Dodgers sign veteran starter who just got unnecessarily roasted by MLB insider
![Houston Astros v Kansas City Royals](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3611,h_2031,x_0,y_412/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/75/01j3n4nksewmftpq3ngn.jpg)
What did Jordan Lyles ever do to Jon Heyman? Do the two of them have some kind of weird, behind-the-scenes beef that's openly known in the world of baseball insiders but not to the general public? Was Heyman just in a bad mood on Wednesday? There are few other explanations for his shady tweet about Lyles, a few days after the Royals released him.
Heyman wrote: "Want to congratulate Jordan Lyles. If this is it for him he made $53M for a career negative 2.5 WAR. He may be only replacement level as a pitcher, but as a negotiator he's top shelf!" Seriously, Heyman — what did Lyles do to you?
Lyles gets the last laugh, though, because less than 24 hours after that tweet, he signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers. So, clearly that wasn't it for him.
Heyman had to take a couple steps back on his initial tweet after reporting the deal himself, which makes this even funnier. He conceded that Lyles "made sense" for the Dodgers and called him a "reliable innings eater," but he also couldn't help but stand firm on his point about the money. Maybe now's the time just to state the facts and go, man.
Lyles does make sense for a team with a big lead and several pitchers with injury concerns as he does post and he’s a reliable innings eater. (regarding yesterday’s tweet and his $53M/-2.5 WAR his other WAR is 7 and he does log innings — still, he’s negotiated very well) https://t.co/iOLOBY1Pbk
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 25, 2024
Dodgers sign former Royals reliever Jordan Lyles to a minor league deal
Lyles has only pitched five innings this season after being demoted to the Royals bullpen at the start of the year. He went onto the restricted list in late April for personal reasons and reported back in June, but Kansas City released him only July 20 instead of reinstating him back to the 26-man roster.
The Dodgers have clearly had their eye out for dumped players to try to supplement their own ever-ailing roster until the trade deadline; the minor-league deal for Lyles comes just a day after LA signed Nick Ahmed to a major league deal to fill in for Miguel Rojas.
This is Lyles' 14th year in the majors, spread over nine teams. Last year, his first with the Royals, he led all of baseball in runs allowed, but he also threw three complete games for a Kansas City team that had the second-worst season of any AL team (behind none other than the Oakland Athletics).
Lyles is clearly a fixer-upper and a probably a last resort for the Dodgers' staff but, as Heyman noted in his semi-apology, he's a big innings eater. That might be exactly what the Dodgers need as they continue to exhaust their bullpen.
manual