Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers Cut Former Second-Round Draft Pick Days After World Series Win

J.P. Hoornstra

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts takes Matt Sauer (64) out of the game during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on June 10.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts takes Matt Sauer (64) out of the game during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on June 10. / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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The Dodgers have released pitcher Matt Sauer from his minor league contract. The right-hander made 10 appearances for the Dodgers in the regular season across six separate stints in 2025.

Sauer went 5-5 with a 5.86 ERA in 18 games (17 starts) with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, and 2-1 with a 6.37 ERA (and one save) in the majors.

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A former second-round draft pick by the New York Yankees, Sauer couldn't take advantage of his first major league opportunity with the Royals in 2024 after being selected in the Rule 5 draft. The Royals returned Sauer to the Yankees after he posted a 7.71 ERA in 14 appearances, and he finished the season with the Yankees' Double-A affiliate.

The Dodgers signed Sauer as a free agent in January, lowered his arm slot, taught him to throw a cutter, and proceeded to watch him strike out eight batters and walk only one in 7.2 Cactus League innings.

Sauer was included on the Dodgers' travel roster to the Tokyo Series in March, but wasn't formally promoted to the big leagues until April.

After seven appearances — including one spot start and one four-inning save — Sauer was 1-0 with a 3.05 ERA across 20.2 innings.

One game in June lit a torch to Sauer's stat line. In 4.2 innings against the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers asked Sauer to wear the brunt of an 11-1 loss. He was charged with nine earned runs after allowing 13 hits.

Although he spared the rest of the Dodgers' pitching staff in a blowout, Sauer saw his ERA rise to 5.68. He made only two appearances in the majors the rest of the season.

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Sauer will head back into free agency in roughly the same place he began — only this time, with a delivery more equipped to take down innings in the future.

"When I was with the Yankees I had two elbow surgeries," Sauer said in May. "Last year with KC I was kind of a mix of in-between a high and low (arm) slot. This year now that I've been able to repeat it, my recovery's been way better. I've noticed a big difference. I'm not as sore after I throw 75-plus pitches. It's been a huge advantage."

Statistically speaking, Sauer might have had a forgettable season. But as one of the 63 pitchers who appeared in a game for the Dodgers in 2025, Sauer earned his first World Series ring at age 26.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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