Joe Kelly Salary: Dodgers Pitcher Has Been Fined $500,000 Since 2018

Joe Kelly’s salary is $8.3 million but since 2018, a big part of it went to paying fines.

Kelly used to play for the Boston Red Sox until he was snatched by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019. The move caught some fans off guard since the reliever was instrumental in bringing the title to Red Sox in 2018.

Apparently, his fine performance during the series against his current team was not enough for the Red Sox to give him the deal he wanted. According to NBC Sports, the Dodgers simply offered a deal that was hard to refuse. Kelly signed a 3-year, $25 million contract last year.

However, the 2-time World Series finalist can go off sometimes, which resulted in hefty fines. Spotrac reports that since 2018, Kelly has accumulated a total of $499,285 for his role in a brawl against the New York Yankees when he was still in Boston and a bench-clearing incident versus the Houston Astros that happened in July 2020. He was suspended for six and eight games, respectively for the violations.

The animosity between the Astros and the Dodgers is evident due to the cheating scandal Houston admitted to using in the regular and playoffs in the World Series winning season in 2017. Kelly’s fastball, which almost hit Alex Bregman’s head, and an exchange of words with Carlos Correa, instigated a bench-clearing incident that fortunately did not escalate into a brawl.

A 14-game suspension that merits an almost half a million fine in just two years is by any means no joke. This shows how passionate the 32-year-old is on the field and the fans are loving him for it.

The MLB has started amid a delay due to the coronavirus. The league resumed with safety protocols in place. Is Kelly deserving of the $25 million contract the Dodgers paid? If the game against the Astros was the basis, it was a gamble that has been paying off.

In his career, the 3rd round pick in the 2009 draft class earned an estimated $16.5 million in nine seasons in the pro league. He received his biggest payday as a Red Sox with a $9 million total salary in five seasons, which included a signing bonus of $341,000.

Meanwhile, the man he had a heated argument with, Carlos Correa, has a net worth of about $7 million. It was not clear whether Correa will be handed a fine or suspension due to his involvement, but Kelly was given the heftier penalty because of past altercations.