The Los Angeles Dodgers officially introduced Tanner Scott as the newest member of the team and he represents their first big-money relief pitcher signing since Kenley Jansen’s five-year, $80 million contract in 2017.
Scott signed a four-year contract worth $72 million, highlighting the Dodgers’ belief he can be an impact arm for them over the next few seasons. The southpaw is also a pitcher they’ve long coveted and felt they were close to acquiring at to the 2024 trade deadline.
Scott becomes arguably the best pitcher in a loaded Dodgers bullpen, and he also comes with experience closing and pitching in setup roles. Over the past three seasons, Scott has saved 54 games while suffering 13 blown saves, seven of which came in 2022.
In the last two years, Scott has combined for 34 saves and 35 holds with just six blown saves. The only pitcher with more experience closing games in the Dodgers bullpen is Blake Treinen, who did most of his work as a closer from 2017-2019.
On most teams, Scott would be the clear closer as the best pitcher in the bullpen who also has a track record of saving games. He is expected to get many save opportunities, but won’t necessarily be the set Dodgers closer.
“I think throughout this process, having conversations with Danny (Lehmann), and going through Tanner, and obviously Doc (Dave Roberts) and Andrew (Friedman), I think Tanner is going to get a ton of opportunities to close games,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said.
“But the biggest thing is how it all fits together to handle the backend. The main focus will be how best do we put together that bullpen down the stretch for Doc to figure out how he’s going to deploy guys, but we anticipate Tanner getting a lot of saves.”
Elite relief pitchers, especially those with significant contracts, often feel like they deserve the opportunity to pitch in the closer role. But part of the reason the Dodgers are so high on Scott is because of his willingness to do whatever the team needs to help them win, whether that’s closing games or pitching in any other inning.
“Not surprisingly, Tanner’s mindset is, ‘I just want to win. Whatever that looks like,'” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “I think that just speaks to who he is as a competitor and how much he likes to win and how much that fits into the culture in our bullpen, and what he’s going to add to it.”
During the 2024 season, Scott recorded 18 of his saves with the Miami Marlins before he was traded to the San Diego Padres, where he went on to record just four saves while pitching in a fireman role.
Scott’s willingness to put the team first, even in a contract year as a rental, stood out to the Dodgers.
With the reported addition of Kirby Yates to the bullpen, he is another option who will command save opportunities. However, the Dodgers have established a culture of putting the team first and doing whatever they can to win games, and Scott fits that mold.
Tanner Scott joins long list of Dodgers with saves
Along with Scott, Treinen and potentially Yates, the Dodgers have multiple other players with closing experience. Evan Phillips entered last year as the club’s closer while Michael Kopech, Alex Veisa, Anthony Banda and Edgardo Henriquez also recorded saves.
Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier have a few saves in their career as well, but the former will miss much of the season and the latter may be on the trade block.
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