I thought I was kidding around this morning when I mentioned that the Cubs could maybe just sign Kirby Yates if the Dodgers didn’t go get him, too. Like a damn idiot, I didn’t think the Dodgers would ACTUALLY do that.
But why wouldn’t they? Of course they would:
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who already have folks screaming about their payroll, have reached a tentative agreement with free-agent closer Kirby Yates, pending a physical. The deal comes on the heels of signing Tanner Scott to a 4-year, $72 million contract.— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 21, 2025
Honestly I don’t even want to discuss it. This is my job, so I have to share it with you. And I have to evaluate it at some level. But I’m so f—ing annoyed and angry at everyone involved and this situation. It’s just a horribly unfunny joke at this point. Tell me again how this is really about the other 29 teams not doing what the Dodgers do. That’s totally a rational point to make. Go for it.
Losing out on Yates, specifically, is not this enormously galling thing. But the whole context of it? Scott? Roki Sasaki? The last few years? All of it. I have to stop myself from typing things.
The Cubs still have to add a late-inning reliever, and there are other options out there. But Tanner Scott was clearly the best, and Kirby Yates was almost certainly the next best. The Dodgers, already overloaded with pitching and continuously adding to it this offseason, get them both. I am gonna go scream.
UPDATE: “We were going to miss one (1) reliever for one (1) month, so we went ahead and signed a fourth elite closer to a multi-year deal.”
The Dodgers, who will have a payroll exceeding $380 million, wanted more bullpen depth with reliever Michael Kopech expected to possibly miss the first month of the season. https://t.co/ih7PGRbZHI— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 21, 2025
UPDATE 2: A for what it’s worth, the deal might not completed quite yet:
Free-agent reliever Kirby Yates in serious discussions with Dodgers, source tells @TheAthletic. Any deal would be pending physical. Possibility first mentioned by @BNightengale.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 21, 2025