- Home
- Blake Treinen re-signs with the Dodgers
Blake Treinen re-signs with the Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers reunited with veteran reliever Blake Treinen on Sunday, inking the right-hander to a two-year, $22 million deal per Ari Alexander of KPRC2.
Treinen, 36, will return for his fifth and sixth seasons with the Dodgers after joining the team in 2020 following a non-tender by the Oakland Athletics. Since 2020, he has worked 149 2/3 regular-season innings for the Dodgers posting a 2.29 ERA. He has also added another 33 1/3 across four different postseasons. During that stretch, he has been one of manager Dave Roberts’s go-to options in high-leverage situations. In 2024 alone, he posted excellent marks with a 1.93 ERA, 30.4 K%, 6.0 BB%, and 44.7% groundball rate in 46 2/3 innings on his way to helping the Dodgers win the World Series.
Originally drafted by the Athletics in the seventh round back in 2011, he was included in a three-team trade that sent him to the Washington Nationals in 2013. Mostly viewed as an afterthought in the trade, Treinen managed to work his way up to prominence in the Nationals’ bullpen, posting a 2.91 ERA in 185 1/3 innings during his first three big league seasons. He struggled for the Nationals in 2017 and found himself shipped back to Oakland that summer where he turned his career around. Following the trade to Oakland, Treinen hada 2.13 ERA in his final 38 innings that season with the Athletics. The following season he set a record with the lowest ERA in MLB history for a player with at least 80 innings with a 0.78 ERA, earning an All-Star nod that season while recording 38 saves.
Back injuries in 2019 and his rising salary led to being non-tendered but the Dodgers have benefitted quite a bit since signing him. Despite injury setbacks in 2022 and 2023 (a year he didn’t play at all), Treinen rebounded nicely in 2024 and will again be counted on to be a stable presence in the Dodgers bullpen. Despite losing some life on his fastball, Treinen has proven quite capable on the mound despite the injuries and his age. He serves as the elder statesman in the bullpen to help bridge the gap to lively arms such as Michael Kopech and Evan Phillips. Roberts could choose to use him as a closer as needed, but his ability to serve as a Swiss Army knife in any dire situation is what makes him so valuable to the Dodgers as they look to defend their title in 2025.
He becomes the second notable reliever to sign recently after Aroldis Chapman headed to the Boston Red Sox. Clay Holmes would have counted in that category had the Mets not signed him with the intention of using him as a starting pitcher. There are plenty of other top arms available in free agency, such as Tanner Scott and Jeff Hoffman, who can benefit from the values the aging arms have received. The Dodgers on the other hand decided to go with the familiarity of Treinen, knowing what he can do coming out of the bullpen.
He’s also the second notable free agent pitcher signing the Dodgers have made after they signed starter Blake Snell to a massive contract. The team is believed to still be in search of pitching to bolster their rotation, including a probable reunion with Clayton Kershaw, and no doubt they will continue to monitor the reliever market.
0 Comments