The Dodgers untendered Evan Phillips, but could re-sign the reliever
Ahead of his final season under club control, and with his 2026 salary expected to be more than $6 million through arbitration, Evan Phillips was not offered a contract for next year by the Dodgers on Friday, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team is still interested in re-signing him while he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
“We’ve had a number of back-and-forth discussions with Evan and his agent,” Friedman said via text message. “His recovery from surgery is a challenge, so he will take some time and looks forward to signing after he gets off the mound when his rehab allows. Evan has been a big part of our past success and we will continue the conversation about bringing him back. We respect that he is taking this time to decide what is best for him and his family.”
Friday’s decision — which will make Phillips a free agent — reflects the uncertainty about the pitcher’s status for next season, following the Tommy John procedure he had last June.
Phillips’ recovery is expected to extend at least until early next year. It remains unclear how well he will be able to pitch in 2026.
That’s why the Dodgers faced a decision before Friday’s MLB non-tender deadline: keep Phillips on the roster and pay him $6.1 million or so. MLB Trade Rumors It is expected that this will happen through the arbitration process. Or cut him and try to re-sign him (likely for a lower salary) this offseason.
He chose the latter club. Now, only time will tell if Phillips’ productive tenure in Los Angeles will continue.
Phillips, 31, has been a key part of the Dodgers’ bullpen since the team grabbed him off waivers near the end of the 2021 season.
In 2022, he was one of the best catchers in baseball, posting a 1.14 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 63 innings. He had a 2.05 ERA and 24 saves the following season, before falling to a 3.62 mark in 2024.
Despite that decline, the right-hander still played a crucial role in the club’s 2024 World Series, pitching 6⅔ scoreless innings in the postseason before missing the World Series with a shoulder injury.
That injury, which Phillips later said included a tear in the back of his rotator cuff, caused him to miss the early weeks of last season.
Phillips finally made his debut of the 2025 season on April 19, but made just seven appearances (all scoreless) before joining the injured list in early May due to forearm discomfort. At the time, Phillips’ hope was that the IL stint was just a “precautionary” measure and that he would be able to return later in the season.
Instead, his forearm pain persisted. By the end of May, the severity of his injury had become depressingly clear.
Phillips underwent Tommy John surgery, which typically comes with a recovery timeline of 12 to 18 months, on June 3.
“[His arm] “He wasn’t really responding,” general manager Brandon Gomez said at the time. “We felt like this might be a possibility. So, when we got deeper into the process and it wasn’t really improving, the decision to do it was pretty clear from our information.
Phillips announced on Instagram that he started throwing again on November 5. The Dodgers still want to be part of the mix in their bid for a World Series three-peat in 2026.
But now it will take a new contract to accomplish that.
In addition to Phillips, the Dodgers also decided not to offer 27-year-old pitcher Nick Frasso a contract on Friday. Frasso, a former top prospect who struggled in Triple-A upon his return from shoulder surgery last season, has yet to make his MLB debut.