Dodgers News: LA Loses Another Reliever This Offseason

For the second time this week, a Dodgers reliever signed a two-year deal with an AL East team, this time with Tommy Kahnle going back to the Yankees.

Before Aaron Judge, there was Tommy Kahnle. Chronologically, I mean. Before the Yankees re-signed Judge on Wednesday morning, they signed relief pitcher Kahnle to come back to New York, where he spent four years before his two years in L.A.

The #Yankees get their man.
No, not that one.
They bring back pitcher Tommy Kahnle, signing him to a 2-year, $11.5 million deal. @Ken_Rosenthal on it.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 6, 2022

Kahnle came to the Yankees at the trade deadline in 2017 and posted a 4.01 in parts of fours seasons. He had Tommy John surgery in 2020, and the Dodgers signed him to a two-year deal knowing he'd miss the first year of the deal while rehabbing.

Kahnle ended up missing most of the second year, too, but he was very good when he was healthy. He posted a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings after returning from the injured list in September. The Dodgers were interested in bringing back the 33-year-old righty with the killer changeup, but his two-year deal from the Yankees was more than they wanted to compete with.

L.A.'s bullpen is still very good, anchored by Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia, and newcomer Shelby Miller. They've lost Kahnle and Chris Martin in the last few days, and also Craig Kimbrel if it counts as "losing" to let him go.

The Dodgers will certainly be active on the free-agent market, as there are still dozens of relievers out there and Los Angeles is very good at identifying pitchers with untapped potential. It's almost impossible to guess who they might bring in, but whoever it is, expect him to get a lucrative two-year deal from another team a year from now.