of his season in 2023, as he was only able to make 14 starts. However, when he was on the mound for the Braves, he remained a fantasy ace, posting a 2.55 ERA, only 18 walks and 80 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings pitched. Fried also had a career-best 58 percent ground-ball rate. During a walk year with no restrictions heading into the regular season, fantasy managers should one again be targeting Fried as a fantasy ace.

The New York Yankees and outfielder Juan Soto are still working on a salary figure for the 2024 season. The Yankees agree that Soto will break Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani's arbitration-eligible $30 million record, but they haven't agreed yet on how much Soto will beat it by. The 25-year-old left-handed slugger will be paid handsomely in his first year in the Bronx, but the two sides haven't had contract-extension talks, and many expect Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, to play out the final year of his contract in 2024 before he reaches free agency next winter. Soto got off to a slow start in San Diego in 2023 but quickly turned things around to finish with a career-high 35 home runs while driving in 109, scoring 97 runs and stealing 12 bases while hitting .275. The move to the Yankees gives him a power boost in fantasy and he's going to continue to be one of the best in OBP leagues as a first-round asset.

The Chicago Cubs and infielder Nick Madrigal have settled on a one-year, $1.81 million deal to avoid arbitration. The 26-year-old was hampered by a hamstring injury in the 2023 season but reportedly entered the offseason with no physical restrictions. Despite excellent contact skills and bat control, Madrigal's production at the plate has cratered over the last two seasons. He hit a decent .263 in 2023 but slugged just a pair of home runs and walked in only 3.4% of his plate appearances a season ago. He struck out in only 8.2% of his 294 plate appearances but his 83 wRC+ at the plate represented production 17% below the league average after posting a 71 wRC+ in 59 games in 2022. His fantasy baseball value is minimal as a result.

The Cleveland Guardians and right-hander Shane Bieber have avoided arbitration with a one-year, $13.125 million deal for the 2024 season. The right-hander dealt with injuries that limited him to 21 starts in the 2023 season but he still managed a solid 3.80 ERA in that time. That figure is below the 2020 Cy Young winner's lofty standard as he sports a career 3.27 ERA and his 2023 figure marks his worst number since posting a 4.55 ERA as a rookie in 2018. However, the 28-year-old's most noticeable drop came in his strikeout rate which dipped to just 20.1% versus his 27.8% career mark and a massive 41.1% clip in his COVID-shortened 2020 Cy Young season. Fantasy managers will certainly hope he can regain his strikeout stuff and return to full form (and health) in the 2024 campaign.