The Los Angeles Dodgers identified the bullpen as an area of focus during the offseason, acquiring Corey Knebel from the Milwaukee Brewers and bringing in the likes of Tommy Kahnle and Brandon Morrow in free agency.
The club further bolstered the unit by re-signing Blake Treinen to a two-year contract with a club option for the 2023 season. The right-hander returned after going 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 27 relief appearances last season.
Prior to re-signing with the Dodgers, the Houston Astros reportedly made a strong push to sign Treinen, via Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
One more note on Treinen: The Astros, one of the teams that pursued him most heavily, are also focused on free-agent closer Liam Hendriks. Ideally, they wanted to sign both relievers, who were teammates with one of the Astros’ biggest rivals, the Athletics, from 2017 to ’19.
After missing out on Treinen, the Astros appeared to be focused on Liam Hendriks, who the Dodgers were also linked to. Of course, Treinen wound up signing with the Chicago White Sox.
Houston did wind up prying a relief pitcher from the Dodgers as they signed Pedro Baez to a two-year contract. However, the Astros have yet to get a look at the right-hander as he contracted coronavirus (COVID-19) and spent multiple weeks in quarantine, which set him back for Spring Training.
Treinen ‘very excited to re-sign with Dodgers
After his signing was made official, Treinen spoke on how happy he is to be back with the Dodgers for the foreseeable future. “There was a handful of other teams that were pretty aggressive in wanting to sign me,” he said.
“The Dodgers checked all the boxes on things that we were looking for, so we ended up coming back. It’s a great organization. I had such a blast with the players and staff members, and my family really enjoyed being in L.A., so we’re excited to get back. Any time the best team in baseball wants to sign you, it’s a blessing.
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