The Dodgers bullpen is going to be INSANE

They make TWO huge additions

I was going to do an article this morning on the Dodgers’ latest offseason addition. Literally as I was preparing to begin the article, I got a notification that the Dodgers had signed ANOTHER piece.

At this rate, it should be news if the Dodgers go a day WITHOUT signing someone.

We already know the Dodgers have had an unbelievable offseason. They’ve improved their starting rotation and lineup. Prior to a few days ago, they hadn’t really addressed their bullpen with the exception of bringing back Blake Treinen. Well, the Dodgers just struck.

Over the weekend, the team signed Tanner Scott to a four-year deal. This morning, they reportedly signed Kirby Yates. As of right now, it is unknown what the Yates contract looks like.

You could make the case that both Scott and Yates were top 10 relievers in baseball last season. They were easily the two best relievers that were on the market. They each made the All-Star Game and posted some incredible numbers in 2024 before hitting free agency.

We’ll start with Scott, as he is the big signing with a four-year deal.

In 2024, Scott spent time with the Marlins and Padres. He was the big acquisition by San Diego at the trade deadline. There were reports that the Dodgers had interest in Scott, but ultimately the Padres put together a better package.

Scott tossed 72 innings last season, posting a 1.75 ERA, 2.92 FIP and 1.13 WHIP. He held opponents to a .175 average while striking out 28.6 percent of the batters he faced. Take a look at his Baseball Savant page. It’s one of the best you’ll see.

As you can see, Scott was in the 90th percentile in both expected ERA and expected batting average. He was at least 84th percentile when it came to chase percentage, whiff percentage and strikeout percentage.

My biggest takeaway was the amount of hard contact he allowed. It was practically nothing. Scott was 100th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard hit percentage. To summarize, there wasn’t really anybody better than him in all of baseball when it came to avoiding hard contact.

If you want a downside, it is that he walks a lot of batters. His walk percentage of 12.2 is 7th percentile, so that’s not great. Despite issuing a lot of walks, Scott was still an All-Star and a top 10 reliever in baseball. Imagine how dominant he’ll be if he can bring his walk percentage down to about 9-10 percent.

Andrew Friedman isn’t known for giving big contracts to relievers, so this came as a bit of a surprise. But at this point, with how high the Dodgers’ payroll is, why not?

Oh, the most important piece I left out. Did I mention that Scott is a lefty? The Dodgers already had two good ones in Alex Vesia and Anthony Banda, but Scott is arguably the best left-handed reliever in all of baseball. Adding another dominant arm on that side of the mound is massive.

Another splash the Dodgers made was this morning with Kirby Yates. As of right now, there isn’t a whole lot of info with the contract. The last I saw was that both sides are progressing towards a deal.

This move came as a total surprise. Yesterday, Jack Harris wrote in the LA Times that the Dodgers were interested in Yates before signing Scott. He looked like a backup plan if they couldn’t land their top priority in Scott.

I sent in the Thinking Blue Twitter chat the following GIF… “Why not both?”

This just furthers my believe that Andrew Friedman has a burner account and he is one of my Substack subscribers in that chat. Which, by the way, if you’re a Substack subscriber and want to be in that chat, shoot me a DM on Twitter (@BlakeHHarris) and I’ll add you!

Yates was fantastic for the Rangers last season. He was named an All-Star and finished eighth in Cy Young voting. Yates would be the closer and No. 1 reliever on most teams in baseball. For the Dodgers, he’ll be like their 3rd or 4th best option.

Here is where Yates ranked in 2024 among relievers with 60+ innings pitched:

1.17 ERA (2nd)

.111 AVG (1st)

35.9 K% (6th)

0.83 WHIP (8th)

1.9 fWAR (T-8th)

2.50 FIP (10th)

24.1 K-BB% (12th)

When looking at his savant page, he was 100th percentile (!!!) in both expected ERA and expected batting average. He was also at least 88th percentile when it came to chase, whiff and strikeout percentage. Yates didn’t allow a lot of hard contact, either.

Like with Scott, the only issue was with his walk percentage of 11.8, which ranked him 8th percentile. If the Dodgers can just drop that number down a percentage or two, Yates has a chance to be even better.

In just a few days, LA managed to add the two best relievers on the market. This has a chance to be the best bullpen in baseball by a mile. The unreal offseason continues.

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