reliever

Ahead of his final season under club control, and with his 2026 salary expected to top more than $6 million through arbitration, reliever Evan Phillips was not tendered a contract for next year by the Dodgers on Friday, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team is still interested in re-signing him as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

“We had a number of back and forth discussions with Evan and his agent,” Friedman said via text. “It is challenging with him coming off surgery, so he is going to take some time and look to sign after he throws off the mound when his rehab allows. Evan has been a big part of our past success and we will continue the conversation about bringing him back. We respect that he is taking this time to decide what is best for him and his family.”

Friday’s decision — which will make Phillips a free agent — reflects the uncertainty around the pitcher’s status for next season, following the Tommy John procedure he had last June.

Phillips’ recovery process is expected to stretch at least into the early part of next year. How much he will be able to pitch in 2026 remains unclear.

Because of that, the Dodgers faced a decision ahead of MLB’s non-tender deadline Friday: Keep Phillips on the roster and pay him the $6.1 million or so that MLB Trade Rumors projected he would receive through the arbitration process. Or cut him loose and attempt to re-sign him (likely to a lesser salary) this offseason.

The club picked the latter. Now, only time will tell whether Phillips’ productive tenure in Los Angeles will continue.

Phillips, 31, has been a key part of the Dodgers’ bullpen since the team plucked him off waivers near the end of the 2021 season.

In 2022, he was one of the top relievers in baseball, posting a 1.14 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 63 innings. He had a 2.05 ERA and 24 saves the following season, before regressing to a 3.62 mark in 2024.

Despite that decline, the right-hander still played a crucial role in the club’s 2024 World Series run, pitching 6⅔ scoreless innings that postseason before missing the World Series with a shoulder injury.

That injury, which Phillips later said included a tear in the back of his rotator cuff, caused him to miss the early weeks of this past season.

Phillips eventually made his 2025 season debut on April 19, but logged only seven appearances (all of them scoreless) before going on the injured list in early May with forearm discomfort. At the time, Phillips’ hope was that the IL stint was only a “precautionary” measure and that he would be able to return later in the season.

Instead, his forearm pain lingered. And by the end of May, the full severity of his injury had become frustratingly clear.

Phillips underwent his Tommy John procedure, which typically comes with a 12-18 month recovery timeline, on June 3.

“[His arm] wasn’t really responding,” general manager Brandon Gomes said at the time. “We felt like this could be a possibility. So as he got deeper into the process and it wasn’t really getting better, the decision to do it was pretty much evident with our information.”

Phillips did begin throwing again on Nov. 5, he announced on Instagram. The Dodgers would still like for him to be part of the mix in their bid for a World Series three-peat in 2026.

Now, however, it will take a new contract to get that done.

In addition to Phillips, the Dodgers also decided not to tender a contract to 27-year-old pitcher Nick Frasso on Friday. Frasso, a former top prospect who struggled in triple-A in his return from a shoulder surgery this past season, had yet to make his MLB debut.

LAS VEGAS — Last offseason, the Dodgers swung big in their offseason pursuit of impact bullpen additions.

After largely striking out, however, they might now have to decide if they’re comfortable doing it again.

The Dodgers don’t have glaring needs this winter, but the back end of the bullpen is one area they will look to upgrade. Although the team has ample relief depth, it has no clear-cut closer as it enters 2026.

The main reason why: Tanner Scott’s struggles after landing a lucrative four-year, $72-million pact last winter.

Scott’s signing represented the second-largest contract, by guaranteed money, the Dodgers had ever given to a relief pitcher (only behind the five-year, $80 million deal closer Kenley Jansen got in 2017). It was a high-risk, high-reward move that, at least in Year 1, quickly felt like a bust.

Scott posted a 4.74 ERA in the regular season, converted only 23 of his 33 save opportunities, and did not pitch in the postseason (in part because of an abscess incision procedure he underwent in the National League Division Series).

The Dodgers’ other big reliever acquisition last winter, Kirby Yates, suffered a similar fate, posting a 5.23 ERA on a one-year, $13-million deal before injuries also knocked him out of postseason contention.

Scott will be back next year, and is one of several veteran relief arms the club is hopeful will make improvements. Still, for a team vying for a third straight World Series title, adding a more established closer remains of interest.

The question now: Will they be willing to do so on another long-term deal? Or will last year’s failed signings make them more hesitant to traverse that same path again?

It might not take long to start finding out.

Already at this week’s general managers’ meetings at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Dodgers have expressed interest in two-time All-Star Devin Williams, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

The 31-year-old right-hander had a down year with the New York Yankees (4.79 ERA, albeit with 18 saves in 22 opportunities), but his underlying metrics remain strong, and the Dodgers’ interest in him dates to last offseason when he was a trade target of the club before ultimately landing in the Bronx.

With a mid-90s mph fastball and signature “Airbender” changeup that has made him one of the most prolific strikeout threats in all the majors over his seven-year career (in which he has a 2.45 ERA and averages more than 14 strikeouts per nine innings), he would significantly improve their ninth-inning outlook.

But the Dodgers’ pursuit of him, which was first reported by The Athletic, could come with a tricky decision.

Williams is expected to have several serious suitors this offseason. And, though some outlets projected him to sign only a one-year deal upward of $20 million, others have him pegged to land a three- or four-year contract.

By nature, the Dodgers typically prefer shorter-term deals, particularly in a role as volatile as relief pitching. If Williams does receive longer-term offers from other clubs, it’s unclear if the Dodgers would be willing to match.

