As the Los Angeles Dodgers search for bullpen depth, one possibility has emerged: free-agent reliever Joe Kelly, with the right-hander expected to throw for the club soon, sources say.
Kelly, 37, recently said that, “If I come back healthy, I’m only playing for one team, and that’s the Dodgers.” He’s played five of his 13 major league seasons in Los Angeles, posting a 3.72 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 147.2 combined innings. He threw only 32 innings (35 games) in 2024 with the Dodgers after dealing with recurring shoulder problems, with a right posterior strain sidelining him for about 2.5 months.
A return for Kelly would mark the second veteran reliever signing midseason, with the Philadelphia Phillies signing veteran reliever David Robertson to a one-year contract worth around $6 million on July 21.
Joe Kelly would bring familiarity, experience to Dodgers bullpen
Signing Kelly would allow the Dodgers to add a reliever with obvious familiarity to the organization while not parting with any prospects. The price to acquire bullpen help is said to be high by rival executives around MLB. But even being in the bullpen market at this point of the regular season is something that the organization hoped to avoid after signing Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates in the offseason.
Scott, however, has posted a 4.14 ERA in 47 games this season and is currently on the Injured List with left elbow inflammation. Yates, meanwhile, has a 4.31 ERA in 31.1 innings and has posted his worst statistical season since 2016, with hitters averaging .278 against his once-dominant splitter this season (hitters averaged just .114 against the pitch last season).
But even if Kelly does sign with the Dodgers, bringing the right-hander back to Los Angeles for a sixth season, the team is still expected to be strongly in the market for bullpen help via trade.