{"id":110830,"date":"2025-12-15T19:53:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T00:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=110830"},"modified":"2025-12-15T19:53:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T00:53:35","slug":"red-sox-among-suitors-former-dodgers-closer-evan-phillips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/12\/15\/red-sox-among-suitors-former-dodgers-closer-evan-phillips\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Red Sox Among Suitors for Former Dodger Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Red Sox are kicking the tires on right-handed reliever Evan Phillips, according to the Boston Globe&#8217;s Tim Healey. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/phillev01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-12-15_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phillips<\/a>, formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/30\/dodgers-evan-phillips-tommy-john-surgery\/\" target=\"_self\">recovering<\/a> from Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss most of the 2025 season. He was non-tendered a few weeks ago by the Dodgers. Word is, they are interested in re-signing him closer to the 2026 season, after they see how the right-hander&#8217;s rehab progresses. Phillips is expected to miss at least half of next season. Now, it looks like he will have his choice of several teams.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_101316\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-101316\" style=\"width: 624px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-101316\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"The Dodgers non-tendered pitchers Evan Phillips (pictured) and Nick Frasso on Friday.\" width=\"624\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25990955_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-101316\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 20, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Evan Phillips (59) comes off the field during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Report: Red Sox Interested in Reliever Evan Phillips<\/h2>\n<h3>A Diamond in the Rough<\/h3>\n<p>Phillips has been a revelation in a Dodger uniform through five seasons. He was signed on a whim, and thanks to his devastating sweeper, rose to a more high-leverage role, eventually becoming the closer. He has a cumulative ERA of 2.22. Phillips also has 45 saves during that time. His absence was sorely felt down the stretch last season as their bullpen had a combined ERA of nearly 5.00.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Red Sox inquired with free agent reliever Evan Phillips, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/timbhealey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@timbhealey<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Phillips had TJ back in June and isn\u2019t expected to sign until some point in 2026. Had a 2.21 ERA\/2.76 FIP in 179 innings from 2022-2024. Entering his age-31 season. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QmKbTVaPVZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/QmKbTVaPVZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tylermilliken_\/status\/2000555810980819048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>A Prime-Time Closer<\/h3>\n<p>The Dodgers made a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/12\/09\/report-dodgers-sign-free-agent-closer-edwin-diaz\/\" target=\"_self\">big splash<\/a> last week when they signed right-handed closer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=diazed04,diazed03,diaz--005edw&amp;search=Edwin+D\u00edaz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-12-15_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a> to a three-year, $69 million contract. He has already been designated as the man to finish games. His 1.63 ERA makes it an easy call. The Dodgers haven&#8217;t had a true shutdown arm since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/janseke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-12-15_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kenley Jansen<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/scottta01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-12-15_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tanner Scott<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/19\/four-possible-fixes-faltering-dodgers-bullpen\/\" target=\"_self\">who struggled<\/a> last year, will probably be the setup man in most cases.<\/p>\n<h3>Needed Insurance<\/h3>\n<p>It is very clear that Los Angeles still values Phillips&#8217; services. They also know how volatile injuries can be. They are known to have multiple arms sidelined at once. Besides the Red Sox and the Dodgers, the Miami Marlins are also said to be interested. There will be more dominoes to fall before Phillips gets involved. However, it will be something to keep an eye on as the winter progresses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Red Sox are kicking the tires on right-handed reliever Evan Phillips, according to the Boston Globe&#8217;s Tim Healey. Phillips, formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss most of the 2025 season. He was non-tendered a few weeks ago by the Dodgers. Word [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":75320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,4,33,35],"tags":[1931,2154,432,5660],"class_list":["post-110830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-redsox","category-dodgers","category-news","tag-edwin-diaz","tag-evan-phillips","tag-kenley-jansen","tag-tanner-scott"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110830"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110840,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110830\/revisions\/110840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}