February 8: Los Angeles announced Brasier’s deal and placed Dustin May on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. The righty is working back from a flexor tendon procedure last July and isn’t expected back until midseason.
February 5: The Dodgers announced they have signed right-hander Ryan Brasier to a two-year deal worth $9MM. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that the Dodgers were signing Brasier. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first had the two-year, $9MM framework added the possibility for Brasier to earn a total of $13MM via incentives. Brasier is represented by the ALIGND Sports Agency.
Brasier, 36, has had an inconsistent career and that was reflected in his 2023 season. The year began with the Red Sox but he was lit up in his first 20 outings of the year, allowing 7.29 earned runs per nine innings. He likely didn’t deserve such an unsightly number, as his .344 batting average on balls in play and 52.8% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side of average. But his 18.9% strikeout rate was still subpar and the Sox decided to move on, releasing Brasier in May.
He landed a minor league deal with the Dodgers but was added to their roster a couple of weeks later, which gave him the chance to turn his season around. He made 39 appearances for the Dodgers with a miniscule ERA of 0.70. Part of that was a reversal of fortune from the baseball gods, as his BABIP dropped to .183 and his strand rate jumped to 83.3% with his new club. But it wasn’t just luck, as his punchouts jumped to 26.6%, his walk rate dipped from 9.5% to 7% and his ground ball rate climbed from 33.3% to 51.1%. He earned enough trust with the Dodgers to earn a save and nine holds, as well as a postseason roster spot.
That capriciousness didn’t come out of nowhere. Since returning from a stint in Japan by joining the Red Sox in 2018, Brasier has often oscillated between total dominance and apparent struggles. He posted a 1.60 ERA in that 2018 season and continued pitching well through Boston’s World Series run, but then his ERA jumped to 4.85 in 2019. His results improved in the shortened 2020 season but then a left calf strain limited him to just 12 innings in 2021. In 2022, his ERA spiked all the way to 5.78, though that could have been another instance of poor fortune with his BABIP at .335 and his strand rate at 56.2%.
The Dodgers will take a shot on Brasier, banking on the belief that most of his struggles were not of his own doing. In 268 career appearances in the big leagues, he has a 3.88 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 39.8% ground ball rate.
The Dodgers are set to be a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax in 2024 and have already blown past the top tier with their incredibly aggressive offseason. Thanks to mega deals for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as well as contracts for Teoscar Hernández and James Paxton, their CBT number is now pegged by Roster Resource at $310MM. That’s well beyond the $297MM top tier and comes with a 110% tax rate, meaning the club will be paying more than twice the amount that Brasier will actually receive.
Brasier will jump into the mix for high-leverage relief work with the Dodgers alongside guys like Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly.
Yankees taking scraps so Dodgers can make some big boy moves.
BK
I’d say Ferguson is better than Brasier
LOFL
Lefty on the floor laughing?? 🙂
and a lefty… Brasier is a righty. Not sure I understand LA’s thinkiing on this one.
HS
Slight decrease in talent this year for future talent. I guess
Or they like Brasier more. He also might be optionable
Hud….probably because they did better with reverse splits. Meaning, Ferguson did better against righties, etc.
D-N
His BB and K rates are pretty similar vs L and R hitters
Unlikely he has true platoon splits. More likely he’s pretty neutral
Thanks for the intelligent comment. Not many around here.
Geniuses!!!!
All depends on which Brasier shows up?
@olm
I am so sorry that your boy’s signing was overshadowed by the Witt Jr. extension :'(
Who?? His old man was better than him!! Jr I’m speaking of!!! As for overshadowing RB ….. like an eclipse.. it to shall pass…
Brasier had an ERA of 0.70 for the Dodgers. They taught him a new pitch and he was dominate with it. $13 mil for two years at most if he dominates again and $9 mil for two years if he’s not great, is a steal for the Dodgers, that’s what they are thinking.
