The Los Angeles Dodgers’ unreal two-year run in free agency continued Tuesday with yet another All-Star signing.
The Dodgers reached an agreement with relief pitcher Kirby Yates on a 1-year deal worth $13 million, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal jumps to $14 million if the right-hander appears in at least 55 games.
Right-handed reliever Kirby Yates and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a one-year, $13 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Can get up to $14M with 55 games. Deal is done. The Dodgers’ bullpen gets even stronger. First on Yates’ physical being passed was @Feinsand.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 29, 2025
The Yates move comes just over a week after the team signed standout reliever Tanner Scott to a multi-year deal.
Yates is coming off his best season in the majors. The 37-year-old served as the Texas Rangers’ lights-out closer, posting a career-best 1.17 ERA and 33 saves across 61 games.
The Dodgers have played free agency like a video game of late. They nabbed the offseason’s biggest prize by winning the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes. The move seemingly overshadowed the fact that the Dodgers also acquired 2-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell months before.
The team is also getting Shohei Ohtani back as a pitcher. He forms a terrifying rotation with Sasaki, Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow.
The Dodgers’ bullpen may not have marquee names like its starting rotation does. But its relief pitching corps is arguably just as lethal with Yates and Scott joining Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, and Alex Vesia.
The Dodgers’ bullpen ERA of 3.53 already ranked 2nd-best in the National League last season. With the All-Star additions the made this offseason, the mark is more than likely going to drop even lower.
Fans were already complaining about the Dodgers’ lavish spending after the Snell signing. It’s only gotten worse (or better, if you’re a Dodgers fan) since then.
