In a shocking twist, the Los Angeles Angels are the newest team to emerge as a suitor for San Diego Padres free agent reliever Tanner Scott.
On Monday, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report identified the Los Angeles Angels as the top contender to sign Scott, with Spotrac projecting a four-year, $66 million deal for the pitcher.
“The Angels might be the ones to get it done,” Miller wrote. “They’ll eventually be getting Robert Stephenson back from Tommy John surgery, but aside from him and Ben Joyce, there’s not much in that bullpen. And while they presently have an estimated payroll of $186M, they should have a decent amount of spending room left in that big-market budget.
“It’s really just a question of whether they’re more likely to make a splash for Scott or Anthony Santander.”
Over the past two seasons, Scott has been among the most dominant relievers in baseball, accumulating 7.6 bWAR across 150 innings. While he would be a valuable addition to any bullpen, the Angels stand out as a surprising potential landing spot given their last-place finish last season.
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The free agent market for relievers has been relatively cold this winter but has finally begun to heat up.
Veteran right-handers Chris Martin and Andrew Kittredge have both signed one-year deals, adding to a growing list of major late-inning reliever signings this winter, including Aroldis Chapman, Blake Treinen, and Yimi Garcia
Despite these moves, several top bullpen arms are still available, with Scott leading the pack.
Over the past two seasons, Scott has established himself as one of the premier relievers in the game, posting a combined 2.04 ERA (224 ERA+) and a 31.3 percent strikeout rate across 150 innings.
His dominance has made him a top target on the relief market during his first foray into free agency this winter.
The Angels biggest competition for Scott is reportedly the Los Angeles Dodgers as they are still looking to add a reliever before spring training. Adding a lefty to join Alex Vesia in the bullpen would also be a plus.
“If we can add an additional reliever, that helps increase the chances of us not going to market in July,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “So, yeah, I could see us looking to do that. Now, it doesn’t mean we’ll be able to, but I could see us looking.”