Another day, another press conference at Dodger Stadium to introduce a star pitcher.
A day after the Dodgers welcomed Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki, they introduced lefty relief ace Tanner Scott to Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon. Scott’s four-year, $72 million contract became official on Thursday, the club announced -- another move to massively upgrade their pitching staff.
The deal includes a $20 million signing bonus and $21 million in deferred salary, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, though the club did not confirm those details.
“It’s going to be a really exciting year,” Scott said. “It’s a great group of guys, and they keep adding people. It’s awesome to see. I’m ready to be a part of it. Whenever the phone rings, I’m ready to go. I just want to win.”
One of baseball's most dominant relievers over the past two seasons, Scott is coming off a 2024 campaign during which he posted a 1.75 ERA and reached his first All-Star Game. After he was traded from the Marlins to the Padres on July 30, Scott was especially dominant in the playoffs, striking out seven over 4 1/3 scoreless innings -- including Shohei Ohtani all four times he faced him.
Now, the two are teammates.
“Obviously our pitching group was incredibly excited when they found out the news,” said general manager Brandon Gomes. “But what I think was even more impressive -- and speaks volumes to Tanner -- was that I think our hitting group was equally as giddy, not having to face him and gameplan for him.”
Scott's arrival gives the Dodgers a back-end relief ace for what's shaping up to be an excellent bullpen. Right-hander Blake Treinen has already re-signed with L.A., and Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol are among those also set to return. That 'pen played a key factor in the Dodgers' march to a World Series title in 2024. It might be even better in '25, with Scott appearing set to lock down the ninth.
“Tanner is going to get a ton of opportunities to close games,” Gomes said. “How it all fits together to handle the back end -- the main focus will be how best do we put together that bullpen for [Dodgers manager Dave Roberts] to figure out how he’s going to deploy guys. But we anticipate Tanner getting a lot of saves.”
Indeed, Los Angeles is continuing to put the rest of the baseball world on notice. Since winning the World Series, the Dodgers have added Scott, Sasaki, Blake Snell, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim and brought back Treinen, Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman.
Quite an offseason. No team has repeated as champions since the 2000 Yankees capped a three-peat. The Dodgers were already favorites to repeat in '25, but they've made a clear statement of intent with their actions this winter.
“I know I’m ready to win another one -- and I’ll be a part of this one,” Scott said.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers finalized their deal for Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese ace who had narrowed his finalists to the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. That deal represented a coup -- the winter’s best bargain, because Sasaki will be playing on a rookie contract and making only a rookie salary.
A day later, Los Angeles was back to flexing its financial might, adding the sport's best available free-agent reliever. Over the past two seasons, Scott sat in the 90th percentile or better in whiff rate (34.7%) and hard-hit rate (27.5%).
Last season, batters hit just .134 with a .179 slugging percentage off Scott’s high-90s four-seamer. Those averages ranked second and first, respectively, among the pitchers who threw a minimum of 300 four-seamers. Scott’s heater and hard high-80s slider each get a couple more inches of vertical drop compared to similar four-seamers and sliders, which contributes to his impressive 51.2% ground-ball rate since the beginning of 2023.
“It’s a unique opportunity when we get to add somebody who is a real needle-mover such as Tanner,” Gomes said. “He’s someone that we have watched and admired from afar over the years -- and have tried to acquire multiple times.”
A sixth-round pick by the Orioles in the 2014 MLB Draft, Scott produced a 4.73 ERA in five seasons with Baltimore’s bullpen. He was dealt to Miami just before the start of the 2022 season and eventually became the Marlins' closer. Scott saved 20 games that year, but he also recorded a 4.31 ERA. Scott walked 46 batters in 62 2/3 innings and had a pedestrian 29.1% chase rate.
The following season, that chase rate soared to 35.3%, which was third best in MLB (min. 500 out-of-zone pitches). Creating a tremendous amount of swing-and-miss and soft contact, Scott ended 2023 with a 2.31 ERA and a .527 opponents’ OPS. He was lights-out leading up to last season’s Trade Deadline, registering a 1.18 ERA over 45 2/3 innings before heading to the Padres in a six-player swap.
Scott finished the season by recording a 1.75 ERA and a scant 25.7% hard-hit rate after the trade. He also produced an 8.0% walk rate, a big improvement for Scott, who arrived in San Diego with a career walk rate of 13.0%, well above the MLB average.
Scott was a force in San Diego's bullpen, neutralizing Ohtani as the Padres pushed the Los Angeles to the brink in the National League Division Series.
Maybe not so much at the time, but the Dodgers clearly liked what they saw.
“We got to see it far too up close and personal down the stretch and in the DS,” Gomes said. “We are glad to be on this side of it today.”