Filihok
In the Dodgers games that I watched on MLB.tv, Brasier looked really good down the stretch
MBMVP
“In the Dodgers games that I watched on MLB.tv, Brasier looked really good down the stretch”
You’ll forgive me if I doubt your ability as a scout
It’s not that tough to watch and make that statement. His new cutter is legit good.
vtad
I stand my my original statement
I always laugh at people who pretend they know exactly what to look for when evaluating a player beyond stats — particularly pitchers.
It’s really not all that difficult if said pitcher has made an obvious mechanical adjustment, altered their pitch selection significantly, or they’re just throwing a new pitch all together.
I understand what you’re trying to say, but most adjustments like those are pretty easy for even the casual fan to point out.
rc
I stand by my original statement
Like a portly M.R??
If you truly “stand by your original statement” it isn’t necessary to state it multiple times, unless you can see that your statement is beginning to lack credibility. In that case, one who is losing an argument and lacks a credible response will often “stand by their statement.”
sal,
“If you truly “stand by your original statement” it isn’t necessary to state it multiple times”
Citation requested for this weird rule you just invented out of thin air
I stated my opinion. An attempt was made to change it. My opinion was not changed, so I stated so.
Another attempt was made to change my opinion. That attempt also failed, and I stated so.
Completely rational.
Filihok: unnecessary comment.
Well brasier now mixes in a cutter so that’s the difference
Nope, filibok
Turd wasn’t good. Probably the ex-xx high school thing. Cincy iirc.
That doesn’t make sense to me because Ferguson is a very solid pitcher. And as a lefty, I’d say he’s more valuable than Brasier any day.
rtc
I think Ferguson is a bit better, but it’s close.
The organization is probably better with Brasier and the minor leaguers. The MLB team a touch worse
Yeah that 1.44 WHIP is solid right?
vta
WHIP is a dumb stat to look at
First, any per inning stat is bad because it depends on outs, not batters faced
Second, hits are largely dependent on things like defense and ball park
Hits are dependent on the batter placing the ball out of the reach of the defense. Which can be in or out of the ballpark. But mostly dependent on the bat meeting the ball in a meaningful way. And it all starts with the pitcher.
wh
Wrong
Pitcher BABIP fluctuates greatly from year to year while their BB and K rates, velocity, movement, etc stay pretty stable
Hits are largely subject to luck
Filihok. Agree with your assessment of the major league talent in the trade.
The minor leaguers are probably the key to this deal. The other possibility is that Doc wanted Ferguson gone and/or Ferguson asked for a trade. Ferguson’s meltdowns in a few high leverage situations were ugly. It was clear that Doc was disappointed in how the kid handled those situations. Moreover, there was one instance (San Diego in August), where Ferguson appeared to display his frustration with his teammates over errors made behind him. Doc and his teammates were likely put off by that episode.
I was not surprised to see this transaction today.
There’s no point in arguing with this guy.
CS
“There’s no point in arguing with this guy.”
You’re
1) on the intent
2) talking, presumably, about a human. You’re going to have to be more specific.
If you’re referring to me, I change my mind when presented with compelling evidence. Here on MLBTR, where the average commenter has no idea what evidence even is, no, I don’t have my mind changed basically ever
Ferguson will be a free agent after this year, and they probably weren’t going to re-sign him. I liked him a lot but I also like Brasier.
which version of Brasier?
The good one.
Buzzz – This was definitely a big boy move.
Now Olmtiant can finally sleep! Somebody wake him up and tell him!!
Thanks fever!!! Just got home from the grind!!! C pap hooked up and a little smile as no building was high enough if he became a Yankee!!!
olm – You know that famous saying “I licked it, it’s mine”.
Well this is the Dodgers saying “We fixed him, he’s ours”.
Fair enough…I wouldn’t get in it with a Dodgers fan.. something about knife to a gun fight.. ( now it would be pea shooter vs bazooka team wise… all I would say… he’s gotten a ring with us how bout you… drop mike and strut away!!!
olm – I kinda expected him to return to the Dodgers for the reason I gave, they DID clearly fix him so why let some other team reap the benefits of their fixing.
