The Dodgers are signing reliever Dellin Betances to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’d lock in a $2.75MM base salary if he makes the major league roster, with an additional $500K available in incentives, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter).
Betances is coming off a difficult three-year stretch. He made just one appearance in 2019, his final season with the Yankees, on account of successive shoulder and Achilles injuries. Despite the lost season, the Mets signed him to a two-year deal the following winter. That proved an ill-fated investment, as Betances threw 11 2/3 innings of ten-run ball during his first season in Queens. The big right-hander made just one appearance last year before landing back on the shelf due to another shoulder issue. He underwent season-ending surgery in June.
That one outing wasn’t sufficient to vest a 2022 player option in Betances’ deal with the Mets, and he hit free agency at the end of the season. He’ll have to earn his way back to the majors, but it’s easy to understand why the Dodgers would take a risk-free dice roll to gauge his current form. At his best, Betances was one of the sport’s best late-inning weapons. Over a five-year stretch between 2014-18, he tossed no fewer than 59 2/3 innings per season and never allowed more than 3.08 earned runs per nine innings. He routinely fanned around 40% of opposing hitters during that run.
Betances sat north of 97 MPH on his heater at peak. During his lone appearance with the Mets last season, he averaged just 91.6 MPH. Clearly, the series of health woes had taken their toll on the 34-year-old, but he’ll try to recapture some of his peak form with a reset in a new organization. The Dodgers have taken a few shots on injured but talented arms in the bullpen mix, signing Tommy Kahnle, Danny Duffy and Jimmy Nelson in recent offseasons as well.
what ever happened to betances anyways? i remember him being good on the yankees and he fell off
Injuries
I thought he was in Yankee camp and looked good. When did they cut him? Don’t recall reading it.
That was Manny Banuelos and he’s still with them at the AAA camp.
Thanks. I got them mixed up when they came up together.
It’s like they wrote an article bc of your question.
All the best to him, but he looked cooked with the Mets.
Everybody looks cooked on Mets, is it bad luck or bad rehab training.
Hell of a five year run, wishing him good health and luck. Couldn’t get much better than the three-headed monster of Chapman, Miller, and Detances.
Obviously I’m dyslexic and think his name is Bellin Detances.
Judging off of your name, you are more than dyslexic.
He was worked extremely hard for a 2-3 year stretch there.
They let Knebel go and they dumpster dive with Kimbrel and Betances. One of the smartest front offices in baseball, but I don’t agree with those bullpen moves.
That being said, I love the Seager non-signing ($300 million for Corey, no way), and the excellent Freeman and Taylor signings. So I still give the Dodgers an A- for the off-season.
Atlanta and Dodgers are still the teams to beat in NL. Giants, Brewers, Mets, Cardinals and Padres are the other teams in the post-season mix.
Scratching my head on some of these signings/trade. Kimbrel, Heaney, Anderson. I know it’s only spring training but the Dodgers don’t look ready to compete for a WS. Hope they can just turn it on.
The Dodgers have an insane lineup, and the 28th man on the roster is the point of panic?
Lineup is very good but definitely some questions with Bellinger. Depth issues if you have to rely on guys like Lux and Rios.
Pitching is definitely the issue. Urias and Buehler bombed last two nights but those are not the guys you worry about. Kershaw and his health and decline rate is fair game topic. Anderson, Gonsolin, Heaney definitely question marks. May not available until second half. Bauer not even a consideration. Good chance that the Dodgers will need to deal for a starter or two, and we haven’t even mentioned the bullpen.
Heaney at $8.5M is the head scratcher for me. Last I read he will be SP5 for the time being. Guess the Dodgers are hoping Heaney can buy some time until the young arms are ready or May returns. Regardless, Heaney is not a SP on a World Series caliber team like the Dodgers and likely will not be in the rotation June 1.
I agree. I think they got pressured by lockout & injury concerns to go on do something like Heaney, but it will never not be weird. It’s been a weird off-season for us. Best case scenario: Gonsolin and Anderson (and eventually, Duffy) look so good, it allows the Dodgers to trade Heaney for prospects – and Bauer (after the relative slap on the wrist) for prospects. But that’s looking like a pipe dream at this point.
That’s at least two pipe dreams in one. If the Dodgers are very lucky with Duffy he pitches out of the pen some time later this season. Nobody expects him to be a starter again any time soon. One way or another Bauer is not throwing another pitch as a Dodger. The way he’s handling his situation he’d be fortunate if he threw another pitch for anybody. He’s making himself radioactive.
What draft prospects can you get for Heaney? My guess nothing. Look at his career. He’s had maybe one good season? And he’s not young anymore where you can tout potential.
Dodger fans have some of the worst takes regarding their own bullpen. Friedman knows what he is doing. Have you seen the contract Blake Treinen is on? Best free agent relief signing in a very long time. Spending big on relievers is foolish for how erratic the position gets. Kimbrel is making 16 million, that’s hardly dumpster diving. It will be a complete steal if he pitches near his career norms. Hudson and Kahnle were also very smart under the radar signings. Combine that with young guys like Graterol and you have an elite pen.
