Dope Fiend Moves
To say that “ Relief Pitchers are Volatile “… is an incredible understatement! In AA and NA culture, they often say: “ From a hopeless dope fiend to a dopeless hope fiend. ” Relief pitchers can be maddening. In 2022, Andrew Friedman said this in a SI interview: “ Relievers…
To say that “Relief Pitchers are Volatile“… is an incredible understatement! In AA and NA culture, they often say: “From a hopeless dope fiend to a dopeless hope fiend.” Relief pitchers can be maddening. In 2022, Andrew Friedman said this in a SI interview:
“Relievers, unlike starters, or position players, can be great one season, and a disaster the next. Which makes it all that more risky to shell out major trade capital for a player that’s great right now, but has no guarantee of repeating the success the following season.”
— SI
He also said this is an interview with The Athletic:
“I hate trading for relievers at the deadline. It’s my least favorite thing to do. The acquisition cost is totally out of whack. So I like to avoid it as much as possible.”
— Fabian Ardaya
Then, in the offseason between 2024 and 2025, he proceeded to violate that premise. He signed Blake Treinen to a two-year/$22 million dollar deal, Kirby Yates to a 1-year/$13-million dollar deal, and Tanner Scott to a 4-year/$72 million dollar deal. “Violate” may be too strong a word. However, in 2025, the Dodgers blew 27 saves! Tanner Scott led all of MLB with 10 blown saves. Depending upon the source, Alex Vesia was charged with 4 or 5 blown saves. Blake Treinen blew 3, and Kirby Yates blew 2. Treinen lost 7 games, while Scott lost four and Yates lost 3. If the Dodgers had converted all their saves, they would have won 120 games! Of course, if chickens had lips, they would be people.
Blake Treinen has one more year on his contract for $13.5 million. He will be 38 years old, and while he can hit 97 MPH (on occasion), his velocity has decreased dramatically. Every pitch he threw to Castellanos was in the mid-80s. Only time will tell, but I think he is done. Kirby Yates will be 39 next year, and I cannot see him coming back unless it’s on an incentive-laden deal. We have Tanner Scott for three more years, and while you never know, I think there is a good chance he bounces back and becomes a top reliever again. Relievers are volatile. David Bednar and Devin Williams come to mind.
So, should the Dodgers go out and get another closer? Absolutely not! I look for a bounce-back from Scott, and the Dodgers’ system is loaded with live arms. Bazooka Graterol is due back, and so is Kyle Hurt. Of course, Gavin Stone is also due back, but most likely as a starter. Then there are Brock Stewart, River Ryan, Nick Frasso, Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius, Jack Dreyer, Paul Gervase, Michael Grove, Edgardo Henriquez, Will Klien, Bobby Miller, Alex Vesia, Justin Wrobleski, and a plethora of other prospects.
Michael Kopech is a free agent, and someone might offer him a substantial amount of money – it should not be the Dodgers. Tony Gonsolin and Landon Knack are also factors next year, but I could see a situation where the Dodgers ask Roki Sasaki to pitch another season out of the bullpen. The Dodgers have plenty of arms, but with the retirement of Clayton Kershaw, they need another left-hander in the rotation. That could be Jackson Ferris, Adam Serwinowski, or Justin Wrobleski.
At some point, the Dodgers will have to address their surplus of pitchers, but right now, they have an NLDS to win and then an NLCS to contend with against the Brewers. Memo to Doc Roberts and the Dodger Brass: Leave Treinen and Scott off the roster the rest of this year. Cut out the Dope-Fiend Moves! Blake Treinen may be… actually IS a great guy, but he is not the pitcher he once was. Deal with it.
X-CITES
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Discussion (63)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Here’s the long and short of it:
1. Don’t pitch Clayton or Treinen against the Phillies.
2. Freddie needs to step up.
3. Ohtani needs to extract his head from his rear. He had 10 Ks in 23 ABs!
4. Blake Treinen should not pitch against the Phillies, even though he pitched a scoreless inning last night. In 2021 his fastball velocity was in the 96th percentile. Now it’s in the 72nd percentile.