Former Dodgers reliever gets traded to Guardians after Blue Jays DFA

One former Dodgers bullpen flop has already headed to the Guardians' pitching lab to try to revive his career, and now another (a bit less of a flop, but a flop nonetheless) is right behind him. On Wednesday, Cleveland traded for reliever Blue Jays reliever Justin Bruihl in exchange for cash.

Connor Brogdon (the aforementioned bigger flop) only pitched one major league inning for the Dodgers in 2024 and gave up two hits (two home runs) before his season ended with plantar fasciitis. Bruihl hasn't been with the Dodgers since late July 2023, but he spent all of his 66 2/3 innings between 2021 and 2023 in LA going up and down between the majors and minors, to middling results (3.65 ERA).

He's jumped around to four teams since leaving LA — the Rockies, Reds, Pirates, and Blue Jays — but has spent most of his time in their minor league systems. He managed to make Toronto's ALDS roster this year but only pitched 1/3 of an inning in Game 2, in which he gave up a two-run homer to Cody Bellinger. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't on the ALCS or World Series rosters.

Blue Jays trade former Dodgers reliever Justin Bruihl to Guardians

Bruihl has only pitched 23 major league innings since leaving the Dodgers (or, rather, getting kicked out via DFA then involved in cash trade with the Rockies). He's managed to put up some decent enough numbers in Triple-A (3.43 ERA over 42 innings for the Blue Jays' affiliate in 2025), but teams really only call his number when they're in desperate need for a fresh arm in the bullpen.

The Dodgers' bullpen was struggling so heavily late in 2025 that it took over some of their postseason narrative. Starters had to go deep into games to try to keep the likes of Anthony Banda, Edgardo Henriquez, and especially Blake Treinen from blowing it. But the Blue Jays' bullpen wasn't in great shape either, and the Dodgers took advantage of that in Game 2 of the World Series.

If a guy like Bruihl could make one of their postseason rosters, that's not exactly a sign of a thriving bullpen. They've already made a move to attempt to remedy that, signing Tyler Rogers to a three-year, $37 million contract.

Maybe the Guardians, who built one of 2024's best bullpens, will be able to fix Bruihl up, but his track record suggests otherwise.