Potentially elite. A lot of things need to break right. For instance we don’t know when we will even see Kahnle, let alone what kind of shape he’ll be in when he does make it back. Same with Ferguson. What version of Kimbrel will show up, the elite closer or the train wreck? Who knows. Graterol has a lot of potential but also a lot to prove. Hope you don’t think this is a bad take, when it’s all true.
You’ve said several times over the years the Dodgers are prone to going cheap on the bullpen. Yet year after year, expensive relief pitchers flop while Friedman hits on mid tier guys. Treinen would be in line for a Rasiel Iglesias like contract if he was a free agent now. Dodgers got him for under 20 million with a team option. Friedman knows how to build a pen.
@amk1920. You’re right, I’ve leveled that criticism when it was deserved. A whole lot of junk has come and gone. Friedman has become more aggressive on signing and trading for a better class of relievers over the last few years and it has paid off. But I’m still not ready to declare this bullpen elite. We both know where the questions are found, and they still have to pitch to answer them.
Kahne and Graterol pitched last night 1 inning each looked good. Kahne will be up by May 15th per Dodgers.
Worst takes? You’re a Dodger fan, right? Kimbrel hasn’t been elite since 2017. He was good in 2018, and elite for one half of 2021, but then terrible in the second half of 2021 and post season. A lot of question marks. And I think a very slim chance that his $16mm is a steal. Since when is $16mm for a closer a steal? That assumes he gets back to 2017 and earlier form. Pitchers, especially hard throwers get worse with age, not better. At 33, which way would you bet his numbers go towards. The elite part of his younger days or closer to the latter part of his career? The BB/9 rate in general has trended up as well as his HR/9, that’s a bad combination. Very high on Treinen as long as he keeps up the command, and Graterol has some upside. Other than that it’s still an unproven pen. I don’t think you need to break the bank. Hence the odd $16mm for Kimbrel, as well as losing Pollock, who you need just in case Bellinger melts down again. If he does melt down again, who are you going to throw in there Lux? Gee whiz. Odd moves.
If Kimbrel flops, they have Hudson, Treinen and Graterol who can close games.
Hudson and Treinen, sure. Graterol? Maybe some day. When the Dodgers were talking about closing by committee (before the Kimbrel trade) I thought Bickford was ahead of Graterol for situational closing. As a fallback he probably still is the more finished product. Graterol has a lot to prove this season IMO.
Takes more than a few guys. Hudson and Graterol are fine. Treinen is elite. But if you have to move Treinen to closer everyone is bumped up a spot. Still a lot of unproven arms in the pen. Bruihl, Bickford, Vesia, Gonzalez, Phillips, Cleavinger, etc. Just because they’re decent or good one season doesn’t mean they’ll be good the next season. I’m fine going cheaper on the pen and the Dodgers have more issues with starting staff than the bullpen. My beef is paying Kimbrel $16mm and losing Pollock. One could make the argument that they should have just kept Jansen for a year at the same $16mm. Jansen has a higher floor than Kimbrel but less upside, but he actually pitched well last season as he started to mix more pitches. And you don’t lose Pollock. Now, if Bellinger was not a worry I have less issues losing Pollock.
Betances used to light the stadium up when he pitched here in the Bronx. My god he was disgusting on the mound. I miss him 🙁
Joe G. wore Dellin’s arm out.
dodgers are desperate for pitching. especially the quality relief pitchers
Injuries really took their toll on Betances. His velocity was way down and he’s never really regained it. His control was always iffy. The difference is the formerly 98 mph get me over fastball has degraded into a 92 mph meatball. He can pitch at that speed but he’s going to have to learn more about pitching and how to get guys out with less velocity. Wish him luck. Kind of sad actually.
I will be surprised if Dodger doesn’t get him right physically and make an adjustment and his velocity come back I really believe in Dodger’s system.
Had a great five-year run. I don’t see him returning to form.
I wish the Dodgers had spent the money on Knebel instead of Heaney. The Dodgers have three young starters in Ryan Pepiot, Bobby Miller, and Landon Knack on the way. .
Not sure if you can rely on any of the trio of Pepiot, Miller or Knack. They may still be a year or two early. Pepiot has been getting lit up since his promotion and spring training. That said, I agree that it made absolutely no sense to pay Heaney $8.5mm. You could have solidified your OF bench, or grabbed another reliever, or better yet pay a little more for a more established starter, or traded for a more established starter. I don’t feel very confident about the Dodgers’ #3-5 starters. Kershaw most likely will be fine as long as his stuff doesn’t further deteriorate too much and maintains his health. But Gonsolin I’ve never been a fan of, and Heaney definitely not. Price or Anderson can come in and provide not very exciting numbers. You better hope that the Dodger offense lights it up, which they could but Betts needs to be elite again with the bat. Bellinger can’t melt down. Lux needs to show something. Hope J Turner doesn’t fade away too much with age.
Apparently quite a few teams were interested in Heaney at around that price so it isn’t like the contract he got from the Dodgers was ridiculous. The question of whether they could have done a lot better for a bit more money is a good one, but we can’t answer it yet.
2014-2015 betances was incredible to watch
prime-pedro level unhittable