Dodgers' competitors for Zack Britton revealed after Wednesday showcase

The Los Angeles Dodgers have made a seemingly endless string of "one year with an option" bullpen deals for bounce back candidates in recent years, culminating quite recently with their $1.1 million guarantee to ex-Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes.

Andrew Friedman might not be done.

As has been long rumored, the Dodgers were one of six teams to send representatives to left-handed veteran Zack Britton's throwing session on Wednesday in Florida.

Britton remains unsigned after an injury-riddled final year-and-a-half with the Yankees, which featured an experimental alternative to Tommy John surgery and a blitz toward the finish line of the 2022 regular season to help New York's playoff push, which ended with 0.2 innings, six walks, and renewed pain.

Britton is still doggedly pursuing an MLB role, however, and if the Dodgers are impressed, they'll have to outbid the rival Giants, Angels, Mets, Cubs and Rangers for his services. Awful lot of familiar names in there.

Dodgers, Giants to battle for LHP Zack Britton in free agency

Steve Cohen and the Mets have probably been aboard the Britton train the longest, registering their interest several times over the past few months, but never being certain enough to head off the "throwing session" at the pass and just sign him.

Considering the remarkably cheap price Reyes went for, with just as much injury uncertainty on his ledger with less of a track record, it's hard to imagine Britton's MLB deal will cost over $2 or $3 million. The Dodgers have no plans to get under the luxury tax threshold, as once suspected. So why not blow past it and keep adding?

There's no bad use of a few million dollars, if you have the Dodgers' budget. There's also no team that's a better landing spot for a recovering pitcher with pedigree. That said, after a less-than-stellar showing in 2022, it's difficult to expect much of anything from the 35-year-old Britton, who has a ways to go before he recovers his power sinker.