MLB Trade Rumors – The Dodgers announced a trade sending reliever Ryan Brasier and cash considerations to the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.
The veteran righty had a strong season and a half in Los Angeles. He signed a minor league deal midway through the 2023 season after being let go by the Red Sox. Brasier had a dominant finish, turning in a 0.70 earned run average across 38 2/3 innings with Los Angeles. The Dodgers retained him on a two-year, $9MM free agent contract.
The 37-year-old was never going to replicate his late-season ’23 numbers. He had another decent year when healthy, working to a 3.54 ERA with a league average 22.7% strikeout percentage. Brasier kept his walk rate to a tidy 4.5% clip, in large part because he got opponents to chase 40% of pitches off the plate.
Health was the biggest caveat. Brasier suffered a significant strain of his right calf in late April. He was shelved into the middle of August and limited to 28 innings on the season.
MLB Trade Rumors does a phenomenal job covering baseball and is probably my favorite place to get information. So as we build out CarlsBlogs.com, please get comfortable with them as primary source material on MLB transactions. They’re relatively unbiased and almost always educating you on the front office nuances that are so difficult to keep up with.
For example, in the article on Ryan Brassier, MLB Trade Rumors casually explains that the Dodgers don’t need to count Shohei Ohtani towards their 13-pitcher limit because he’s a two-way player, and MLB’s rules specify that it’s a PITCHER ONLY limit. So by playing another position, Ohtani doesn’t have to be categorized as a pitcher, which means they can have another bullpen arm assuming Ohtani is regularly starting on the mound.
I bring that up for two reasons. First, it’s a good example of the kinda insight from MLB Trade Rumors. So again, go follow.
Second – it’s practically applied to Brassier when we say this transaction is driven by circumstances and not performance. If anything, Brassier is a very solid veteran reliever that managers and teammates trust alike. He’s got a low walk rate, average K-rate and experience up and down a pitching staff, even starting an elimination game (4) against the Padres in the 2024 NLDS. So obviously Dave Roberts trusted him plenty and obviously he’s got the balls and mindset to log innings for the Cubs.
All of that is very nice.
But if we’re being dead honest (as we always are) then I think all of this is secondary to my primary love for this move, and that’s the collective role clarity it gives to the rest of the bullpen. I talked a lot about this when the Cubs traded for Ryan Pressly and I want to address it again here.
It’s very important to have stable veterans in a bullpen that can absorb the lion’s share of pressure. Especially early in the year when the weather’s cold and young guys are sensitive about their statistics and status. It’s very easy for a young reliever to overreact in either direction to their performance. If they’re good, they think they’re awesome. If they stink, they’re the worst.
To me, that’s extremely dangerous when building a bullpen as we saw last year. So many untested, unproven arms all trying to make a name for themself every time out. So many guys with no perspective to the full 162 season and the process required to repeat consistent success. As a result, you get spiked fastballs and cupcake sliders and everything in-between en route to the worst bullpen I have ever witnessed.
So as we try to build it back up, it’s not just a function of spending money and bringing in mercenaries. That only takes you so far.
The really smart thing is to build solid bullpen culture that young homegrown guys can develop into. And it’s important to have proven veterans holding up the backend while these young guys earn their stripes throughout the season. All so they can hit their stride late in the 2nd half when it matters most and the pressure is at its highest.
To get to that level, you need guys like Ryan Brassier that don’t shit their pants in late innings. You need someone like Ryan Pressly to be the closer. And then you mix and match your homegrown power arms with the other veteran additions like Caleb Thielbar and set them loose appropriately.
For example, Porter Hodge has the stuff to close but do we really want to go through that learning experience in the 1st Half? I think it would be much better to build up his confidence along the way and then give him opportunities as they present themself. Maybe there’s a reason he NEEDS to close in July vs. just giving him opportunities and seeing how it goes.
And I’m just using Porter Hodge as one example but I think he’s symbolic of the Young Bullpen Culture I’m talking about. Guys that can be studs but just need the right environment to learn and go along the way so they’re ready when the time is called.
So that’s what I love about Ryan Brassier. I think he’s the perfect veteran journeyman presence that allows younger guys to develop without actually inhibiting their path to long-term success. So on that front, it’s a genius move from Jed provided he can stay healthy and make 50 appearances this year. If that’s the case then I really think the Bullpen takes massive steps ahead, especially from guys you don’t even know about.
And that would be nice.