ADVANCED DEAL: Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes issue important and exciting news on best baseball pitcher

For the better part of the last six seasons, Josh Hader has established himself as one of baseball’s top closers. After spending the 2023 season with the San Diego Padres, the southpaw has become a free agent for the first time in his career.

The Dodgers’ bullpen, which finished with the second-lowest ERA in the National League behind the Milwaukee Brewers, was among the finest in baseball in 2023, especially in the second half of the season. Caleb Ferguson and Alex Vesia are the Dodgers’ two main left-handed relievers, but the bulk of their bullpen is locked up for 2024.

Josh Hader should be signed by the Dodgers for the following two key reasons.

Genuine all-star close-up
Since Craig Kimbrel held the role for the majority of the 2022 season before Evan Phillips was anointed the de facto closer, the Dodgers have not had a primary closer in their bullpen. Since Kenley Jansen, a closer for the Dodgers, last had an All Star team appearance in 2018, the team has not had a closer named to the squad.

Even in an unusually slow 2022 season split with Milwaukee and San Diego, Hader has made the All Star squad every entire regular season since that same 2018 season. In addition, Hader has won three times in his career the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year award. Kenley Jansen and former teammate Devin Williams have earned the honor twice each, making Hader the only pitcher to have won it three times since 2014.

Even after recording a combined 77 ERA+ during the 2022 season, Hader has been chosen an All Star three times in a row since the 2021 season. He has combined for a 2.45 ERA with 103 saves and an outstanding 167 ERA+. He may not be the same reliever who will strike out more than 140 batters as he did in 2018, but he still puts up strong strikeout totals—13.6 strikeouts per nine innings is, in some strange way, the lowest since his 2017 rookie year.

Long-term fix at nearby
Hader will turn 30 in the first few weeks of the 2024 regular season and is still very much in the prime of his physical abilities. Hader will be a member of that team for at least five seasons, regardless of which team signs him.

According to Jon Heyman of The Athletic, Hader wants to sign a contract that is higher than Edwin Diaz’s five-year, $102 million agreement with the New York Mets. The Dodgers are one of the three teams who are still interested in the closer.

Hader has just once in his big league career been placed on the injured list, missing a total of ten days in 2021 due to Covid-19. That alone should be sufficient enough for him to be awarded such a contract. He hasn’t experienced any elbow or shoulder issues in his career, even though he throws a fastball that is in the 85th percentile on average.

Only four relievers on the Dodgers’ current roster are expected to be around after the 2025 season, including standout relievers Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips. This means that the bullpen will be completely different from what it is today. The Dodgers may sign one of the top closers in baseball to a long-term deal that might extend until beyond the 2028 season if they sign a reliever like Hader. This would also clear up any lingering doubts about who would be the team’s primary closer going forward.

The Dodgers had one of the finest bullpens in baseball in 2023, as was previously mentioned. In 2024, relievers like Blake Treinen and J.P. Feyereisen, the latter of whom is expected to make his Dodgers debut, will rejoin the team. Josh Hader seems to be the perfect addition to the Dodgers’ already outstanding bullpen when it comes to long-term solutions.

The Dodgers would be getting a closer with five All Star selections under his belt, a pitcher with an average exit velocity in the 85th percentile and a strikeout percentage in the 99th percentile, and a reliever who can help bridge the gap between the current bullpen and what the bullpen might look like in five years if they were to add Hader.