LOS ANGELES — A trade chip last summer and a free agent over the offseason, reports and speculation repeatedly pegged the Yankees as suitors for Tanner Scott. However, the club didn’t show serious interest in the Dodgers’ closer over the winter, as Scott told the Daily News that the Yankees never met with or spoke to him.
“I heard at the beginning they were interested,” the lefty said. “And then after the Devin Williams trade, I figured I probably wasn’t going to hear from them.”
Scott was referring to the Yankees’ December deal with the Brewers that sent Williams to New York and Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin to Milwaukee. Scott, meanwhile, agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal with Los Angeles in mid-January.
Williams, a two-time National League Reliever of the Year and impending free agent earning $8.6 million this season, made for a cheaper option with a lengthier, more decorated track record. He actually expected the Brewers to trade him to the Dodgers.
“I kind of thought I’d be going to L.A. That’s what I was being told,” Williams said during an introductory Zoom in December. “The Yankees snuck in there under the table and got the deal done.”
Perhaps the Dodgers would have dealt for Williams and the Yankees would have made a stronger run at Scott in an alternate universe. While the Bombers have typically avoided big-money contracts for relievers, pitching coach Matt Blake said they had preliminary interest in Scott.
“I don’t know to what extent we were going to go to get him,” Blake said. “I don’t know where he fit amongst the other collection of guys we were talking about in the budget, but obviously, anyone with that level of talent in the free agent market, you’re going to be interested.”
Scott entered free agency as a first-time All-Star, recording a 1.75 ERA and 22 saves over 72 games with the Marlins and Padres last season. He has 10 saves and a 4.56 ERA with the Dodgers so far.
With two men on, Scott recorded one out in the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ 8-5 win over the Yankees on Friday. He had been struggling prior to the series, allowing nine earned runs and blowing three saves over his last five games.
Williams, meanwhile, endured his own hardships with his new team earlier this season, recording an 11.25 ERA over his first 10 games as a Yankee. That stretch resulted in his removal from the closer’s role, which Luke Weaver has since thrived in.
Williams has been far more effective since the demotion, not allowing any earned runs in 12 of his last 14 games. However, he received his first opportunity to close in a month earlier this week in Anaheim; he surrendered two runs before narrowly notching a save.
On Saturday, Williams got some work in during an 18-2 loss, working out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by way of a double play. He now has a 6.53 ERA this season.
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