World Series – Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees – Game 5 | Jim McIsaac/GettyImages
It’s not often that a reliever with a 3.54 and a sub-1.000 WHIP is designated for assignment, but wild things will happen when a roster is as flush with talent as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ is.
It was announced on Thursday that the Dodgers designated right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier for assignment. Brasier was DFA’d to make space for free agent Kirby Yates. Brasier, 37, had a 3.54 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 28 innings last year, and the veteran reliever was entering the final year of a two-year contract that he signed in the 2023-2024 offseason. He is owed $4.5 million for 2025, and a team looking to acquire him likely won’t have to foot the entire bill.
Brasier appeared in eight postseason games for the Dodgers en route to their world championship last year, and he allowed five runs in nine innings to go along with seven strikeouts throughout the playoffs.
Following a designation, teams have 10 days to trade the player before he enters waivers and can be signed for the league minimum.
The St. Louis Cardinals should jump on this opportunity.
Ever since Andrew Kittredge became a free agent at the end of the year and subsequently signed with the Baltimore Orioles, it’s been a mystery as to who would supplant him in the 2025 bullpen. Ryan Helsley will be the team’s shutdown closer, but he needs a Robin to his Batman. JoJo Romero, Matthew Liberatore, Ryan Fernandez or even a prospect like Gordon Graceffo or Tink Hence could fill that void.
There’s also a chance John Mozeliak searches the open market for a free-agent reliever, though that route would be significantly more costly than Brasier’s manageable dollar tag next year.
Brasier also has a strong connection to Chaim Bloom, John Mozeliak’s heir to the throne. Brasier played for Boston from 2018 through 2023 but was designated for assignment early in 2023. The Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal that year and then re-upped him for two years after a strong 2023 season where he posted a 0.70 ERA with Los Angeles.
While with Boston, Brasier threw over 200 innings with an ERA just north of 4.30. He accrued eight saves and finished with a 106 ERA+. Let’s not forget that Chaim Bloom was Boston’s head of baseball operations from 2019 until the end of the 2023 season, so the two are probably very familiar with each other.
Though Brasier’s 2024 season wasn’t as effective as he or the Dodgers may have hoped, he was still excellent at avoiding walks given his 4.5% walk rate. The six-foot-tall righty also had batters chase at nearly 35% of his pitches, and he was good at generating ground balls. That should play well with the Cardinals’ infield defense built around Nolan Arenado and Masyn Winn.
Brasier wasn’t able to stay as healthy in 2024, but he still posted strong numbers when he did pitch. The Cardinals shouldn’t expect Brasier to replace Andrew Kittredge by himself, but he would provide a much-needed veteran presence in a bullpen laden with young pitchers, some of whom may be entirely new to the majors.
If the Cardinals do add to their bullpen, something John Mozeliak himself has said is an area he sees a need, Ryan Brasier would be an affordable option who can still pitch meaningful innings in a rebuilding year for the organization.
