Projecting Los Angeles Dodgers’ Opening Day roster for 2022

Dodgers Bullpen (9)

• Tony Gonsolin
• David Price
• Blake Treinen
• Tommy Kahnle
• Victor González
• Daniel Hudson
• Alex Vesia
• Justin Bruihl
• Amir Garrett

Ohhhhh, yeah, plugged a surprise name in there!

For now, we’re projecting both Gonsolin and Price to be available out of the bullpen and retained when camp breaks. Trading Price’s $32 million will be more arduous than it’s worth, especially considering the Red Sox are paying a chunk (how kind of them). Plus, with a seemingly limitless payroll and several gap-filling trade options on the market in front of them, why would the Dodgers go overboard to clear Price’s salary when they could avoid the stress and just use him in case of an Andrew Heaney-related emergency.

As far as the rest of the ‘pen, we foresee Kelly and Jansen’s departures to be permanent; Jansen will be paid too much, and Kelly’s inconsistency and injury issues will be better suited to a rebuild. Wild Man Tommy Kahnle takes over his personality hole after rehabbing from TJS himself, and Blake Treinen slides into the closer’s role instead of an overpriced trade option like Craig Kimbrel or Michael Fulmer.

We’ve chosen to keep Alex Vesia and Justin Bruihl on the MLB roster from last year’s Quad-A talent pool, and we wish Phil Bickford the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Ah, yes, and Garrett. We added him to the Castillo package instead of options like Nick Senzel and Eugenio Suarez. We trust a Gavin Lux breakout more than we trust that the Dodgers bullpen will ever be 100% completed; though Garrett is coming off an awful year (6.04 ERA), he still struck out 61 men in 47.2 innings and is just two years removed from a 146 ERA+ in a full campaign. As a throw-in, he could definitely carve out a niche here.