What kinda annoys me is comments like the one in the article above about how he was “lucky” in his 39 appearances with the Dodgers …. BULLCRAP!!! If your pitches are hittable, hitters will inevitably hit the ball hard off you OR they will be better able to aim the ball where they ain’t. Sure luck comes into play SOMETIMES, but not often enough to make a difference over a 21 inning or 39 inning stretch.
How stupid to say his Red Sox ERA was so high “because” his BABIP was so high that he was “incredibly unlucky”, and then say in the same season he must have been “incredibly lucky” with the Dodgers only because his BABIP was so low with them.
Nobody should be taking away credit from Brasier for what he did with the Dodgers, he simply pitched better and it’s only natural for that to result in a lower BABIP.
Sorry to vent but I had to defend my man Brais!
Fever in case I’m ever impeached… I would be honored to hand over reigns to you !!!
@Buzzz Killington
Based on Forecasted Run Average, Ferguson is better.
2023 FRA of 4.07 for Ferguson vs. 4.51 for Brasier.
K-BB% for Ferguson is 17.4 vs. 15 for Brasier.
Ferguson is also younger. Good deal for the Yankees.
If Ferguson’s a scrap, it’s a mighty nice one.
Yankees and Dodgers are excellent at building pens. They’re both better off at the end of the day than they were at the start.
maybe that’s why they traded away Ferguson?
Incoming nerds with “deferral” comments….
Sure. But would actually like to know if there’s deferred money on this, and how much.
And I’m pretty sure if you are looking at comments on this site, you’re some kind of nerd.
You are replying to a comment on this site while stating someone who looks at the comments is a nerd. Make sense much?
Nando
“Make sense much?”
Absolutely it makes sense
Oh, good explanation of why it makes sense.
“Sure. But would actually”…At this point “deferral” jokes come off like the jilted ex- boyfriend who just cannot move on with his life after his girlfriend dumped him.
We are just deferring deferral jokes until the Dodgers sign someone good.
You either own that your team is manipulating the system as everyone points out or you whine that they are being called out.
We know which way a lot of you choose.
The only thing deferred will be wins when brasier takes the mound
Weird, as a Dodgers fan, he looked pretty good to me.
You also are a great baseball mind that knows talent when he sees it!!
Instead of deferrals, there are fines. Since Dodgers are over Cohen Tax line and are 3 time CBT tax payers this will cost them 110% in fines. That means Brasier will cost $9+ million in 2024.
That is why the Ferguson trade to the Yankees, and Snell is still unsigned.
As long as Snell is trying to get a 9 year 270 million dollar contract, he’s going to remain unsigned.
With his options dwindling, I have a suspicion his price will fall, and Yankees have as good a shot as anyone to land him. He’s said he wants to go to a winner, but a lot of the really good teams are close to having locked rotations.
Obviously Yankees aren’t his only option for a winner, but they’re definitely one of a small few at this that would be willing to spend on him this late in the offseason.
Who considers the Yankees a winner? I mean they have a chance but they didn’t even make the Post season last year. They have to prove that again.
Solid move. The Dodgers bullpen is rounding out nicely.
Probably got worse for 2024
Filihok
You’ll forgive me if I doubt your ability to judge whether the Dodgers bullpen has gotten better or worse for 2024
FG
“But I watch games”!!!
Fili
Haha I stand by my original statement
fg
I’ve been a fan for decades!!!
Ferguson was always hurt. His best work came as opener but usually was 1 inning gig. Brasier was lights out n Dodgers believe in him 4@least $9Mill over 2yrs. Think I’ll error on side of Dodgers organization, their braintrust, n 11 straight yrs of being in playoffs over sum1 who “watches games.”
Better than not watching games.
While I like this signing, I am not real big on the Dodgers trading a proven lefty reliever to make room for him.
I’M SO EFFING SICK OF THIS GREEDY FREAKING TEAM! How does no one else try to sign these guys or is it that they want to sign up for the easy ring? Their greed has completely ruined MLB.
He was in Boston for 2 years prior to LA and his ERA was over 5.00. he goes to LA and they develop him and resign him. What’s the problem with LA here? How is this greedy?
HUD: Why respond to that troll?
Good point by you.
