A little over 11 months ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a major move in free agency, bringing in closer Tanner Scott on a four-year, $72 million deal to shore up their bullpen.
One season later, the Dodgers acquired one of the best relievers on the open market in Edwin Diaz due to their bullpen woes, mainly led by Scott’s performance or lack thereof.
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A year after finishing with a 1.75 ERA and 4.0 WAR, Scott stumbled into a 4.74 ERA in Los Angeles and didn’t make an appearance in the postseason due to a severe lower-body abscess. Scott led Major League Baseball with 10 blown saves and contributed to the Dodgers’ 10th-worst team bullpen ERA of 4.27.
The Dodgers are reportedly open to signing a reliever with potential to be a closer over this offseason, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed his confidence that Scott could return to form in 2026.
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“I still feel like last year was an outlier year for Tanner Scott,” Roberts said Monday at the MLB Winter Meetings. “Not that he needs to be a dedicated closer, but I feel that he’s going to be much improved next year. There were some things physically that he was dealing with, some that were talked about, some that weren’t. But yeah, I think getting a high leverage reliever is never a bad thing.”
Scott never had the chance to prove himself in the playoffs for the Dodgers, as he missed the NLDS and NLCS due to the lower-body abscess. The team was hopeful he would return for the World Series, but his health prevented him from participating.
With a hefty salary awaiting him in the 2026 season, Scott will have the opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of Roberts and Dodgers fans alike. Whether he has more competition in the bullpen via a major free agent signing remains a question that could be answered over the next week during the Winter Meetings.
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2 Responses
Roberts’ comments kind of contradict what Scott said throughout the season, that he couldn’t handle the stress of the high contract. He said this or similar several times. So, if he has physical issues, they can heal. he needs to get his head right. I mentioned this back when it happened. I was at the Baltimore game on September 6th, the 30th anniversary of Ripken setting the ironman record for consecutive games. This was the game Yamamoto had a no hitter with 2 outs in the 9th inning. Scott had a blown save )took the loss) the night before and blew it again in this game. The O’s great Jim Palmer was familiar with Scott from his years in Baltimore. He said the problem with Scott was he had lost confidence with edge of zone location for off speed and breaking pitches and was throwing his fastball for strikes in the exact same place every time. Hitters were sitting on this pitch when Scott was behind. This has to be addressed before we can have any hope of him returning to his 2024 form.
The Dodgers found their closer in Edwin Diaz, but if Tanner Scott could return to his All-Star form, the backend of the bullpen would be elite.