It’s been an eventful week in the Dodgers bullpen. Los Angeles agrees to sign top free agent reliever Tanner Scott Weekend is offering a 4-year $72MM guarantee and is working to finalize deals with other late-stage weapons Kirby Yates. At the same time, they learned about inflammation in the forearms of top players Michael Kopech (This may or may not have influenced the decision to pursue Scott and Yates more aggressively).
There may be more events in the future. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Dodgers may need to open up to 40 players — they currently have 39, and Scott and Yates have yet to announce — the Dodgers have been looking to recruit in the majors Some of the “remaining” players may be squeezed out by recent additions. Among the names reportedly being discussed with other clubs is a right-back Ryan Brassier.
Blashill, 37, signed a two-year deal with the Dodgers last winter. His guaranteed money totals 9MM over the life of the contract and his salary through 2025 is 4.5MM. revival. Blashill pitched to a 3.54 ERA in ’24, albeit in a sample of only 28 innings. Blashill was sidelined for more than three months last year with a calf strain, though he finished the season healthy. Still, Blashill has a 1.89 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 66 2/3 games with the Dodgers compared to his stellar second half performance in Los Angeles last season.
Despite his strong showing, Blashill may find himself the odd man out. The Dodgers are adding Scott and possibly Yates to a late-game group that already includes Kopech, Blake Trenin, Evan Phillips, Alex Vecia Breakout lefty in 2024 Anthony Banda. Regardless, Brasier has been used primarily in low and medium leverage locations over the last year. Scott and Yates (again, if finalized) would add two quality high-leverage divisions. The Dodgers may lose Kopech early in the season, but they still expect to get more innings than they did last year, as Kopech joined the club at the deadline and didn’t join the club until late July. They also hope Treinen can have a healthier year, as he only logged 46 2/3 innings in 2024.
In addition to veteran players pushing Blashill to ostensibly low leverage, the Dodgers’ bullpen also lacks the flexibility as currently constructed. Vicia was the Dodgers’ only available reliever option, but he posted a 1.76 ERA and a 33.1% strikeout rate in 66 1/3 innings. He won’t be sent to Triple-A anytime soon. The Dodgers also seem likely to deploy a six-man rotation early on, leaving just seven spots in the bullpen. Just adding Yates to the mix would seem to require trading a reliever, which would make sense if Blashill is considered an oddball.
From the Dodgers’ perspective, moving Brasier would save over $4.5MM anyway. His contract includes $2MM in game-based incentives per season, which is certainly the top of the luxury package. Brasier’s contract is worth $4.5MM per year and is subject to a 110% tax; he’s costing the Dodgers $9.4MM this upcoming season. Trading him wouldn’t lower their penalty level at all, but shaving nearly $10 off the 2025 budget and opening up more roster space is clearly attractive.
The impending additions of Scott and Yates to the roster aren’t the only moves on the Dodgers’ radar. At some point they will officially bring Clayton Kershaw Back into the mix. Theoretically, the two parties could wait until training camp opens so that a trade for Kershaw can be completed by moving a pitcher to the 60-day injured list, but the move would still require active roster consideration. Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Riki Saaki, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May Currently in rotation. Scott, Yates, Phillips, Kopech, Treinen, Vesia and Banda are all in the “pen”.
Even without Kershaw, that’s 13 pitchers. Injuries can naturally take care of that, and there’s a clear chance Kopech will miss some games earlier in the year. Having that kind of depth is never a bad thing for a club, but the possibility of squeezing more players off the 40-man roster is clear. Among players on 40-man roster but eligible for Triple-A are pitchers Bobby Miller, Landon Nack, Michael Grove, Ben Casparis, Justin Wrobleski and Nick Frasso.
