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3 best 'last resorts' for Dodgers to address bullpen in free agency

By Katrina Stebbins |
Colorado Rockies v San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies v San Francisco Giants / Ezra Shaw/GettyImages
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For all of the Dodgers' wins this season, there does seem to be one area where they've had a string of losses: bullpen arms. They lost out on Robert Stephenson to the Angels and Josh Hader to the Astros, and other relief arms Matt Moore and David Robertson have also come off the board. Although the Dodgers already have a good setup in their bullpen with Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, and co., if they are interested in making a few more additions, they'll need to move fast.

The free agent relief market was never incredibly strong to begin with, but with Hader, Stephenson, and Robertson gone, it's even less power-packed. However, if the Dodgers are still looking to make some upgrades, there are a few options left that range from serviceable to possible standouts, especially given the Dodgers' track record of working well with pitchers and getting the best work out of them.

3 best 'last resorts' for Dodgers to address bullpen in MLB free agency

Jakob Junis

Junis is coming off of his best season with the Giants, who kicked him back to the bullpen in 2023 after he made 17 starts with mixed results for them in 2022. During his seven-year career, he's performed in multiple roles for the Royals and then Giants. Even during his rookie season, he started 16 games and appeared in relief in four, closing one on the way. He's never had stellar results as a starter; before 2023, his best ERA year was that rookie season (4.30), and he hasn't quite been able to find his way since then.

However, something did seem to click for him as a reliever/occasional opener and closer for the Giants, because he kept his ERA below 4.00 for the first time in his career and earned a career-high strikeout rate (10.05 K/9). He's struggled with injury in the past and did see his 2023 season end prematurely in September with neck strain, but he was mostly able to stay healthy with the Giants and gave them the most innings of any reliever in 2023. Because of his recent injury, he could be a gamble but still an affordable option for the Dodgers (MLB Trade Rumors estimates $15 million over two years). Signing Junis would add a capable veteran arm to a relatively young bullpen.

Adam Ottavino

After two good years with the Mets, Ottavino declined a $6.75 million player option in November and cited the team's lack of leadership at the time as his reason for leaving. The Mets have since remedied that by hiring Carlos Mendoza as manager, and they apparently have reached back out to him about coming to a new agreement, though nothing has come to fruition yet. He's spent the last five seasons on the east coast, with the Yankees, Red Sox, then Mets, but he pitched almost 400 innings in the NL West with the Rockies at the beginning of his career. If he wanted to move back across the country, the Dodgers could consider adding him to the bullpen.

Ottavino is 38, which is a bit old even for a reliever, but he still managed a 2.62 ERA with the Mets and a 2.76 ERA with the Yankees a few years prior, and has reliably given 60+ innings every year since 2018. His age might be the thing that's keeping teams from inking him (none have reported interest so far), but he can still perform at a high level and the Dodgers just signed 35-year-old James Paxton as a starter, so they might not be too worried about age on the whole. Ottavino is worth an estimated $4.8 million per year, which makes him the most affordable player on this list and, accordingly, one the Dodgers should consider.

Héctor Neris

Neris is the last big fish in the reliever pond and, as a result, has garnered interest from multiple teams after leaving the Astros in free agency, including the Yankees, Mets, and Rangers. Although it does look likely that he'll head to the east coast, the Dodgers could make a late-game play for him to swipe yet another big free agent from under the league's noses.

While there's no love for the Astros or ex-Astros in LA, Neris' excellence speaks for itself (and, importantly, he wasn't on the team when all of the trash can banging was taking place). Houston leaned on him heavily out of their bullpen in 2022 and 2023 after eight mostly unexceptional years in Philadelphia. He dominated especially in 2023, pitching 68 1/3 innings for a 1.71 ERA and a nearly 30% strikeout rate.

With Josh Hader off the board, Neris is the best relief option still remaining. Given his age and the fact that relievers don't usually make much money to begin with, he could still be affordable for the Dodgers if they were to stretch a bit and outbid the other teams who seem to be invested in him. According to the rumor mill, he's seeking approximately a two-year, $20 million deal. The Dodgers can make that happen if they'd like to.

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