Here’s my translation of this comment: This team keeps spending their money on trying to improve their roster and attempt to win! Ugh! This disgusts me! The team I root for doesn’t spend this much and it makes me jealous and mad and sad and unhappy! I’ll accuse them of being greedy because I have the intellect of a small child and can’t think of any other way to express my sadness.
This proves the Dodgers are basically cheating and this whole thing was pre-planned since it happened right after the Ferguson move, as always a player used other teams to drive up the Dodgers’ price knowing they can top any offer. MLB is corrupt and people are sick of it.
The Dodgers traded Ferguson to open up a 40 man roster spot for Brasier.Preplanned?Yes. Cheating? How do you figure that.
Cheating. I guess you are right. No other team in history has ever made space on the 40 man, by releasing or trading another player. From now on, I will only read Micky Solis posts.
Easy ring? They haven’t won anything yet.
Now with Braiser!!! They are unsinkable!!!
Because you are unhinged.
@mickey
I am a Giants fan who revels in all of the Dodgers hate, but even I can’t understand why this is the move you decided to go off on. He was an affordable middle reliever that other teams had months to sign him before the Dodgers.
And maybe he figured something out, but I cannot comprehend how a guy with ~40 good innings in his past 120 is the key to an “easy ring”.
I always respect the intelligent baseball fans like yourself no matter who they root for. It’s one thing to hate your rivals. As you should. It’s another thing to go around trying to say that a team is completely ruining the game by making trades and signings within the rules. I didn’t see many people (if any) accusing the Mets and Padres of ruining the MLB last winter. If people like Mickey don’t like the financial rules of the sport then too bad. It’s not any one teams fault. It’s on the owners and players association who agree to those rules. Maybe try NHL or NBA instead. Both have a salary cap and wouldn’t leave you so offended.
I do respect those sports much more. The NFL has dynasties despite a cap because it’s a skill-position-heavy sport. It isn’t healthy for MLB to have this kind of disparity. I understand if you’re from LA or grew up rooting for them, but as long as the fans realize it that’s all I can ask for. And the “your owner can spend too” is so false. It’s more like “your owner can spend, but he has to spend his personal funds because he isn’t making money from TV or attendance.” How is that logical to expect? When small-market teams are just farm teams for the Dodgers and Yankees, that is a broken system.
Both the NFL & NBA caps are a joke. There are many ways in both sports to be cap-compliant but pay players way more than the total cap amount (especially in the NBA, just look at Golden State the past 5+ seasons).
The NHL is really the only sport with a ‘hard cap’ but you can still exceed the cap by putting higher paid players on long term injured reserve during the season. Just watch how many NHL teams do this around the trade deadline if they are in contention.
@dis yes Brasier I still proceed with caution at this point. If he continues to mix in cutter like he had last season he should be a key piece of bullpen. It complementing slider well as now he has an offspeed pitch to push up in zone opposed to his slider. The 2 mix well with his fastball keeping hitters from easily sitting waiting on a pitch.
The rich get richer.
The rich get dumber. Brasier’s stats on the surface look good but he basically ruined every game he came in for the Red Sox. There’s a reason he was released and picked up off waviers.
This year’s all-star game should be the Dodgers against everyone else. I bet it’d be closer than some think.
Just for fun with very little thought:
RF Acuna
LF Soto
1B Olson
3B Ramirez
SS Seager
CF Rodriguez
DH Tucker
C Rutschman
2B Semien
P: Cole, Strider, Wheeler, Gausman, Gallen, Framber, Hader, etc
@Dnice Really? Freeman & Betts are obvious though Betts in now 2B & Freeman is 34 – Ohtani is a DH coming back from 2cnd elbow reconstruction. Muncy, Smith & Outman are all good but 800ish OPS guys. The rotation doesn’t have 1 guy who pitched over 124 innings last year…
Hell, Atlanta is probably a better team.
Yeah no one else has a chance to win the World Series this year why even watch?
“I’M SO EFFING SICK”…Sports is supposed to be entertaining and fun. When it stops being fun, take a break and reassess yourself. There’s a lot more important things in life to get worked up about.
