Ryan Brasier Breaks Silence on Dodgers Trading Him to Cubs
When the Los Angeles Dodgers designated reliever Ryan Brasier for assignment, it was somewhat surprising. However, because of the roster crunch, the veteran emerged as the odd man out. In a corresponding move, the Dodgers made the signing of reliever Kirby Yates official.
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Brasier, 37, was a reliable arm in the L.A. bullpen. The Dodgers were shopping Brasier a few weeks before he was DFA’d, but it appears the defending champions got no traction.
Brasier was eventually traded to the Chicago Cubs, finding a new home with an NL contender. The veteran recently spoke about his unexpected departure from L.A.
“I definitely didn’t have that on my bingo card for the offseason,” Brasier said, via The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. “I was surprised, but I get it. I’ve been around long enough where I understand they’ve got to make decisions. You don’t always have to like ‘em or agree with ‘em. But I ended up in a good spot. There are a lot of other places that I wouldn’t have been as excited about it.”
The Dodgers are entering the 2025 season with a seven-man bullpen. If all relievers are healthy to start the season, the Dodgers bullpen will feature Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, and Evan Phillips.
As for who the closer will be, general manager Brandon Gomes kept it open-ended at Scott’s introductory press conference.
“I think Tanner is going to get a ton of opportunities to close games,” Gomes said. “But the biggest thing is how it fits together to handle the back end. I think the main focus will be how best do we put that bullpen together down the stretch for Doc to figure out how he’s going to deploy guys.”
While many speculated this meant the Dodgers would select a closer based on matchups, manager Dave Roberts revealed Sunday the defending champions would use Scott as their main closer next season.
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Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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