Dodgers lose high-profile trade deadline closer option after poorly timed injury

After many assertions that they hoped to avoid the trade deadline market this season, a litany of injuries to pitchers has forced the Los Angeles Dodgers to change their plans. Unfortunately, the closer market just got smaller.

The Baltimore Orioles on July 24 placed closer Félix Bautista on the injured list with shoulder discomfort. Multiple sources, including MLB insider Mark Feinsand, consider Bautista one of the less likely closer trade candidates this deadline, but there was a possibility Baltimore could move him.

Bautista has two seasons of control remaining on his contract after 2025, and it would take quite a package to pry the big righty away from the Orioles. The Dodgers' farm system is deep, however, and they may have been able to entice them into a deal.

Bautista has posted a 2.60 ERA with 19 saves on 20 opportunities, 50 strikeouts and 23 walks in 34.2 innings this season. The righty missed the entire 2024 campaign due to Tommy John surgery, and his command has notably decreased since his return to action. Bautista's best season came in 2023, when he logged a 1.48 ERA with 39 saves and 110 strikeouts in 61 innings.

Orioles place closer Felix Bautista on IL, shrinking the Dodgers' choices on the closer trade market

LA stocked up on elite relievers over the offseason in hopes of avoiding the trade market, but Tanner Scott's recent elbow injury has forced the team into action. An MRI revealed no structural damage in Scott's elbow, but he was still placed on the 15-day injured list with inflammation. He hopes to return to the mound this season, but elbow injuries are notoriously pesky. Reliever Ben Casparius also left Los Angeles' July 22 game against the Twins with a right leg issue, but may be lucky enough to avoid the IL.

Kirby Yates also hasn't delivered in the late innings as the Dodgers hoped he would. Yates has posted a 4.45 ERA with 13 holds and three saves on five opportunities. He's clocked 43 strikeouts and 12 walks in 30.1 innings, and opposing batters are slugging .500 off him.

The Dodgers will need bullpen reinforcements to stay atop their division in the second half, and Bautista could have been a solid, long-term trade option before his injury. Now, the price of the market's other closers has increased because supply has decreased — it will take an intense return package to net Emmanuel Clase, David Bednar, or any other available options.