Dodgers Make Pair of Pitching Moves

The Dodgers made two moves yesterday, one a trade with the Yankees, and the other a free agent signing.

The New York Yankees today announced that they have acquired LHP Caleb Ferguson from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for LHP Matt Gage and RHP Christian Zazueta.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 5, 2024

Given the Dodgers had zero open 40-man spots, I feel this trade was mainly in order to clear space on the 40-man for the subsequent Ryan Brasier signing.

Free-agent reliever Ryan Brasier in agreement with Dodgers on two-year, $9M contract, source tells @TheAthletic. Chance to reach $13M total through incentives. First with agreement: @JonHeyman
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 5, 2024

First, the return for the Yankees–relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson, a Free Agent after 2024, is set to make 2.4 million dollars. Ferguson will be just 27 next season and was used a bit as an opener. After missing all of 2021 due to his second career Tommy John surgery, he came back with a pretty good year in 2022. He pitched to a 1.82 ERA in 35 innings and 37 appearances, though he walked 12% of batters. Before 2023, Ferguson threw a four-seam fastball and a curveball. In 2023, Ferguson ditched the curveball and added a cutter and a pretty sparingly used sweeper. Ferguson pitched to a 108 Stuff+ in 2023, and slots in as a second lefty in the Yankees bullpen. The addition of his cutter in 2023 likely allowed him to neutralize righties better, and begin to get more contact on the ground. I like this addition to the Yankees bullpen a lot.

In return, of course, the Dodgers got reliever Matt Gage, a 30-year-old journeyman reliever who pitched 6.2 innings for the Astros last season. (The Yankees had claimed him off of waivers in January). He doesn’t project to be on the MLB roster but throws mid-90s with a cut-ride fastball with a solid cutter and slider. I would say this is a good depth move for the Dodgers and doesn’t require a 40-man spot.

In addition to Gage, the Dodgers received 19-year-old RHP Christian Zazueta, who had a 3.29 ERA across 52 innings/12 starts with 50 strikeouts and just 16 walks. Zazueta currently throws in the upper-80’s, but as he ages could potentially add more velocity.

In a subsequent move, the Dodgers re-signed RHP Ryan Brasier, who they acquired as a free agent last June when he was released by the Red Sox. Brasier had a career year in 2023 (especially after being signed by the Dodgers). On the Red Sox: 7.29 ERA, 18.9 K%, 9.5 BB%. On the Dodgers: 0.70 ERA, 26.6 K%, 7.0 BB%. So what changed? For starters, Brasier added about 1.5 MPH of velocity on his Fastball after the Dodgers acquired him. The Dodgers also gave him a cutter, which likely helped as a “bridge” pitch of sorts, between his slider and fastball. Those seem to have been the two biggest changes to his arsenal–it’s also worth noting that, with the Red Sox, Brasier posted a 109 Stuff+. Perhaps Brasier got a bit “unlucky”, so to speak, but it certainly seems that adding a cutter to his repertoire seemed to help him attack LHB much better.

Picture credit: Stephen Brashear, Getty Images