Will Tanner Scott Be Dodgers Closer? LA Front Office Answers
Shortly after winning the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed the best free agent reliever on the market.
Left-hander Tanner Scott agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with the franchise. Despite Scott’s talent on the mound, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman typically avoids lucrative deals for free agent relievers.
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Scott’s contract suggests the Dodgers expect him to be a key piece of the bullpen for the next few seasons. The 2024 National League All-Star has could certainly serve as Dave Roberts’ go-to closer, but the Dodgers will likely select their closer for each game based off matchups (much like they did in 2024).
“I think Tanner is going to get a ton of opportunities to close games,” Dodgers general manager Brandon 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.”
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With the addition of Scott, alongside Anthony Banda and Alex Vesia, Los Angeles has three southpaws in their bullpen. Now, the Dodgers have a good mix of righty and lefty relievers to choose from for late-game matchups.
Scott is coming off the best season of his career. The 30-year-old posted a 1.75 ERA across 72 appearances.
Scott earned the first All-Star recognition of his career after a strong first-half performance with the Miami Marlins. He also earned his second NL Reliever of the Month selection in July with the San Diego Padres.
Across two postseason runs, Scott has only allowed two hits and no runs across 5.1 innings. He took the mound against the Dodgers in four games of the NLDS. Each time he faced Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, Scott struck out the NL MVP.
Two-time All-Star reliever Kirby Yates, who reportedly is in agreement with a deal with the Dodgers, will join Scott as a new member of the bullpen.
Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
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