With only less than a month to go before the 2024 MLB trade deadline passes, the pressure is on for contending teams to make some final touches to their roster as they prepare to push for a World Series trophy. Contending teams can never have enough quality arms coming out of the bullpen, and it's looking like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are eyeing an upgrade to their pen in the form of Miami Marlins reliever Tanner Scott.
With the Marlins having already traded away Luis Arraez amid another lost season (they are currently sporting a 30-54 record at the time of writing), it's a “virtual certainty” that Scott won't be donning a Marlins uniform past July 30, as per Will Sammon, Patrick Mooney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Yankees and Dodgers are among the interested teams, but Scott is drawing a ton of attention as one of the best relievers available in the trade market.
In addition to the Yankees and Dodgers, the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles were also highlighted as teams who have explored the idea of trading for Tanner Scott. This should be music to the Marlins front office's ears, as a bidding war among four of the best teams in the MLB should only drive up the value of the return Scott could net them, filling their desire to get “a lot” for the 29-year old southpaw.
Scott has been one of the best relief pitchers across all baseball for the past one and a half seasons; last year, the Marlins lefty put up a 2.31 ERA in 78.0 innings of work (74 games). That was good for a 2.8 WAR, per Fangraphs, thanks in large part to his elite strikeout to walk ratio and overall suppression of hard contact.
However, the 29-year old has seen a bit of decline in his play from last season. While his 1.50 WAR for the Marlins is as pristine as it can get, his strikeout and walk numbers are worse, and he's been greatly helped by his fortune on batted balls (he's only allowing a BABIP of .188, compared to a more normalized .291 last season).
Being a free agent at season's end certainly diminishes Scott's value a little bit, but nevertheless, the Marlins can still demand a king's ransom — just ask the Yankees how much they have enjoyed the return they got for Aroldis Chapman back in 2016 even though he was set to enter free agency. Acquiring an elite bullpen arm comes at a huge cost — it's up to teams to match that price.
Dodgers vs. Yankees engage in arms race… yet again
This past offseason, the Dodgers and Yankees were two of the most active teams in the MLB as they looked to wipe away the stench of a disappointing 2023 campaign. For the Dodgers, they went all out in their pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, while the Yankees traded for Juan Soto. But the two powerhouses' offseasons came to a head when they both went out and pulled out all the stops to convince Yoshinobu Yamamoto to sign.
We all know what happened in the end; Yamamoto chose the Dodgers, and the Yankees entered the 2024 season with some questions in the rotation that have since been answered. But now, it seems like these two teams are going head to head yet again in pursuit of a pitcher who could bolster the team's push for a World Series title.
Clay Holmes has been pitching well for the Yankees; adding Tanner Scott, however, could give them some double-barreled protection in the late innings. The same goes for the Dodgers; Evan Phillips has been a shutdown arm for the team in the ninth, but Scott should give them that added flexibility against some tougher lefty matchups, especially come postseason time.
Orioles and Phillies join the Tanner Scott sweepstakes
The Phillies have been on a roll in 2024; they own the MLB's best record at the moment with 55 wins against just 29 losses thanks in large part to how stellar their starting pitching rotation has been all season long (other than Taijuan Walker). But their bullpen has been elite as well. Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, and Richard Kerkering all have ERAs under 2.00, while the team still has flamethrowers Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez to pick up the slack. Adding Tanner Scott would only serve to make the rich richer.
Meanwhile, the Orioles can certainly use Scott; Craig Kimbrel has a long track record of success as a closer, but his playoff history is shaky. Can Scott be the late-game insurance policy the Orioles need?