He pitched well for the Dodgers after pitching so bad for the Red Sox. Maybe he can keep it up. With their incredibly injury prone staff the Dodgers are going to need all the relievers they can get.
Wild to get a 2-year contract like that for a guy turning 37 this season who was released a few months ago and whose small-sample recent success was on the back of an unsustainable .183 BABIP.
I’d put the chances of him finishing this contract with the dodgers at 0.01%.
VLTC
I’ll take the over
Add to that the 110% CBT fine and its a questionable signing for sure.
on the back of an unsustainable .183 BABIP.
===========================
His OPS was .397.. If you regress the .183 back to .300, his adjusted OPS is still only .631.
JB
Still the wrong way to do it
OPS
1) isn’t a good stat
2) needs nearly 1000 PA’s to be reliable
And so many other reasons. You don’t just add the difference as if they were all singles. And it’s not like the small sample doesn’t also affect things like his unsustainable HR rate of 0.23 or HR/FB% of 3.2%.
Guy has always had a problem of loud contact. I’m sure the argument is the addition of a cutter helps him keep people off balance. That may help, but it doesn’t change the good fortune he had or make last partial season sustainable. I’m just surprised to see him get that contract, that’s all. I don’t see him being worthy of a roster spot for the Dodgers for 2 years. He’ll be dumped at some point and they don’t care. They just did what would get them over the top and get him signed because they’re the dodgers.
VLTC
Can I give a half like for the first part of your comment?
I’ll take it!
filihok3 days ago
JB-Still the wrong way to do it
OPS
1) isn’t a good stat
2) needs nearly 1000 PA’s to be reliable
===============================
It is 100% correct because:
1) Neither I nor VLTC said OPS is a good stat.
2) Neither I nor VLTC made a claim to it being reliable.
He was indeed lucky with the LAD, but he was also unlucky with the RS. His combined ERA/FIP was 3.02/3.14. Even with expected regression in his BABIP and HR/FB, the numbers were still good.
JB
That is not at all how that works? What?
The guy was dominant with the Dodgers last year and that’s all that matters
DQ Brazier.
Crap was hoping he’d be a Dombrowski signing.
Looking at the 40-man, I wonder why they had to had to drop a short reliever in order to add one. Perhaps Treinen and/or Feyereisen are ready to go. I almost forgot they are on the team.
I could really do without Treinen. Feyereisen is worth a long look, and they have control over him for five years, IIRC.
Treinen has had much more success in his career than Feyereisen. I would much rather have him.
That being said I think if healthy, both guys will be integral parts of the bullpen.
Anyone actually think Brasier is going to come even close to what he did last season?
Are you kidding!!! He’s gonna be better!!!as long as he doesn’t face the heavy hitting Redsox!!!
Ferguson was bumping heads with management so this was not that surprising
Actually the first year of the contract is for $1, with the remaining $8,999,999 deferred until year two.
God gives bread to those who have no teeth.
Even if he regresses closer to his career averages (3.88/3.61 ERA/FIP; 9.0/2,8 K/BB) that is still a solid middle inning reliever. He probably puts something up around the same K and BB numbers, but giving up more hits, and posting an ERA around 2.50 to 3.00. Plus, two years for him, versus only one more year, guaranteed, for Ferguson. It was nice to get something for Fergie rather than nothing.
Has anyone signed…. Oh .. the Dodgers… well NOW the clinch’s it.. all those other fluff moves would have been in vain… it’s bitter sweet.. was hoping he could deliver a championship for Boston but it’s basement again for us.. congratulations old friend wish you the best unless you face us… than I hope you pitch like you did FOR us…( sometimes)
Damn straight.. see you in September for battle of last place again!!!!
This proves the Dodgers are basically cheating and this whole thing was pre-planned since it happened right after the Ferguson move, as always a player used other teams to drive up the Dodgers’ price knowing they can top any offer. MLB is corrupt and people are sick of it.
I’m not a Dodgers fan, but they’re basically working the system, can’t fault them for it. They’ve been planning to go all-in with Ohtani on board, hence why they’re spending so much money this offseason.
