🔥 HOT NEWS: A former Dodgers All-Star is now poised to sign with the Angels in free agency, setting up a stunning Southern California twist ⚡.NL
The Los Angeles Dodgers heavily invested in their starting rotation ahead of the 2025 season, bringing in Cy Young winner Blake Snell and top international free agent Roki Sasaki to add to their elite core of starting pitchers.
A player they left out, though, was Walker Buehler.
Buehler entered free agency after 2024, turning down an offer from the Dodgers to look for opportunities elsewhere in the league. The right-hander had spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Dodgers, winning championships with the team in both 2020 and 2024.
With the Dodgers, Buehler had a 3.27 ERA through 132 appearances and made two All-Star Games.
After leaving the Dodgers, however the veteran hasn’t found as much success.
Buehler began the 2025 season with the Boston Red Sox, making 23 starts for his new team. He had a 5.45 ERA through 112.1 innings, and they released him at the end of August. The Philadelphia Phillies picked Buehler up a few days later, and he had solid results in his three games for his new club.
He allowed just one run in 13.2 innings for the Phillies, equating to a 0.66 ERA. He didn’t feature for the Phillies in the postseason, as they lost their opening series in October to the Dodgers.
Buehler is once again a free agent, and Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter believes he’s going to return to LA — but not for the Dodgers.
The Los Angeles Angels had another losing season in 2025, only really being able to brag about their season sweep over the Dodgers. Their pitching over the course of the season massively underperformed, and they had the third-worst ERA in baseball in 2025.
They lost two key pieces of their rotation to free agency, and could still look for more pieces to fill out their rotation after shipping out outfielder Taylor Ward for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez of the Baltimore Orioles.
Buehler isn’t likely to get many offers over some of the other top pitchers in the free agency class, so re-establishing his value with one-year deal a less competitive team could be the best move for his career.
