When you're looking for saves in Fantasy Baseball, you typically want two things: A great reliever, and pitching for a great team. But the Dodgers present a frustrating wrinkle for Fantasy players looking for saves in 2025, because, while they are sure to be in contention for the league lead in wins with their star-spangled roster, they enter spring training with so many closer-caliber relievers that it's not clear any of them are worth drafting as anything more than a late-round pick for 2025.
That didn't seem to be an issue after they signed Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million that makes him the third-highest-paid reliever in the league. Scott has closer experience with 54 saves over the previous three seasons, and was coming off a dominant season that saw him post a 1.75 ERA over 72 innings of work. Surely a contract paying him almost as much as Josh Hader and Edwin Diaz would provide Scott with job security in the same neighborhood as what Hader and Diaz enjoy, right?
Well, less than 72 hours after signing Scott to that blockbuster deal, reports surfaced Tuesday that the Dodgers are on the verge of signing the other big name left on the reliever market. Kirby Yates was even more dominant than Scott last season, putting up a 1.17 ERA and 0.827 WHIP while saving 33 games for the Rangers in a huge bounceback season for the veteran. The contract isn't finalized as of Tuesday, and compensation details aren't yet known, but given Yates' track record in the ninth inning, it seems safe to assume he's going to factor there for the Dodgers.
And, of course, this is a team that already had multiple closer-caliber relievers. There's Michael Kopech, who saved games for both the Dodgers and White Sox last year and had a 1.13 ERA and 33% strikeout rate after his move to L.A. Blake Treinen is also around, and while he only saved one game in the regular season last season, he added three more in the postseason and has 80 saves in his career. And then there's Evan Phillips, who saved 62 games across 2023 and 2024 for the Dodgers and has a 2.21 ERA and 29.6% strikeout rate over the previous three seasons. And Alex Vesia had a 1.76 ERA, 33% strikeout rate, and five saves for the Dodgers last year.
Any one of those six could be a must-start closer for Fantasy at the right time, but all six might be on the very wrong team. The last time the Dodgers had a closer get more than 24 saves was in 2021 when Kenley Jansen saved 38 on the final year of a contract that paid him even more than Scott's. Of course, Jansen is a likely future Hall of Famer and was a franchise lifer at that point, with the kind of job security and deference Scott can't even dream of.
Maybe Scott emerges quickly as the go-to guy in the ninth inning – there's very little precedent for a reliever being paid what he is not being a closer. But then, there's very little precedent for an All-Star closer like Yates signing a big free-agent contract only to be a setup man, too. And there isn't a ton of precedent for a bullpen with this many obviously closer-caliber relievers seemingly set for sixth- and seventh-inning roles.
Attrition will take some of these names out of the picture, a lesson the Dodgers surely know well by now. It sounds like Kopech will be out of the picture to open the season, at least, after recovering from a forearm injury last October. And Yates was limited to just 11.1 innings from 2020 through 2022 due to injuries, so relying on him without a viable alternative probably wouldn't be a great idea, either. Heck, even Scott may not be a totally ideal option as a full-time closer – his command can be erratic even when things are going well, and many teams are hesitant to fully commit to a lefty as their lone closer.
Which is all to say, the expectation here should be that this is a committee more often than not. It may not work out that way of course – if one pitcher is dominating in the role, many teams will opt to stick with them rather than change players' routines – but given the names involved with this specific bullpen, it seems like the safest bet at this point. Scott could end up saving 40 games here if he's the closer for 162 games, but the same could absolutely be said for Yates if he gets the chance.
My guess, at this point, is neither will come close. Both might be worth rostering in Fantasy, but I also don't think either should be the centerpiece of your saves strategy in 2025. A draft pick around 175 who will provide excellent ratios and hopefully 25 saves seems like about the best you should expect for either.
