Brusdar Graterol hasn’t thrown a pitch in a Major League game since the 2024 World Series, but he showed up at the Dodgers‘ facility in Arizona this week — as a free agent, no contract, two surgeries behind him. A November 5 post from Dodgers Nation documented it and immediately kicked off the question multiple market analysts are already asking: is a minor-league deal coming for the Venezuelan reliever who owns one of the lowest ERAs in the Dodgers bullpen over the past decade?
Two seasons gone, but the numbers are still there
On paper, Graterol’s résumé is exactly what any team wants in a reliever: a 2.78 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across 188 MLB appearances, with a 2.69 ERA specifically as a Dodger over five seasons (2020–2024). Eleven wins, nine losses, 11 saves. He’s not an elite closer, but he’s not easy to replace either.
The problem is everything that came after. In November 2024, he had surgery on his right shoulder labrum and missed all of 2025. The Dodgers re-signed him in January 2026 — a $2.8 million deal, the same salary he made in 2024 — betting the recovery would go smoothly. It didn’t. He was placed on the 60-day injured list on March 22, 2026. He made his Triple-A debut with Oklahoma City on May 2, his first game action in over a year, but suffered a back injury during that same rehab assignment and needed a second surgery. Season over, again.
His 2026 contract has expired and the Dodgers didn’t extend a qualifying offer to any of their free agents this offseason, which makes him a loose piece on the market — but not a forgotten one in LA.
Showing up at Camelback Ranch isn’t a coincidence
Players rehabbing can work out anywhere. Choosing your former team’s complex — with all the medical and development staff that already knows your body — says something about where your process is pointed. Manager Dave Roberts put it plainly during last May’s rehab assignment, as quoted by Yardbarker: «He hasn’t pitched much the last two, three years. His progression has to be methodical.» That quote still holds in November.
Graterol isn’t a quick-turnaround project. He’s a process that needs time and continuity, and the Dodgers understand that better than anyone. Beat reporters and market analysts covering LA agree that any reunion would come through a minor-league deal with a spring training invite — not a guaranteed MLB contract. That’s the low-risk, high-upside bet that fits exactly how the Dodgers build bullpen depth.
What has to happen for a comeback to be real
In his only rehab outing back in May, Graterol’s fastball touched 95 mph, per Yardbarker. That’s not the explosive stuff that defined his best years, but it’s not the velocity of a pitcher running on empty either. The baseline is there; everything from here depends on his back holding up through a full spring ramp-up.
The market context also explains why the Dodgers have real urgency. With eight notable free agents walking out the door this winter — including Tarik Skubal, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, and Blake Treinen — and reports of a possible lockout accelerating the market, building the 2027 LA bullpen is a genuine priority. A healthy Graterol, even starting in the minors, costs little and could return a lot.
No deal has been announced. What exists right now is a Venezuelan pitcher with one of the best ERAs in recent Dodgers bullpen history, training in Dodger blue in November after two years that went nothing like anyone planned. The fact that he’s still there is, at minimum, the clearest signal that this story didn’t end in 2024.
