Early into the offseason, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman identified the bullpen and adding a right-handed bat as focal points. Thus far, the Dodgers have been active in fortifying their group of relief pitchers.
It began with a trade for Corey Knebel, who had an encouraging final month of the 2020 regular season. Knebel missed all of 2019 while recovering from Tommy John surgery and dealt with a hamstring strain last August.
L.A. then moved to sign Tommy Kahnle, though he isn’t expected to pitch this year due to undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. On a smaller scale, Jimmy Nelson was re-signed to a Minor League contract, along with Brandon Morrow and Brock Stewart.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers announced Blake Treinen was re-signed to a two-year contract with a team option for the 2023 season. That was presumed by many to take them out of the running for Liam Hendriks, but L.A. reportedly maintains interest in the Oakland Athletics free agent and Brad Hand as well, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network:
And Liam Hendriks, as @ByRobertMurray reported yesterday https://t.co/n1bhFUr4Zm
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 6, 2021
Hendriks is considered the best relief pitcher available in free agency, and he certainly would fortify the closer role for the Dodgers. However, with re-signing Treinen and still needing to arrive at a decision on Justin Turner and other position players, the luxury tax may become a factor.
Hand presumably could be signed to a more team-friendly deal than Hendriks. The Cleveland Indians declined their $10 million option on Hand for the 2021 season and he went unclaimed at that salary after being placed on waivers.
Once considered a top relief pitcher across baseball, Hand endured a bit of a rough 2019 season. He bounced back some last year to lead the Majors with 16 saves, while also pitching to a 2.05 ERA and 22-to-4 strikeout to walk ratio.
Dodgers seeking variety
On top of Friedman indicating he wanted to address the bullpen this offseason, he also expressed a desire to introduce more variety in the group. As pitchers with vertically breaking four-seam fastballs, Hendriks and Trevor Rosenthal fit that profile.
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