The price for Alex Vesia just went up with Evan Phillips signing with the Braves

With Evan Phillips signing a 3-year, $35 million free-agent deal with the Braves on Thursday, it might be time to take a look at the state of the Dodgers’ bullpen, as they just lost (but not surprisingly) one of their best high-leverage right-handed relievers.

Here’s how the active roster bullpen looks at this moment:

RHP
Edwin Diaz
Edgardo Henriquez
Will Klein
Landon Knack
Brock Stewart

LHP
Jack Dreyer
Tanner Scott
Justin Wrobleski

And the remaining pitchers on the 40-man roster.

RHP
Ben Casparius
Jake Cousins
Paul Gervase
Seth Halvorsen
Kyle Hurt
Bobby Miller
Gavin Stone

LHP
Ronan Kopp

That doesn’t count potential 40-man roster additions in lefties Jackson Ferris and Adam Serwinowski (or maybe even Luke Fox).

One thing is apparent: The Dodgers are going to need another seasoned left-handed reliever. I always thought it would be Philips or Alex Vesia, not both. But after today’s deal, it might not even be Vesia.

I had Vesia at 2 years, $24 million with a $12 million option for 2029 in my offseason plan. A 3/36 deal is probably the floor for him at this point.

Yes, Andrew Friedman has spent handsomely on the bullpen in the last two offseasons — Scott’s 4-year, $64 million deal and Diaz’s 3-year, $69 million deal — but I’m not sure how eager he’s going to be to give Vesia a $12-plus million a year deal over three years, because you have to figure he’s getting at least as much as Phillips got, if not more.

There’s a world in which Vesia signs for nearly $40 million over three years, and it might not be with the Dodgers, as a lot of teams are interested in his services.

Vesia has a well-documented unicorn fastball. It isn’t overpowering, velocity-wise (92.1 MPH, 16th percentile), but it has the highest induced vertical break (rise) of any pitcher in baseball at 21.2 inches. The next-closest pitcher is Nick Pivetta at 20.3 inches. That, combined with a strong slider and changeup that produced .136 and .180 xBAs in 2026 make him a very valuable southpaw.

The Dodgers have the lite version of Vesia in Dreyer. The IVB on his 4-seamer is 19.5 inches — 7th in MLB. It has a little more arm-side run than Vesia’s, but it doesn’t make up for the nearly 2 inches of rise. Still, Dreyer can hang with Vesia a bit.

Literally Alex Vesia-lite, for a fraction of the price.

That’s not to say the Dodgers couldn’t afford to pay Vesia what he’s set to earn on the open market, but it doesn’t seem like Friedman’s MO. Then again, paying the premium price for relievers — even closers — wasn’t Friedman’s MO for a while, so maybe there will be a change of heart.

Vesia makes the most sense in the Dodgers’ bullpen, but there’s a decently sized chance he’s pitching elsewhere in 2027 and beyond, because he’s going to get rewarded being one of the best left-handed relievers in the sport. If so, you could see the Dodgers turn to Tim Hill (in whom they have interest, as reported by Jon Heyman) or a guy like Steven Okert (someone I identified as an option earlier this week). Both of them would not cost as much as Vesia, though, Okert is going to get a decent deal, while Hill will be significantly less.

Whatever happens, both Phillips and Vesia deserve to get paid. They’ve been nothing but nails for the Dodgers since joining the organization. Phillips got his bag, Vesia will get his — hopefully with the Dodgers.