The Dodgers renewed the contracts of Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger on Wednesday, assigning the two young stars a salary after the players declined to agree to the team's offer.
The major league minimum salary this season is $545,000. Under the collective bargaining agreement, teams are otherwise free to pay whatever they like to players not yet eligible for salary arbitration.
Scott Boras, the agent for Seager and Bellinger, said other teams have made significant exceptions to pre-arbitration salary scales to reward players after historic performances. Seager and Bellinger are the consecutive winners of the National League rookie-of-the-year award; Bellinger set the NL record for home runs by a rookie last season.