The Los Angeles Dodgers have been willing to spend like no other team in all of Major League Baseball. While the MLB world can get frustrated, not every such blockbuster signing works out.
Last year, the $72 million free agent deal to Tanner Scott was a complete disaster. He posted a 4.72 ERA and blew the most saves (10) in Major League Baseball in 2025.
Now, as Sonja Chen of MLB.com writes, the Dodgers will have to hope Scott can bounce back and form a dynamic duo with Edwin Diaz in the bullpen in 2026. But that’s easier said than done for Scott after a brutal debut season with the Dodgers.
Dodgers hope Tanner Scott can turn things around to form dynamic duo with Edwin Diaz
“Scott’s first season of a four-year, $72 million deal did not go well, as he posted a 4.74 ERA with an MLV-worst 10 blown saves,” Chen writes. “…If Scott can bounce back, it will create quite the 1-2 punch at the back end of the bullpen with new closer Edwin Diaz.”
The theory of having Diaz and Scott closing out games is very appealing, but the issue for the Dodgers is that Scott’s 2025 was such a rough season, it’s hard to imagine he’d turn things around to such an extra degree in 2026.
It’s not impossible, and Scott’s 2024, a very good 1.75 ERA in 72 games for the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres, is reason to have optimism.
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Entering 2026, the Dodgers are hoping that Scott can turn things around in the second year of his $72 million, four-year contract.
That’s still too much money to spend on someone who’s not a closer. But, with how much the Dodgers are spending, it’s not a major issue to overspend on Scott.
However, if Scott puts up another rough season for the Dodgers in 2026, the $72 million contract will be an even bigger waste than it already is.
Scott turning into a solid reliever would be huge for the Dodgers and give them one of the best 1-2 punches in the bullpen across Major League Baseball.
