The Dodgers announced Wednesday that they’ve re-signed reliever Evan Phillips to a one-year deal worth $6.5MM. Catcher Ben Rortvedt was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Phillips, a client of Apex Baseball, was non-tendered by the Dodgers in November after undergoing Tommy John surgery late last May but will return on a new one-year deal.
Phillips, 31, came to the Dodgers via a 2021 waiver claim out of the Rays organization. He pitched well enough down the stretch in ’21 to stick on the roster throughout that offseason, but Phillips didn’t immediately look like a waiver heist in the initial months following his claim.
That changed in 2022. A then-27-year-old Phillips erupted for 63 innings with a microscopic 1.14 ERA. He set down 33% of opponents on strikes and walked only 6.4% of the batters he faced, averaging better than 96 mph on his four-seamer and sinker alike. Phillips picked up 19 holds that year, but by 2023 he’d stepped into the closer’s role in L.A. — a job he handled with aplomb. Phillips turned in another dominant season, recording a 2.05 ERA with 24 saves, six holds, a 28.2% strikeout rate and a 5.6% walk rate.
For three full seasons from 2022-24, Phillips was a wipeout late-inning reliever. He combined for a 2.21 ERA with 44 saves, 34 holds and only nine blown saves, whiffing 29.6% of opponents with a 6.5% walk rate. His 2025 campaign got out to a strong start as well, with 5 2/3 shutout frames and six strikeouts. Phillips hit the injured list early in the year, however, and by late May the team announced that he’d require Tommy John procedure, sidelining him for what’ll likely be 13 to 14 months.
Phillips figures to aim for a return around the All-Star break, give or take a couple weeks. If he’s able to do so, he’ll be a prominent midseason boon to the bullpen — effectively the same as picking up a prominent reliever ahead of the trade deadline. There’s risk in any pitcher coming back from major surgery, but if it works out, he’ll be healthy for October, which has been the Dodgers’ primary concern (relative to the regular season) with all their higher-end pitchers in recent seasons.
The Dodgers are an annual luxury tax payor and are well into the top bracket of penalization. Phillips will come with the maximum 110% tax on his salary, meaning he’ll cost the Dodgers $13.65MM overall. It’s a steep price to pay, particularly relative to the risk, but the Dodgers’ spending knows virtually no bounds.
As for Rortvedt, he’ll likely head back to the waiver wire on the heels of his latest DFA. He ended the season on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster and quickly inked a $1.25MM deal to avoid arbitration. The Dodgers then placed him on waivers, hoping he’d clear and could then be stashed in Triple-A Oklahoma City as upper-level depth. Ideally, the $1.25MM salary would’ve dissuaded other clubs from claiming him while also giving Rortvedt a reason to accept the minor league assignment; he has enough service time to reject an outright in favor of free agency but not enough to do so while retaining his guaranteed salary.
The Reds scooped Rortvedt up anyhow and carried him on the 40-man roster for much of the offseason. When he was designated for assignment earlier this month, the Dodgers placed a claim to bring Rortvedt back to the organization. They’ll now hope to pass him through waivers, as they initially planned.
It’s easy to see why clubs would be happy to have the out-of-options Rortvedt in the upper minors but might be wary of carrying him on the big league roster. He’s a plus defender behind the plate whose keen eye typically lends itself to strong walk rates. Rortvedt is strikeout-prone and consistently hits for a low average, however, and he has little in the way of in-game power. He’s a career .190/.279/.270 hitter in 633 MLB plate appearances and a .239/.328/.412 hitter in 574 Triple-A plate appearances.
The Dodgers can trade Rortvedt or place him on waivers at any point within the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.
$6.5 million pre-tax for a guy who might not pitch much this year. Just why?
They also designated Banda to get Rortveldt back. Phillips going directly to the 60 day IL to open a spot back up?
Dodgers have infinite money so why not?
If he comes back in July/August as planned then he plugs right into the mix for some leverage innings.
DS
“$6.5 million pre-tax for a guy who might not pitch much this year. Just why?”
Because that’s not much for a guy who can be a lights out reliever in the post season.
The Dodgers are 99% (per FG) to make the playoffs. They are adding for October, not March to September
Yeah, Dodgers think on a different level
A short reunion with Ben.
weird. hard to question what this FO does but bodies flying everywhere.
Weird. 1 year deal, 6.5 million? Dodgers don’t care.
Why sign Phillips to a 1yr/$6.5M deal unless he significantly ahead of schedule? Standard timetable puts him back late August/Early September.
Cause they print money and could use him down the stretch
The oddest part of this signing is they could have waited until camp opened, stashed Phillips on the 60-day IL, and kept Rortvedt on the roster. In fact the IL should have opened today, and Phillips will definitely be on it. A head-scratcher for sure. Presumably they know something we don’t, but I can’t imagine what it is.
You can’t sign someone and place them directly on the 60-day IL. By rule, they have to first go on the 40-man roster.
Rortvedt was signed to that $1.25MM deal and more or less immediately placed on waivers early in the winter. The plan all along was to try to use that salary to pass him through waivers and stash him as AAA catching depth.
Phillips will hit the 60-day as soon as the Dodgers need another roster spot.
But if he is still recovering from TJ what was the urgency to sign Phillips and risk loosing Rortvedt ?
Being a 3rd string catcher has got to be the weirdest gig in baseball. Everyone kind of wants you as depth so you do get nice job security, and if your tools are interesting enough you’ll get a decent pay, but you also get passed around like a blunt all the time which sucks since you’re constantly moving and moving sucks.
Thanks for the clarification, Steve. But of course as we’ve seen a modest major league contract does little more than increase the chances of passing a player through waivers. The interest in Rortvedt by multiple teams suggests that he’s at high risk of being claimed.
BS
“they could have waited until camp opened, stashed Phillips on the 60-day IL”
That’s what they are doing
“kept Rortvedt on the roster.”
He’s out of options. They’re trying to stash him in AAA
chem
As I just replied above, it’s for the post season
If you are a Major League front office, you have to claim Rortvedt just to ransom him back to the Dodgers, right?
Yeah for sure.
No way anyone wants to pay 1.25M for a 3rd string catcher when they can just wait for the next time Drew Romo gets DFA’d.
It’s a gamble but probably worth it for the Dodgers. He’s been mostly very good for a while before surgery.
“He’s a career .190/.279/.270 hitter in 633 MLB plate appearances and a .239/.328/.412 hitter in 574 Triple-A plate appearances.”
FGDC projection
.285 OBP/.107 ISO/70 wRC+