Dodgers learning ugly truth of paying top dollar to relievers with Tanner Scott

The Los Angeles Dodgers made history when they signed Tanner Scott to the richest free-agent contract for a relief pitcher this past winter. Unfortunately, their high-priced closer has done little to earn that contract since his arrival.

The Dodgers signed Scott to a four-year, $72-million deal during the offseason after he went 9-6 with a 1.75 ERA and 22 saves for the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres last season. It was his second strong season in a row after he had gone 9-5 with a 2.31 ERA and 24 holds for Miami in 2023.

Evidently, two good years was all Andrew Friedman needed to justify doling out a hefty, long-term contract to a reliever – one of the most notoriously volatile positions in the game. He's probably regretting that decision right about now (and if he isn't, he should be).

Through his first 52 games with Los Angeles, Scott's ERA has ballooned up to 4.56. He has a 1-3 record and a career-high eight blown saves – one of which came in a recent outing last Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, when he allowed three earned runs on four hits in one inning of work and nearly cost the Dodgers a win. One of the losses? Samuel Basallo's Friday night walk-off in Baltimore, of course.

His most recent outing? Another loss; one pinned on Blake Treinen, but one in which he left the rubber last.

Dodgers learning ugly truth of paying top dollar to relievers with Tanner Scott

With Scott, the Dodgers are learning the hard way that paying top dollar for high-end relievers often doesn’t work out as well as teams hope.

Reliever performances are highly volatile from year to year. Since they generally throw far fewer innings than starters, all it takes is one or two bad outings to skew their ERA or underlying stats. A dominant closer one year can look average (or worse) the next. Even elite relievers often have shorter peaks than comparable starters.

On balance, spending top dollar on relievers is usually risky and often doesn’t pay off long-term, because of injuries, inconsistency and the replaceability of relief arms. Teams increasingly prefer to allocate big money to starting pitching, bats, or player development, while filling bullpens with depth and upside rather than one expensive star.

A dominant season (or two) can inflate a reliever's market value beyond his long-term reliability, but even truly elite relievers often don't justify lengthy contracts. With Scott, the Dodgers are learning that lesson about nine months too late.

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