Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Dodgers Dugout Live: was a guest on the podcast and he spoke about tweaking his mechanics and lifting like crazy during rehab. He doesn't really look like the lead picture above anymore as a result. Specifically, Ryan mentioned that he's sitting 98-100 MPH in live at-bats now (would be up 2-3 ticks) and that he added a new pitch that he says gives him seven. Said pitch will remain a secret until he presumably busts it out in Spring Training, so that's something to watch for.

"I probably averaged, like, 14 points a game," Betts said. "I almost averaged a double-double. So I really controlled the game. I'm not out there - I'm nowhere near a star, by no means. Like, I can control the offense. I'm not gonna lose it. I won't win it, but I will put it in the man's hands that will win it. I guarantee you that. So if you need it, I'll do all the dirty work, and I got you."

The 32-year-old sidearmer is looking to rebound from three straight injury-marred seasons. A Tommy John surgery entirely wiped out Effross' 2023 campaign, and a back surgery during that TJ rehab period kept Effross out of any game action until June 2024, and he ended up tossing 35 1/3 minor league innings that season as well as 3 1/3 MLB frames with the Yankees. During Spring Training 2025, Effross then suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain that led to three more months on the shelf, and he amassed only 10 2/3 innings for New York while being frequently shuffled up and down from the minors.

Saucedo, 32, made his big league debut as a member of the Blue Jays back in 2021 but got the majority of his work over the years with the Mariners after Seattle picked him up off waivers prior to the 2023 season. Saucedo proved to be a viable middle relief arm for the Mariners across two seasons, pitching to a 3.54 ERA in 86 1/3 innings of work with a 21.7% strikeout rate against a walk rate of 11.0%.

Will Smith was a first-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 MLB Draft out of the University of Louisville and signed on July 17, 2016. He spent parts of four seasons working his way up through the Dodgers' farm system and was eventually promoted to the Majors on May 27, 2019, to replace the injured Austin Barnes. Smith made a good first impression, hitting .269/.345/.654 in 26 at-bats during his first two months in the Majors.

He went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in eight starts before landing on the injured list in May. The 24-year-old eventually returned to the Dodgers at the end of the regular season and thrived in a bullpen role. Sasaki logged two scoreless relief appearances and carried that success into the postseason, where he registered three saves with a 0.84 ERA in nine games.

Same as what's going on with Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman and Cody Bellinger: What they believe they're worth has not been matched by teams. At this point, it's reasonable to think at least one will slip between the cracks and go for a shorter-term, opt-out-heavy deal we've seen work for Pete Alonso, Matt Chapman, and, for pitchers, Blake Snell. If that sort of deal would work for anyone, it might be Bichette, who could have a big year, show he's healthy, and hit the market again at 28 years old.

Acquired in the Matt Beaty trade with the San Diego Padres, the former infielder has flourished since taking the mound as a pitcher. Ryan went 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA in his only taste at the Big Leagues level. An elbow injury kept him out of action for all of 2025 - and now the North Carolina native is back healthy and hoping to provide Los Angeles with yet another elite arm.

"The idea of taking this group of young players and locking them up into a new ballpark has been something we've talked about for a long time," Forst said (link via Mark Anderson of The Associated Press). "We were able to get Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler signed last year, Tyler now, and there are ongoing conversations with others. So this is kind of the blueprint for how we want to do this and how we want to open the ballpark in '28."

The Los Angeles Dodgers are leaving 2025 as champions, just as they did in 2024 and 2020, establishing a dynasty years in the making. Since the Andrew Friedman braintrust took over, the Dodgers have tapped back into efficient resource use and become a perennial playoff team. However, they have continued to build and turned heartbreaking playoff runs into World Series-winning campaigns, and the organization shows no sign of slowing down.

Back in 2012, the Blue Jays signed Ureña for a signing bonus of $725,000. By 2016, Ureña reached Double-A and ranked as the Blue Jays' seventh-best prospect. Most of Ureña's 2017 was spent in Double-A, but since he was on the 40-man roster, he was called up to the big leagues that season and got some playing time In their 2017 rankings, MLB Pipeline ranked Ureña as their 94th-best prospect, but his stint with the Blue Jays didn't go so great.

As the Cardinals continue to pursue trades of their veterans, the Angels have emerged as a potential destination for Nolan Arenado. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic connected the third baseman to the Halos last week, and colleagues Will Sammon and Katie Woo echoed the sentiment this week. Two potential roadblocks existed for an Arenado deal, one for each side, though the Angels have cleared up their end.

"He didn't take the five-year Braves offer but got a record closer deal ($23 million per year) to go to the perennially World Series-favored Dodgers. Timmy Trumpet will go with him (but not Mr. and Mrs. Met),"

"I'm not going to reveal the pitch," Ryan told Dodgers Nation's Doug McKain. "I want to kind of surprise people next year. The way I figured out how to throw it, I was just kind of in the middle of an outing and uh, I was looking at some film and some Trackman on what my pitch shapes were and I was... I was kind of surprised on one of them and I was like, I didn't know I could make the ball do that. "So unfortunately after I kind of figured it out, I got hurt and then I had to stop throwing. So I had to pick it back up when I was able to start spinning the ball again in rehab. Um, and I kind of just figured out what I did to make the ball do that and um, yeah, we just kind of honed it in from there. It's still... it's still in the works. I mean, it's... I don't think it's going to be a highly used pitch, but it's definitely another strikeout option if needed. So."