Ryan Brasier on trade to Cubs: ‘I’m really excited to be in Chicago’

As the Los Angeles Dodgers continued building a superteam, Ryan Brasier became expendable.

Boxed in by a lack of flexibility in their reliever group, they designated Brasier for assignment last Thursday. That came despite his strong season-and-a-half in Los Angeles. He signed with the Dodgers mid-season in 2023 and proceeded to post a 0.70 ERA in 38 2/3 innings.

After re-signing with the club last winter, the Brasier produced a 3.54 ERA.

However, he missed nearly four months due to a right calf strain, and from the time he returned in mid-August through the end of the regular season, he pitched to a 2.76 ERA. He then made eight postseason appearances during Los Angeles’ World Series title run.

But once the Dodgers officially signed Kirby Yates, Brasier became the odd man out in the bullpen. They DFA’d the 37-year-old with a year and $4.5 million remaining on the two-year, $9 million deal he signed before 2024.

Why the Cubs Made the Move to Nab Brasier

With a solid, veteran, inexpensive reliever in Brasier available, the Chicago Cubs swooped in Tuesday night (and DFA’d Rob Zastryzny). But there wasn’t a ton of flexibility in their bullpen, either. Consider that Brasier has over five years of service, so he can’t be sent to the minors without his consent.

Still, the Cubs have acknowledged their lack of bullpen depth in 2024. That was especially true in the season’s first couple months, when their expected high-leverage options dealt with underperformance and/or injuries. There wasn’t enough depth behind them to weather the storm.

One of Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s priorities coming into this offseason was to bolster the team’s bullpen depth. He’s done that by acquiring the likes of Ryan Pressly, Eli Morgan and Caleb Thielbar to go with Porter Hodge, Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather and more.

Brasier is the newest move to elevate the group. Though Pressly will enter the year as the favorite to close games, Brasier could certainly be used in leverage situations.

He said he did know Los Angeles had been shopping him around before the DFA came. Now, after a few days of uncertainty, he’s happy he’s going the Cubs’ bullpen.

“I don’t know if ‘surprised’ is the right word, but yeah, it was a little gut punch,” Brasier said of being DFA’d.

“Luckily, I ended up in a good place. It was kind of nerve-wracking there for a little bit, not really having any idea of where I was going or really having any say of where I was going. But I’m really excited to be in Chicago.”

Obviously, staying healthy in 2025 is a major goal after missing as much time as he did last year. But there’s also getting back to performing the way Brasier did in his first season with the Dodgers.

He’s heavy on four-seamers and sliders, throwing those for over 70 percent of his offerings the last two years. The right-hander has thrown a sinker throughout his career, and he started throwing a cutter upon joining Los Angeles. As you’d expect, he uses the sinker to combat righties, and he threw the cutter exclusively to lefties in 2024.

Making sure that repertoire plays the way it did in 2023 is key to helping him be a force in the Cubs’ bullpen.

“Really, putting my fastball where I want it, and my slider,” Brasier said. “The cutter is kind of a complimentary pitch, but generally, if my fastball and my slider are where they need to be, that’s when I’m going good.”

Brasier also noted adding the cutter was massive for his success with the Dodgers. He said lefties could generally eliminate certain pitches in certain counts. Adding the cutter gave him a third offering to attack them with, and it worked wonders.

Now, he’ll try to keep the late-career success going with the Cubs.

Part of the allure of the organization is Wrigley Field. Brasier has only pitched there twice, but he’s relished visiting the historic ballpark every time he’s gotten the chance to. As Hoyer often says, Wrigley sells itself.

The other part of it is the team he’s joining. Brasier is well aware of how the Cubs have built the 2025 version of the team. New additions like Pressly, Kyle Tucker and Matthew Boyd have improved the team as they look to take the top spot in a very winnable division.

He also has history with Seiya Suzuki from their time playing together in Japan in 2017. He remembered Suzuki’s “ridiculous year” and described him as “a really good player, good dude” he’s excited to play with again.

With all that in front of him, Brasier is ready to move on to this new chapter in his career.

“Obviously, everyone loves going to Wrigley,” Brasier said. “The history in the Cubs organization and just Wrigley in general, super excited [to join the club]. … With the additions that they made this year, a couple of guys that can really turn a team around. I’m glad I get to be part of that group.”