Dodgers Rumors: Alex Reyes Agrees to 1-Year, $1.1M Contract for 2023 Season
Former All-Star closer Alex Reyes has agreed to join the Los Angeles Dodgers on a one year, $1.1 million deal, as first reported by Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The club has yet to confirm a deal.
Although it is pending a physical, the deal is filled with performance bonuses that make it worth up to $10 million.
An All-Star in 2021 with the Cardinals, where he spent the first six years of his career, Reyes missed the entirety of the 2022 season with a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery in May.
The deal also includes a club option for the 2024 season worth $3 million, per Toribio.
Reyes, 28, was non-tendered by the Cardinals in November and hit free agency. It took a while to find a deal, however, as he continues to recover from surgery to repair a frayed labrum.
While he will likely miss the beginning of the season, Reyes is expected to be back on the mound sometime before the All-Star break, according to a report by Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.
Reyes was one of the most effective closers in all of baseball over the first half of the 2021 season, and he finished that year with a 3.24 ERA over a career-high 72.1 innings pitched.
That season, he also tied the record for the most consecutive saves to start a career (24).
The Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays were also interested in Reyes and watched him throw in recent weeks, according to Toribio.
The Dodgers will hope that he's able to regain his 2021 form in his first season in Los Angeles and contribute to a bullpen that finished second in the majors with a 2.87 ERA.
