The Los Angeles Dodgers figure to be one of the more active teams in MLB this offseason, with glaring needs to address at both the catcher position and bullpen.
Free agency offers an abundance of options for those particular areas, but especially the latter. From high-priced relievers to potential bargains, the Dodgers can be selective when constructing their relief corps for the 2019 season.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has historically shied away from doling out lucrative contracts to high-profile relievers, opting to instead bank on diamonds in the rough such as Joe Blanton and Brandon Morrow.
While Friedman is more comfortable going that route, he downplayed the notion that the club is unwilling to spend lavishly on free-agent relievers, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“We’ve made offers on guys where we would have spent on guys in the bullpen,” Friedman said of his track record with relievers. “But I think as you look back over time if free-agent reliever deals were really helpful in teams winning more games, winning a World Series then, yes. It just hasn’t necessarily played out that way.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s a market we close off. It just makes us a little more selective in who we go after. How things play out, I’m not sure right now.”
Since joining the Dodgers organization in 2014, Friedman’s biggest expenditure on a relief pitcher was signing closer Kenley Jansen to a five-year, $80 million contract after the 2016 season.
Lacking a bonafide late-inning bridge to Jansen, the Dodgers are among over a half-dozen teams to already express interest in Joe Kelly and David Robertson.
That has since been followed by the club reportedly coming to an agreement with Kelly on a three-year, $25 million deal.
