The Dodgers have made a free agent signing.
No, it's not the big fish in Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, but the Dodgers have reportedly signed right-handed relief pitcher Joe Kelly to a three-year deal worth around $25 million.
Kelly is a familiar face to Dodgers fans after he famously broke the rib of shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the first game of the 2013 National League Championship Series while a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ramirez, the Dodgers best hitter at the time, would be forced to miss most of the series and the Cardinals went on to win in six games.
More recently, Kelly dominated the Dodgers during the 2018 World Series with the Boston Red Sox, throwing six shutout innings against Los Angeles, as Boston went on to win the series in five games.
Overall in the 2018 postseason, Kelly was outstanding, allowing just one earned run in 11 and 1/3 innings pitched against the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Dodgers.
However, Kelly has also been widely inconsistent over the course of his career and struggled down the stretch of the 2018 regular season with the Red Sox.
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The right-hander had a 4.39 ERA during the regular season and went wild in the waning months, as he allowed 4.6 walks for every nine batters he faced.
Despite his inconsistency, the Dodgers liked his power arm as Kelly is consistently clocked around 99MPH with his fastball. Los Angeles expects him to slot into a setup role in front of closer Kenley Jansen.
As we reported earlier, the Dodgers were heavily interested in Kelly as well as other right-handed relievers like David Robertson and Cody Allen.
Now that the Dodgers have signed a relief pitcher, they could turn their attention to a starting pitcher, catcher, or second baseman. The team is rumored to be in discussion with the Cleveland Indians on two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, as well as Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto.
It's unknown if the Dodgers are finished with the construct of their bullpen after the Kelly signing, but they're definitely not done making moves, and another reliever could come via trade down the road.
