As if this low season couldn’t get any higher after information that Roki Sasaki was selecting the Dodgers, now the perfect arm for the bullpen that followers wished however didn’t actually suppose we’d get is a Dodger as effectively, as Tanner Scott has agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with the staff.
BREAKING: Tanner Scott and the Dodgers have agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal, per supply.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 19, 2025
Tanner Scott’s Dodgers deal consists of deferred cash and a signing bonus, much like different offers the Dodgers have achieved this winter, a league supply instructed The Athletic. https://t.co/LRH7Ohr3xh
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) January 19, 2025
Deferred cash, in fact.
The rationale the 30-year-old lefty was the most-desired reliever in the marketplace was evident. In 72 innings final yr break up between the Marlins and Padres, he put up a stellar 1.75 ERA, 2.92 FIP, and a couple of.96 xERA, placing out 84 and strolling 36. Scott began the yr wild, strolling 13 in April, however ultimately regained composure and was nails the remainder of a approach with a 1.52 ERA. Because the Dodgers noticed first hand, he was dominant within the playoffs with 4.1 scoreless frames and three strikeouts of Shohei Ohtani and three at-bats.
— Jacob Brownson (@brownsonjacob2) January 19, 2025
Remarkably, Scott was arguably higher the yr earlier than when he struck out 104 and walked simply 24 over 78 innings, posting a 2.31 ERA, 2.17 FIP, and a couple of.50 xERA. Both approach, a two-year run of elite back-end aid from the left facet after years of struggling to reign in his massive arm power in Baltimore and Miami.
He has simply two pitches, a 97 MPH fastball and an 89 MPH slider, however when each pitches are nice there doesn’t should be a number of odds and ends to an arsenal. Ensuring he can constantly throw strikes would be the distinction.
Tanner Scott (signed with LAD) is an elite lefty with an electrical fastball and depraved slider. He was one of the best RP accessible and the Dodgers proceed to get stronger
The Dodgers pitching goes to be a deal with to observe https://t.co/5rXdoptnpq pic.twitter.com/tzY7QxLYJj
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) January 19, 2025
Scott comes with out the burden of a qualifying supply attributable to be traded for, amusing, by the Padres.
So far as the contract goes, the predictions from The Athletic, ESPN, FanGraphs, and MLB Commerce Rumors had been low, as they’ve been all low season for pitching.
- The Athletic: 4 years, $64 million
- ESPN: 4 years, $54 million
- FanGraphs: 4 years, $60 million
- MLBTR: 4 years, $56 million
That averaged out to a four-year deal price $58.5 million for an AAV of $14.625 million, so the years ended up being right however Scott obtained ~$3 million extra per yr. Given how elite pitching choices have constantly been getting paid extra this low season than projections, this oddly appears about proper.
By way of worth, over the past two seasons, Scott has averaged round 2.5 WAR, so his efficiency has justified the worth tag. The issue is especially that relievers are extraordinarily fickle and may issues can go improper in a rush, so the four-year dedication is the large part right here, very like it was for Kenley Jansen again in 2017.
That mentioned, the Dodgers don’t actually care that a lot about $ per WAR or no matter at this level. It’s all about postseason efficiency, and Scott offers Dave Roberts with an elite back-end strikeout choice from the left facet to place into the most important spots. Virtually as essential, this prevents their largest contenders from signing him and giving them an choice to probably neutralize Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. It’s loads to pay with these tiny samples on the core of their thought, however the Dodgers are swimming in cash and in the event that they’re making an attempt to get higher this can be a nice method to do it.
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On social media I had posted the speculation that roster spots and never payroll had been now what restricted the potential of the Dodgers, and as such I questioned if they might go in opposition to what they sometimes do within the pen and spend cash on relievers as a result of it’s one of many few locations left they’ve some flexibility.
I used to be considering that if roster spots are at a premium trigger Ohtani permits them to spend no matter, then I ponder if we see them really spending within the pen sooner or later. Trigger that is one place the place you possibly can kinda have 2-3 top-end guys and nonetheless cycle by way of a bunch of others. We will see.
— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) December 13, 2024 at 7:35 AM
Think about that query answered.
I by no means really thought they might find yourself going by way of with it in any case they’ve already achieved this low season, however Andrew Friedman and the remainder of the entrance workplace are on an absolute warpath to ensure the 2025 staff is loaded and are injecting new blood into the staff to ensure guys are simply as hungry for one more title.
Expectations are going to be by way of the roof with strikes like this, however realistically it simply strikes issues from “Win the World Sequence” to “Win the World Sequence”, and with this signing they actually seem to have taken one other step in the appropriate path of their try and develop into the primary repeat champs since 2000.
