Dodgers Make Blake Treinen Signing Official

Published on by Dennis Schlossman
treinen
(USA TODAY Sports photo)

The Dodgers on Sunday morning officially announced the signing of free agent right-handed pitcher Blake Treinen to a one-year contract.

The deal is for a straight $10 million with no other added incentives or options.

Treinen, 31, joins the Dodgers after spending the last two plus seasons with the Oakland Athletics where he went 18-11 with a 2.44 ERA (48 ER/177.0 IP) and 67 saves with 201 strikeouts in 160 games. In his first full season with the Athletics in 2018, he went 9-2 with a career-high 38 saves, a career-best 0.78 ERA (7 ER/80.1 IP) and 100 strikeouts. The 2018 All-Star became the first pitcher in MLB history with 30 saves, an ERA under 1.00 and 100 strikeouts in the same season. His ERA was the lowest in major league history among pitchers with 80 or more innings since the earned run became an official stat in 1912.

After his 2018 campaign, he was named Major League Relief Pitcher of the Year by Baseball Digest and was on the Baseball America All-Star Team. He finished the season third in the American League in saves and his 88.4% save percentage was seventh in the league.

Last season, the Kansas native went 6-5 with a 4.91 ERA (32 ER/58.2 IP) and 59 strikeouts against 37 walks in 57 games for the Athletics. He finished the season with 16 saves in 21 opportunities before he was non-tendered on December 2.

Treinen was originally acquired by the Athletics along with infielder Sheldon Neuse and left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle in July of 2017.

In six big league seasons, he is a combined 26-22 with 71 saves and a 2.97 ERA (132 ER/400.0 IP) and 391 strikeouts. He began his professional career after being drafted by the Athletics in the seventh round of the 2011 MLB draft out of South Dakota State University.

Should Treinen be able to find success similar to his 2018 campaign, it will provide the Dodgers with a dependable, late-inning arm to complement all three of Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baez and Joe Kelly.

With the move adding Treinen, the Los Angeles 40-man roster is full.

(Juan Dorado provided some information furnished in this report)

 

43 thoughts on “Dodgers Make Blake Treinen Signing Official”

    1. I don’t know man, those are some pretty good spare parts. DeShields has 2 more years of control. Clase shows promise as a 21 year old. Treinen for $10 million? Hope Olaf is right about this.

      Like

      Reply

  2. This is getting truly pathetic. Is AF on vacation or does he really think he’s that much smarter than everyone else? I guess he gets off making a million little moves so when one or two end up working out he looks good. Maybe he’s compensating for being as tall as a smurf. Meanwhile he’s about to let a fan favorite and CY Young runner up leave town when he can still sign him to a reasonable contract. At 32 and with his injury history Ryu isn’t going to get $100 million but he will still pitch on par with other pitchers making $100+. I’m sure he wants Ryu on a 3 year deal and is probably being stubborn about giving him a 4th year.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. At the rate these contracts are going Ryu might get $100 million. How about this – give him $100 million, but make it a 5 year contract. If in 3 years he hasn’t the stamina to start we can use him out of the pen.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I’m fine with that but that’s not how Friedman thinks. He values position players over pitchers and any pitcher past 30 he’s not going to shell out much money for.

        Like

  3. I would go along with that Scoop, but AF has never signed anyone for that amount of money. Not sure what he is up to. Never have been. But all we can do is wait and see.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Let him option out after 3.

      I don’t know what Olaf is thinking other than he knows he’s expected to do something but also knows he doesn’t have to do anything. We are still the best team in the Division and probably the best team in the league without doing a thing. I believe he’s in the drivers seat here.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. So MadBum goes to the Dbacks for 5 years and 85 mil, some of that deferred. Really not surprised that he didn’t come here. I would guess that what made Rendon not want to be in L.A. would certainly be something that would make Madison Bumgarner want to stay away. That is even assuming that AF tried to beat the Dbacks offer.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Though I shouldn’t be surprised by this I kinda am. It can’t be the money. It can’t be about winning. It must be either Friedman is on to something else or Bumgarner doesn’t want to be a Dodger.

      Like

      Reply

    2. Supposedly 15 million is deferred. Ryu about the only really good starter left on the market now. AF needs to make some decisions soon. The other teams in the division sure are…except the Rocks who have basically done nothing.

      Like

      Reply

  6. I just lost my fantasy football championship by half a point due to the 49ers garbage kicker missing an extra point. Just cost me $2,000. Thanks Robbie Gould.

    Like

    Reply

  10. with Kluber gone I think bears right, Indians are not likely to trade Clevinger now. I don’t think the Dodgers would trade Lux if Clevinger isn’t part of the deal, And all we keep hearing is without Lux there is no Lindor deal. So I’m starting to believe the chances of a Lindor deal are fading.

    Time to pivot, leave the team the way it is, trade for Hader, and sign Betances. Go into the season with a super
    Bullpen

    Like

    Reply

    1. I was thinking the same thing and just read a piece saying Cleveland can compete, and win, their Division. They are not likely to trade their best player unless they get more WAR in return. I doubt Friedman does that for them. I think

      I’m not sure where he goes now.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thanks for that Jesus…he looks just like Friedman! Talks between the Dodgers and the Indians have stalled. Probably because the Dodgers refuse to add Lux to the deal, they have more or less offered them Ruiz and were turned down. Indians want #48. Now Rosenthal reports that the Pads are talking to the Tribe about Lindor….now that makes no sense at all.

