Roki Sasaki might have been the exclamation point on yet another big Dodgers offseason.
But the team isn’t done adding to its 2025 roster yet.
In another splashy offseason signing Sunday morning, the Dodgers agreed to a four-year, $72-million deal with lockdown left-handed reliever Tanner Scott, according to multiple reports, bolstering an already stout bullpen with a late-inning weapon who tortured their lineup in the playoffs last year.
An eight-year veteran who began his career as a lower-leverage middle relief arm with the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins, Scott has emerged as one of the top southpaws in the sport the last couple of years — and perhaps the best reliever overall on this winter’s free-agent market.
In 2022, he recorded 20 saves for the Marlins with a 4.31 ERA (the lowest of his career to that point outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign).
In 2023, he was even better, posting a 2.31 ERA with 12 saves and 104 strikeouts in a career-high 78 innings.
Scott’s best season, however, came last year, when his 1.75 ERA and 22 saves resulted in his first All-Star selection and a trade deadline move from the last-place Marlins to the playoff-bound San Diego Padres.
Before going to San Diego, Scott was a deadline target for the Dodgers, who ultimately pivoted to starting pitcher Jack Flaherty instead.
When the teams met in the National League Division Series, Scott became one of the Padres’ most trusted weapons, providing four scoreless outings while also striking out Shohei Ohtani all four times he faced the left-handed-hitting slugger.
Now, the Dodgers will count Scott among their highest-leverage options, adding him to a bullpen that returns just two left-handed relievers from last year’s team, Alex Vesia and Anthony Banda.
Scott’s signing comes just two days after the Dodgers signed Sasaki, the acquisition of the 23-year-old starting pitching phenom from Japan becoming an instant high point of their offseason. However, the team still identified another back-end bullpen option as a need entering next season.
While they had liked Scott since early in the offseason, they were also evaluating other relievers remaining on the free agent market, including discussions with veteran All-Star right-hander Kirby Yates, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
Scott, however, always loomed as the top option, becoming a high-priority target within the organization after the team’s inability to land Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams in a trade.
And though, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, his signing will push their luxury tax payroll for next season to nearly $380 million — some $70 million more than any other team currently — the Dodgers didn’t waver.
They had already upgraded their starting rotation and bolstered their star-studded lineup this offseason. Now, they’ve successfully shored up the bullpen, too, swinging yet another star addition in yet another offseason that has been full of them.
