The Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen struggled at the end of the season in 2025, and are reportedly not in for one of the top closing options on the market in Pete Fairbanks.
Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic spoke about Fairbanks’ market in an article, and didn’t list the Dodgers as a team interested in the right-hander.
Fairbanks has been with the Tampa Bay Rays since 2019 and has become a solid closer in the AL East. He recorded a career-high 27 saves in 2025, keeping an ERA of 2.83 during the regular season. Last season marked the fourth time he had stayed under a 3.00 ERA in a season.
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The Dodgers gave Tanner Scott a four-year, $72 million contract ahead of 2025, though his role has come into question following his string of poor performances last season. Despite the Dodgers’ struggles, general manager Brandon Gomes revealed LA are confident in him as well as their other relievers.
“We have a ton of options,” Gomes said. “Obviously, as we saw as the season played out, different guys emerge. We have a lot of guys that we trust at the back end. So what that all looks like I think will kind of come out of who’s available and what makes sense for us.”
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Gomes continued to talk about Scott, saying the southpaw still had his trust and would get his chances during 2026.
“He certainly is one of the guys in that group,” Gomes said. “We’ve seen it in the past. There is reliever volatility. Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen in the past with other great relievers. So we fully believe Tanner’s gonna come back and have a great year for us next year and be right there in the mix to pitch at the back end of the games.”
If the Dodgers are out of the market for a new closer, they’ll hope the back end of their bullpen can step up and produce better numbers next season than they did in 2025.
Photo Credit: Dave Nelson-Imagn Images
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