One of the Boston Red Sox’s 2019 postseason heroes, Joe Kelly, has signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kelly will earn $25m over the length of the contract. The reliever’s performances in crunch time for Boston, last season, allowed him to command these kind of numbers. He will be an important addition to Los Angeles’ bullpen for the coming years.
Joe Kelly Signs with Los Angeles Dodgers
With the deal being agreed during the late hours on Wednesday, it was announced by Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic that there was a deal in place. Both parties were close to agreeing upon it:
#Dodgers close to signing free-agent reliever Joe Kelly, sources tell me and @ByRobertMurray.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 13, 2018
By this morning, Kelly was a Dodger. The right-hander returns to California and Dodger Stadium, where he helped the Red Sox clinch their ninth world championship, back in October. After an up and down five years in Boston, this past season saw the best of Kelly. When he was locked in, he became one of the more dominant relievers in all of baseball.
Kelly appeared in nine of Boston’s postseason games. With an ERA of 0.79, he showed that he’s a pitcher who can be relied on when it matters the most. As one of Boston’s most effective relievers, in an accomplished season, he only gave up eight hits and two runs, only one of which earned over 11.1 innings in the playoffs.
After losing in the Fall Classic the last two years, the Dodgers, will be looking to get all the help they can get for 2019. Falling at the final hurdle two times in a row leaves winning it all as their target. Kelly joins a bullpen headlined with the likes of top closer Kenley Jansen. With a fine rotation including Clayton Kershaw and the budding Walker Bueler, this is a Dodger pitching staff that should be able to perform when called upon.
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