The Dodgers' latest free agent target can only further their embarrassment of riches

A year ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers had arguably the best offseason of any team in recent memory.

To recap: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernández all became Dodgers within the span of a month. James Paxton (who was their most reliable starting pitcher the entire first half of the season) and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw (a formality) amounted to "depth moves." Including Will Smith's 10-year contract extension, the Dodgers committed more than $1.2 billion in future salary obligations.

Somehow, the Dodgers continue to outdo themselves, much to the chagrin of 29 other fan bases.

Tuesday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today was first with the latest stunning news: that the Dodgers were nearing a deal with pitcher Kirby Yates, a 37-year-old free agent coming off a 37-save season for the Texas Rangers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who already have folks screaming about their payroll, have reached a tentative agreement with free-agent closer Kirby Yates, pending a physical. The deal comes on the heels of signing Tanner Scott to a 4-year, $72 million contract.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 21, 2025

Last year, Yates accrued more Win Probability Added (4.43) than all but one reliever in baseball. In 422 career appearances, Yates has closed, set up, and generally thrived in one-inning increments for six different teams.

Yates excels without the flashiest speed (93.2 mph average fastball) while fooling batters (.113 opponents' batting average, 36.6 percent strikeout rate) at an alarming rate. His splitter remains one of the game's elite pitches — and proof that throwing hard isn't the only path to success.

The Dodgers' bullpen looks stout on paper. Besides newly signed left-hander Tanner Scott, they could in theory turn to right-handers Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, and Evan Phillips — all closers as recently as last season — for saves in 2025. In practice, their needs are perhaps more urgent than the depth chart seems.

Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Tuesday that Kopech "dealt with a forearm issue throughout the postseason, league sources said, but it was not deemed to be anything he couldn’t pitch through." Phillips also missed the Dodgers' victorious World Series with a shoulder issue, left-hander Alex Vesia missed the National League Championship Series with an intercostal strain, and Brusdar Graterol's shoulder surgery is expected to keep him out for much of 2025.

What's different here is that the Dodgers are not relying on a farm system that is no worse than "adequate" to address these (and potentially other) bullpen injuries from within the organization.

Yates was arguably the best relief pitcher still available on the free agent market. So of course he's going to be a Dodger. Hernández and Scott both agreed to deferred money in their new contracts — a team-friendly (but completely above-board) mechanism that some teams have been reluctant to embrace — but at this point, should we care how much salary Yates is deferring, if any?

The Dodgers are beyond "adding at the margins" of their roster, the phase of the offseason World Series winners typically find themselves in January. At this point, they can only compete with themselves.

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