The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the midst of a historic offseason as they have reached an agreement to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a record-setting contract after already adding Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow.
While the heavy lifting appears to be done, the team could still pursue an upgrade at shortstop or add another outfielder. L.A. also wants to bolster its starting pitching depth with Lucas Giolito among the possibilities.
One area of the Dodgers roster that appears set is the bullpen. However, Jon Morosi said during an appearance on MLB Network’s “High Heat” that the team could sign one of the top free-agent relievers with Josh Hader still in their sights.
“So there are still some teams that are very aggressive in this area and our own Tom Verducci has talked about the Dodgers as not being done yet, they may still make a move for Josh Hader. The Angels we know are very involved in the bullpen market, The Rangers have been in there and involved in the bullpen market, so of the Yankees. So I think that group of very aggressive teams could account for these three names that I had mentioned with Jordan Hicks of course, following up as well.”
Morosi added that he expects the reliever market to pick up in the next few weeks:
“These next couple weeks are the weeks for the bullpen market to get going. And I’ll be curious to see if Stephenson, whose value skyrocketed once he went to the Rays, if he might sign before Hader, or if it’s going to be the other way around with the more proven All-Star level closer in Hader perhaps going to a team like the Dodgers or the Rangers.”
The Dodgers don’t necessarily need to add another reliever, but they could be opportunistic and attempt to sign one of the aforementioned names if the price is right.
The Dodgers have previously been linked to Hader and Robert Stephenson in recent weeks, and they were reportedly interested in acquiring Jordan Hicks at the MLB trade deadline this past season as well.
Hader figures to sign the biggest contract of the group due to his track record as a dominant closer, while Hicks and Stephenson are both coming off career years in 2023.
Dodgers bullpen moves
To this point, the Dodgers’ only bullpen moves this offseason were re-signing Joe Kelly to a one-year contract and picking up Blake Treinen’s $1 million team option for 2024. The club also re-signed Daniel Hudson to a Minor League contract.
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