Dodgers sign Yankees pitcher responsible for cementing Freddie Freeman's icon status

Nestor Cortes will always be the pitcher who threw a ball inside to Freddie Freeman and gave up the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history, but let's rewind a little bit.

With the Yankees up by one going into the bottom of the 10th in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, Jake Cousins — who had a pretty respectable regular season — replaced Luke Weaver. He got his first out pretty easily, but walked Gavin Lux and gave up a single to Tommy Edman before being yanked.

In came Cortes. Shohei Ohtani flew out, Mookie Betts was intentionally walked, up came Freeman. And the rest is history.

Cousins never pitched in a Yankees uniform again. Just ahead of Opening Day in 2025, he went onto the 60-day IL with an elbow flexor strain, and then underwent Tommy John in June. The Yankees non-tendered him at the beginning of the offseason.

No one was willing to take a flier on him — unsurprising, given that he was likely to be unavailable through a large chunk of the 2025 season. No one, until none other than the Dodgers signed him to a major league contract on Tuesday. Bobby Miller went onto the 60-day IL to make room for Cousins on the 40-man roster.

Dodgers sign Yankees reliever Jake Cousins, who set the stage for Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam in 2024 World Series

Cousins is almost certainly going to follow Miller onto the IL as soon as the deal is finalized. This is little more than a depth play, and it speaks to what both Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes have already said about wanting ensure they don't have to do a lot of heavy lifting at the trade deadline.

They re-signed Evan Phillips despite his own Tommy John last May, and the same philosophy probably guided their signing of Cousins. In the short-term, there's no harm done to the roster if they sign pitchers who will immediately be transferred to the 60-day IL. In the long-term ... well, the Dodgers will just see who's available to come back when, and figure it out when they get there.

Let's not forget about the other end of this move, though. Miller going onto the IL isn't exactly surprising (he didn't pitch at all in spring training after reporting shoulder discomfort), but it is yet another tough blow in a series of disappointments for the former top prospect.

The Dodgers made it clear that they no longer view Miller as a starter, but he too could be in the mix for a late-season return alongside Phillips, and now Cousins.