Dodgers’ Off-Season Spending Spree Continues With Michael Conforto, Blake Treinen Signings
While the Los Angeles Dodgers missed out on this winter’s prized free agent, outfielder Juan Soto, they refused to remain silent as the generational superstar announced he’d be heading to Queens.
The club signed an outfielder of their own on Sunday, landing lefty slugger Michael Conforto in free agency, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand first reported. He had spent the past two seasons with the San Francisco Giants.
Conforto’s new deal with the Dodgers is a one-year contract worth $17 million. It follows the two-year, $36-million contract he completed last season.
The 31-year-old enjoyed a productive second season in San Francisco, slashing .237/.309/.450 with 20 home runs – his most since 2019 – and 66 RBIs across 130 games. He also posted a 112 wRC+ (100 league average), accounting for 1.3 fWAR.
For most of his career, Conforto has thrived against right-handed pitching, as evidenced by his 131 wRC+ from his first eight major league seasons. Last season, however, he excelled as a reverse-splits hitter, recording a career-high 145 wRC+ in 106 plate appearances versus lefties.
There should be an opportunity for Conforto’s overall production to take a step forward in 2025 since he’ll no longer have to play home games in an offence-suppressing environment like Oracle Park.
Los Angeles is also likely betting on the veteran lefty’s impressive underlying metrics from last season, placing him in the upper-third percentile in xSLG (.479), xwOBA (.350), hard-hit rate (46 percent), barrel rate (11.8 percent), bat speed (74.1 mph) and chase rate (24.5 percent).
Conforto’s role next season may change depending on how the rest of this off-season unfolds for the Dodgers, who remain interested in re-signing fellow outfielder Teoscar Hernández. Having said that, both sides have been unable to close the gap in recent negotiations, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reports.
If Hernández were to return, Conforto would likely shift to right field – where he spent the majority of his seven seasons with the New York Mets – with a combination of Tommy Edman, Andy Pages and James Outman in centre.
A few hours after reportedly signing Conforto, the Dodgers added to their bullpen, re-signing right-hander Blake Treinen to a two-year, $22-million contract, NBC’s Ari Alexander first reported. He had spent the last five seasons with the organization, battling multiple injuries during his tenure.
The 36-year-old reliever missed most of 2022 and all of ‘23 due to nagging shoulder injuries, but he finally entered last spring with a clean bill of health. That is until he sustained multiple fractured ribs after being struck by a comebacker in March, delaying his long-awaited return to May.
Once he recovered though, it wasn’t long before Treinen started to look like himself on the mound. He pitched to a sparkling 1.93 ERA with 56 strikeouts over 50 relief appearances (46.2 innings), registering one save – his first since 2021.
Treinen dominated with his devastating sweeper, which produced the fourth-highest strikeout (47.4 percent) and whiff rates (49.2 percent) among pitchers who logged at least 50 plate appearances with that pitch.
With Michael Kopech – acquired via trade mid-season from the Chicago White Sox – serving as the Dodgers’ primary closer, Treinen will likely operate in a late-inning bridge role alongside Evan Phillips next season.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: slgckgc. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.