Atlanta Braves Ink Former Dodgers Reliever To A Three-Year Deal

The Atlanta Braves announced they have signed free agent reliever Evan Phillips to a three-year, $35 million deal. He is set to earn $11 million in the 2027 and 2028 seasons, and will earn $13 million in 2029. 

Phillips, a 32-year-old right-hander, will join a strong Atlanta bullpen that was already seen as one of the league’s best. The deal is also the biggest free agency signing of the offseason so far across the league.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of 2025, Phillips returned to the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers in July and had a strong second half in 2026. After recording an ERA over 5 in his first 17 appearances after his return, Phillips compiled a 1.46 ERA in his last 14 appearances in the regular season. In the postseason, he made five scoreless appearances.

In his tenure with the Dodgers, Phillips established himself as one of the league’s most consistent right-handed relievers. Since the start of the 2022 season, Phillips has combined to record a 2.31 ERA in 210 ⅔ innings of work, which is the fourth-best ERA among pitchers to make 200 appearances in that span. 

Phillips will return to the organization that drafted him in the 17th round of the 2015 MLB draft. The right-hander made his major league debut with the Braves in 2018 and made four appearances with the team before he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in the deal that sent starter Kevin Gausman to Atlanta.

From 2018-2020, Phillips combined to make 44 appearances with the Orioles, but struggled as he posted a 7.36 ERA in his time there. In 2021, he was released by the Orioles and signed a minor-league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he saw just one major league appearance that season. Tampa Bay designated him for assignment, and the Dodgers claimed him off waivers shortly after. 

Back then, the Dodgers were intrigued by his wipeout breaking stuff, and to this day that remains to be his strong suit. Phillips’ arsenal boasts a high-90s fastball, a wicked sweeper and a strong cutter and sinker to complement his primary pitches.

Phillips will join a high-leverage tandem in the Braves’ bullpen that headlined one of the strongest bullpens in baseball last season. Alongside closer Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suárez and 21-year-old Didier Fuentes, Phillips gives the Braves yet another dominant right-hander in the bullpen.

The deal is the Braves’ first major league signing of the offseason, shortly after the team inked utilityman Tyler Freeman to a minor league deal this morning, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com.