Besides, they may have done as much as they possibly can to buy a championship, but at the end of the day, they have to win in the playoffs. They’re really good for 162, but then flop in October. There’s your solace.
that and little davey dei roberts
I assume most teams pre-plan their moves and don’t operate in a vacuum. Players should absolutely leverage teams for a new contract – always have and always will. Your last point is lol.
So, unloading one reliever to sign another reliever is cheating.
By the way, I will have fries with that.
LA seems sold, but shortstop and defense at 3B could be LAs downfall.
Adames makes a lot of sense here. I wouldn’t rule that out. Milwaukee went out and got their SS for the future.
Dodgers could put you at 3rd base and the team would still win 100 games.
Dodgers are stacked, can’t blame him for going back. They seem to have an easier chance in that division than the American League East… Although I’d guess you have to make the Yanks the favorite there also.
I think Dodgers will eventually look at this off-season and regret it. I feel when you change your team with so many free agent signings, it never really works out. It messes with the core they had.
In any case, I don’t feel like this was a good one. I’ve watched Brasier blow big games and he’s older now. I would’ve not paid much more than league minimum for him
Chaim: Brasier did not blow any games, as I remember.
Maybe not with the Dodgers, but he was terrible on the Red Sox.
Always good to have Brasier around. You know, when you absolutely need that lead off walk. Or when you need to fall behind in the count when there are two runners on in a tie game.
This is why the dodgers win while the Yankees make excuses. This guy would have been a perfect fit since they missed on 1 hader 2 hicks 3 Maton now brasier while letting wandy walk.
1 penny paid up front per season, $8,999,999.98 deferred until oblivion.
It’s so frustrating and expected that Brasier would re-sign with LA but I totally get it now. Other teams know they’re not getting the same guy as the Dodgers are. Whether Brasier and others just try harder, care more, or the Dodgers cheat lab enables it, they’re going to do best in LA. So the Dodgers get a steal at $4.5M, but he would of course be garbage with any other team (as Boston can attest) so why pay for that? And then you have Ohtani who simply wanted to be a Dodger from Jump Street and was going to create a buzz with other teams just to drive up LA’s offer. It isn’t fair and it isn’t right but there’s nothing these sorry other franchises could do about that.
waaaaaaaaaaah
NYY missed on him and Peralta. Shameful.
It’s hilarious. It’s a no-win proposition for MLB. All 29 other teams are total wimps that won’t sign anyone, yet it makes sense they wouldn’t go after a guy like Brasier because he’ll be garbage pitching for anyone other than his daddy Dodgers. The cheat lab BS or just that these guys care more or try harder or whatever means it’s always a “steal” for LA but he (and other loser trash like Joe Kelly or Jason Heyward) would just give up and be a complete waste for the other teams. So the magic formula that the Dodgers have ruined baseball with is simple: spend a billion dollars to buy whoever you want, then supplement any “weak” spots on your roster where you don’t have superstars by turning other teams’ trash into your own treasure.
grow up
Mickey…. Hahahahahaha. Once you get past puberty, your brain will reconnect. Hopefully .
What is it with this loon?
Mickey, don’t take out your frustrations on the Dodgers, their fans, or MLB for not being picked to be ball monitor at recess this week! There’s always next week.
Dodgers are now more hated than the Yankees. That’s impressive!
Ok, but how much salary did they defer?
What an original piece of comedy Matty. True genius.
Comedy?
Sir, I do not know if you’ve noticed, but they have deferred portions of several contracts this off-season; it’s no longer a joke.
sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/mlb-deferred-salaries…
Learn some baseball history
Dear Sir Acquaintance,
I’m well aware that the deferred contract is not a new financial tool.
However, it’s not been used this way before. That’s the new part of this.
Fresh take…
Will Brasier provide support to the bullpen or just push up the team ERA? I have a feeling this will be a form fitting move for the Dodgers.
With the cutter Brasier added after joining the Dodgers last season he looks solid. Can’t tell much from one spring outing but he blew opposing hitters away in his one inning spring debut.