A few months after his heroic performance in the World Series, right-hander Walker Buehler has agreed to a one-year, $21.05 million contract with incentives, a source told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The deal, first reported by Russell Dorsey of Yahoo! Sport, has not been confirmed by the club and an investigation is still pending.

Buehler completed the 2024 World Series and won a title for the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. His name is forever etched in Los Angeles baseball history. For most of the season, however, he didn’t look like the playoff version we’ve seen.

After missing nearly two years due to his second Tommy John surgery in August 2021, Buehler struggled for most of 2024 to look like the pre-injury version. In 75 1/3 innings, he had a career-worst 5.38 ERA. 4.68 expected ERA, 18.6 percent strikeout rate, 8.1 percent walk rate and 1.91 HR/9 rate. While Buehler’s fastball velocity returned to 2021-22 levels, the lack of swings, misses and chases was evident.

The story about Buehler changed suddenly in October, when the right-hander played a major role in the Dodgers’ World Series run. Buehler posted a 3.60 ERA and struck out 13 batters in four outings (15 innings), including a fantastic Game 3 in the World Series (no runs and five strikeouts in five innings). Two days later, he pitched 1-2-3 in the ninth inning, securing the Dodgers’ eighth World Series title.

Given Buehler’s injury history and the level he showed (in the regular season) as a 30-year-old in 2024, it’s possible we won’t see the elite version of 2018-21, when he was a two-time All-Star and Finished top 10 in Cy Young Award voting twice. However, it’s not inconceivable that Buehler has a second act as a solid starting player who can slot into the middle of a contending team’s rotation.