      Like

      Reply

  12. Some kind of record I would think. When Babe’s 500th homer bat sold for more than a million dollars the other day, it was the second bat of his to exceed that amount. The bat he used to hit the first homer in Yankee stadium sold for 1.3 million a few years ago. Babe still hitting them out of the park!

    Like

    Reply

  13. No shortage of frustrated fans out there. I’m still waiting. One of the lessons of life is simply this: “there” is not better than “here”, even though we all believe it is. This is going to unfold as it must.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I can definitely concur on that. I do not go on twitter very often, but after the Mad Bum signed I popped in and the frustration and anger level was very high. A lot of arguments about the Lindor trade rumors too. Most do not want Lux included at all unless Clevinger is coming this way too. Starting pitching options are dwindling unless they go after Ryu, or make a trade. And all I keep reading is that AF is confident in the players he has on the roster right now. We all know he is doing the Texas two step, and he ain’t no Texan.

      Like

      Reply

      3. I don’t know what is going on with ownership, but I have no doubts that people at those levels talk out both sides of their mouths. Friedman does the bidding, but ownership writes the checks. If the $300 million offer for Cole is true then they are willing to spend. Not sure how they do that now other than signing Ryu, and he won’t take us to the limit.

        Having several key players entering free agency in the same window might create a problem for ownership. I’m not clear on that. I know Seager and Lindor are FAs in the same year, Muncy the following year, Bellinger is 2 years later, Buehler the year after that. Kershaw will likely be gone after ‘21 unless he signs a very friendly contract. I see no reason why we can’t keep them all as long as we keep feeding the roster. This is one of the reasons I don’t see Lindor happening. They want our future stars and they want controllable players that will put up the 8 WAR they lose this coming year by trading both Lindor and Clevinger. I dont know what that trade looks like. And I don’t do a Lindor only trade with them. As much as I like him we already have infielders o’plenty, we need pitching. But then, so does Cleveland. How do these two teams match up?

        I know the anti-Olaf crowd, and they are loud, never believed any of the top tier free agents were coming here. I had my doubts of course, but I believed something would happen. Still do. I just am just clueless as to what that might be. So, we wait.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I believe something will happen too. When and how big is the biggest question. I do know, because it has been reported, that the talks for Lindor have stalled a little. Maybe OLAF is waiting until after New Years. There seems to be no shortage of suitors for Ryu, with the Twins and the Rangers being mentioned more than most. I think the Angels could sneak into the conversation soon since it would satisfy two things he would like to do, remain in the LA area, and keep his wife close to her job with a Korean broadcasting company. Even the talk about Betances has cooled down. I do not think there is a media source out there that has any clue what AF is up too. I do know they were heavily involved in the Christmas party for kids at Dodger stadium a couple of days ago, which was attended by Kershaw, Verdugo and Matt Beaty.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Dodgers not going to move Lux for LIndor according to Rosenthal, more @TheAthletic:

    Lux, Dodgers officials believe, eventually might be as good as Lindor, a two-time Gold Glove winner and four-time All-Star. The Dodgers’ farm system, ranked fifth in the majors, probably is good enough for the team to pull off a deal for Lindor without including Lux.

    Further to this, is this part of a Keith Law chat:

    Keith Law

    Jeff: Dodgers linked to Lindor & Clevinger a lot recently, what would be a fair exchange for both sides in your opinion?
    Keith Law: Depends on whether Seager is in the deal, but I think the Dodgers would have to put Keibert Ruiz, one of Josiah Gray/Tony Gonsolin, and Jeter Downs in such a trade. Cleveland shouldn’t sell those two guys for less than a home run package and I think that would be one.

    Seager, Ruiz, gray/Gonsolin and Downs for Lindor and Clevinger checks out on the trade simulator. The trade Simulator also got Kluber’s value correct, but has been wrong in the past….

    Like

    Reply

    1. Well, if I’m Cleveland and thinking of making a run for it next year I don’t do that trade. Clevinger put up 4.5 fWAR this year, Lindor, 4.4, which for him was an off year. Unless Seager goes ape next year, no way that trade produces 9 WAR. Now if Cleveland is intending a rebuild, that’s a good start. And trading Seager at the deadline would make it even better.

      Like

      Reply

      1. 100% agree with all your points here Scoop.
        A columnist on Yahoo now says we’re more likely to turn toward the Red Sox, for Price or Betts or both.

        Like

      3. Andy called me while I was in the middle of commenting here so I told him to quit bothering me and call Yahoo instead.

        Like

      5. You were the first person I thought of when I saw that this morning Dennis. Well, actually the second, because my son was a huge Jerry Sands fan when he first came up. Let’s see now, he’s 32, so three good years in Japan and we can bring him back here to be one of our outfielders at the age of 35. I’m still convinced he can make it in MLB, he’s just a slow starter.

        Like

      6. I think it’s cool that he’s still pursuing his dream. Perseverance at its best. I wonder how much he got paid in Korea. Being the KBO leader in RBI should have put at least a few coins in his pocket.

        Like

    1. “ Founded by a former Phoenix Suns coach, Synergy uses cameras to capture the movement of players across a court or field.“

      I think Houston already uses this technology.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.