The Dodgers announced Wednesday that they have re-signed the waiver wire Evan Phillips on a one-year contract worth $6.5MM. A hunter Ben Rortvedt was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Phillips, a client of Apex Baseball, was not signed by the Dodgers in November after undergoing Tommy John surgery late last May but will return on a new one-year contract.
Phillips, 31, came to the Dodgers with a 2021 opt-out from the Rays organization. He pitched well enough in ’21 to stick in the lineup throughout that rookie season, but Phillips didn’t look all that appealing in the first months following his claim.
That changed in 2022. The then 27-year-old Phillips pitched 63 innings with a microscopic 1.14 ERA. He struck out 33% of opponents and walked only 6.4% of the batters he faced, averaging better than 96 mph on his four-seamer and sinker alike. Phillips had 19 catches that year, but by 2023 he had stepped into the closer’s role in LA – a job he handled with aplomb. Phillips turned in another outstanding season, posting a 2.05 ERA with 24 saves, six shutouts, a 28.2% strikeout rate and a 5.6% walk rate.
For three full seasons from 2022-24, Phillips was the victim of late retirements. He compiled a 2.21 ERA with 44 saves, 34 shutouts and just nine blown saves, striking out 29.6% of opponents with a 6.5% walk rate. His 2025 campaign started well again, with 5 2/3 shutout frames and six strikeouts. Phillips hit the injured list earlier in the year, and in late May the team announced he would need a Tommy John procedure, sidelining him for a possible 13 to 14 months.
Phillips figures to aim to return by the All-Star break, give or take a few weeks. If he can do so, he’ll be an outstanding midseason acquisition in the bullpen — much like picking up an outstanding shortstop before the trade deadline. There are risks with any pitcher coming back from major surgery, but if it works out, he’ll be healthy by October, which has been a major problem for the Dodgers (relative to the regular season) and all of their top pitchers in recent seasons.
The Dodgers are an annual luxury tax payer and fit nicely into the top penalty bracket. Phillips will come with a whopping 110% tax on his salary, meaning he will cost the Dodgers $13.65MM in total. It’s a small price to pay, especially considering the risk, but the Dodgers’ spending is limitless.
As for Rortvedt, he will likely go back to the waiver wire on the heels of his recent DFA. He finished the season on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster and immediately inked a $1.25MM contract to avoid arbitration. The Dodgers then placed him on waivers, hoping he would retire and be stashed away at Triple-A Oklahoma City as top-level depth. Ideally, the $1.25MM salary wouldn’t deter other clubs from pursuing him while giving Rortvedt a reason to accept a minor league assignment; he has enough service time to completely deny free agency but not enough to do so while keeping his guaranteed salary.
The Reds promoted Rortvedt anyway and put him on the 40-man roster for most of the season. When he was designated for assignment earlier this month, the Dodgers tendered Rortvedt’s return to the organization. Now they are hoping to get him out of retirement, as they originally planned.
It’s easy to see why clubs would be happy to have Rortvedt coming off the minor league roster but might be wary of bringing him up to the big league roster. He’s a better defender behind the plate whose sharp eye often lends itself to strong walk rates. Rortvedt is prone to strikeouts and consistently has a low strikeout rate, however, and has little in-game power. He is a career .190/.279/.270 hitter in 633 MLB plate appearances and a .239/.328/.412 hitter in 574 Triple-A plate appearances.
The Dodgers can trade Rortvedt or place him on waivers at any time within the next five days. The waiver is a 48-hour process, so his DFA will be resolved in about a week.