The team could face similar dynamics if it goes after other top relievers on the market, including three-time All-Star and top free-agent closer Edwin Díaz (who also comes with the added complication of a qualifying offer that would cost them a draft pick).

They could wind up having to once again weigh a high-risk, high-reward move.

And on Tuesday, general manager Brandon Gomes struck a decidedly risk-averse tone in the wake of last year’s failed signings.

“It’s one of those things that, I don’t think it’s a ‘need,’” Gomes said of the team’s interest in making another splashy reliever acquisition. “But it could be a nice-to-have, depending on how it all plays out.”

There are other alternatives, of course.

Former Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Pete Fairbanks is one potentially shorter-term target some in the industry see as a fit in Los Angeles, after racking up 75 saves with a 2.98 ERA over the last three seasons.

Former Angels and Atlanta Braves right-hander Raisel Iglesias is potentially another, after amassing 96 saves with a 2.62 ERA over the last three years, thanks to a mid-90s mph fastball and swing-and-miss changeup that have kept him productive even at age 35.

There are other familiar free-agent relievers available this winter, too, from former San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez to former St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets right-hander Ryan Helsley (who has also been linked to the Dodgers in trade rumors in the past).

The Dodgers could also explore the offseason’s trade market, or roll the dice with a current relief corps that still includes Scott (whose 2025 issues had more to do with execution than quality of stuff), Alex Vesia (who has established himself as one of the top left-handed relievers in the sport) and Blake Treinen (another reliever the team sees as a bounce-back candidate after he struggled with injuries last season in the first season of a two-year, $22 million deal). They will also be getting Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips back from injuries, with Graterol on track to be ready for the start of 2026 after missing last year with a shoulder problem, and Phillips expected to return at some point in next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June.

For now, however, the team’s search could depend on how the markets for Williams, Díaz and others develop — and whether it’s willing to take another big bullpen swing on a longer-term deal.

“We have so many guys that are capable of closing and have done it in the past,” Gomes said, highlighting the team’s current returning bullpen arms. “But it’s one of the areas we’ll look to potentially add to the team.”

Skenes wins NL Cy Young Award, Yamamoto third in voting

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will always be remembered for his historic performance in the Dodgers’ postseason this past October.

On Wednesday, his regular-season performance received some deserved recognition, too.

While Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes won the National League Cy Young Award as expected, after leading the majors with a 1.97 ERA in just his second MLB season, Yamamoto finished third for a campaign in which he went 12-8, posted a 2.49 ERA over 30 starts, and anchored a Dodgers rotation that was ravaged by injuries for much of the season.

Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez was the NL’s other Cy Young finalist, and was runner-up. Skenes garnered all 30 first-place votes while Sánchez received all 30 second-place votes. Yamamoto collected 16 third-place votes.

Yamamoto’s finish was the highest by a Dodgers pitcher since Julio Urías came in third in 2022.

It caps a year in which the 27-year-old Japanese star made significant strides from his debut rookie MLB season (when he had a 3.00 ERA and was limited to 18 starts because of a shoulder injury) and helped carry the Dodgers to a World Series with a 1.45 ERA in six playoff outings and a grueling 37 1/3 October innings — including back-to-back complete games in the NL Championship Series and World Series, before back-to-back victorious appearances in Games 6 and 7 of the Fall Classic.

Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia and his wife, Kayla, announced on Instagram on Friday that their baby daughter, Sterling, died on Oct. 26 — a tragic loss that caused Vesia to miss the Dodgers’ appearance in the World Series last week.

“Our little angel, we love you forever & you’re with us always,” the Vesias wrote. “There are no words to describe the pain we’re going through but we hold her in our hearts and cherish every second we had with her.”

The Vesias had been expecting the birth of Sterling, their first child, during the Dodgers’ postseason run. Her death came during the World Series, forcing Vesia to step away from the club.

The day before Game 1 of the World Series, the Dodgers publicly announced Vesia was not with the team because of a “deeply personal family matter.” The Dodgers left him off their World Series roster, as well as the family medical emergency list, so as not to pressure him into feeling he needed to return.

“This is so much bigger than baseball,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at the time. “And for us, it was doing whatever small part we could to just 100% be supportive.”

The Dodgers’ bullpen honored Vesia in Game 3 of the World Series, with each reliever writing his No. 51 on the sides of their caps for the rest of the series. The Toronto Blue Jays’ relievers did the same in Games 6 and 7, a gesture several Dodgers publicly recognized and deeply appreciated.

“I think it really speaks to the brotherhood of athletes, major league baseball players,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts ahead of Game 7. “Baseball is what we do, but it’s not who we are. And for these guys to recognize Alex and what he and Kayla have gone through — ‘heartbreaking’ is not even a good enough descriptor.”

“For those guys to do that, it’s incredible,” outfielder Kiké Hernández added. “They’re trying to win a World Series, but they understand that this is — life is bigger than baseball, and baseball’s just a game. For them to do that with the stakes where we’re at, hats off to them, and I want them to know that we appreciate ‘em.”

The Vesias also thanked the Dodgers, Blue Jays and baseball fans for their support.

“Our baseball family showed up for us and we wouldn’t be able to do this without them,” they wrote. “We have seen ALL your messages, comments and posts. It’s brought us so much comfort.”

Vesia was a key part of the Dodgers’ bullpen in both the regular season (when he had a 3.02 ERA in a career-high 68 appearances) and the first three rounds of the playoffs (when he allowed just two runs in seven outings).

On Thursday, the Dodgers picked up Vesia’s $3.65-million option for next season, avoiding arbitration before what will be his final year before reaching free agency.