The Dodgers don’t have a lot of holes when analyzing the roster. The front office prides itself on constructing a team with impressive depth across the board. As we saw in the playoffs, LA got contributions from practically everyone. This included an immensely strong effort from the bullpen throughout postseason play.
At this point, the Dodgers are in a position where they can add luxury options to their roster. The name that immediately comes to mind is Tanner Scott.
Traditionally, Andrew Friedman doesn’t like throwing money at relief pitching. LA has proven to be experts in grabbing guys off the trash heap and turning them into legitimate options. Anthony Banda was one of those guys this past year.
Even with Banda and Alex Vesia in the ‘pen, adding another lefty like Scott can take the team to another level.
We saw how dominant Scott can be in the postseason. The reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani couldn’t touch Scott when squaring off versus one another. Last year, the 30-year-old sported a 1.77 ERA with a 9-6 record.
Dave Roberts would be salivating over adding Scott to a bullpen group featuring the aforementioned Vesia and Banda – not to mention flamethrower Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, and Blake Treinen.
With the Dodgers’ penchant for shortening games via their bullpen, Scott’s ability to be a high-leverage arm in any situation would be highly appealing. Having a lights-out lefty to go up against the likes of Juan Soto, Matt Olson, Jackson Merrill, Christian Yelich, and Bryce Harper.
Should Teoscar Hernandez sign elsewhere – a distinct possibility with the Blue Jays and Red Sox sniffing around- the Dodgers will have funds freed up to improve the roster further. Getting Michael Conforto to play RF helped with depth, and the rest of the outfield figures to be manned by a grouping featuring Tommy Edman, Andy Pages, James Outman, and the team’s best prospect, Dalton Rushing.
Scott sure would be a nice piece, even if on a lengthier deal than the Dodgers usually give out to relievers.
