Dodgers fans might puke looking at salaries of failed bullpen arms in 2025

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen feels like a sinking yacht. Manager Dave Roberts and Los Angeles’ leadership are exhausting every possible idea to keep the ‘pen afloat, including activating Roki Sasaki, who threw a scoreless seventh inning of relief on Wednesday in a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Less glamorous moves for the Dodgers have included the re-signing of Matt Sauer, despite the previously DFA’d Sauer owning a 6.37 ERA with Los Angeles this season in 10 appearances (29 2/3 innings).

If the Dodgers appear not-so-quietly desperate about their bullpen, it’s because they are. And what’s added insult to injury about the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2025 — perhaps one of the worst bullpens in franchise history — is that some of its most disappointing arms are laughing all the way to the bank.

The Dodgers’ trio of underperforming relievers is being paid over $40 million

The high-paid culprits of Los Angeles’ floundering bullpen are Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, and Kirby Yates. Let’s get this out of the way first — all three of these guys are accomplished big leaguers who deserve all due respect; they wouldn’t have ever been paid the kind of money they’re making if that wasn’t the case.

That being said, none of the three have been particularly effective in 2025, as pointed out by Foul Territory’s Kyle Glaser.

Yates and his 5.23 ERA were sent to the IL this week (hamstring) in a move that prompted the Sasaki activation. Treinen (5.47 ERA) recently blew a lead against the San Francisco Giants, disallowing a sweep. 

Scott, too, has been a disappointment this year, tallying his worst ERA (4.91) since 2021 and his second-worst WHIP since 2022.

For a Dodgers team that still hasn’t clinched the National League West division (2.5-game lead over the San Diego Padres entering Thursday), their bullpen problems continue to be a thorny inconvenience.

Obviously, it also doesn’t bode well for the playoffs. Take Treinen’s eighth-inning collapse (three runs allowed) against the Giants as an example. In one sense, if Treinen had taken care of business like a World Series contender can rightfully expect its well-paid reliever to do, the Dodgers might be holding a 3.5-game division lead with four to play — an entirely different situation in a current landscape where every game (every inning, really) matters.

What’s more, if Los Angeles blows the division and ends up in a three-game Wild Card series, a disaster inning like Treinen’s — if it were to happen in said series — could be the difference between winning the series and losing it.

If the Dodgers had their choice of problems entering the postseason, an unreliable bullpen would be one of the last options they would select. It’s a nerve-racking experience to have a slippery bullpen in October, but that’s the sweaty-palmed reality for Los Angeles right now.