Report: Dodgers scoop up former Giants reliever Moronta

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SCOTTSDALE -- Reyes Moronta once looked like the future closer at Oracle Park, but if he's in the big leagues this season it will be with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Moronta will be in Dodgers camp as a non-roster invitee, hoping to find a consistent role in the big leagues for the first time since 2019, when a shoulder injury put a halt to what had been a very promising career. MLB.com's Juan Toribio, citing a source, was the first to report the move. ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported, citing a source, that Moronta will make $1.5 million if he makes the major league squad. 

Moronta debuted for the Giants in 2017 and had a 2.65 ERA over 136 appearances in the orange and black, with 11 strikeouts per nine innings. With a fastball that regularly hit 99 mph and a good slider, Moronta earned a late-innings role and looked like he would be a good candidate to handle the ninth inning for the Giants at some point. That all changed Aug. 31, 2019.

Moronta injured his shoulder while throwing a pitch and crumpled to the ground in pain. He had shoulder surgery a few days later and didn't pitch in 2020, finishing his season at the alternate site.

Moronta made the Opening Day roster in 2021 and had four scoreless appearances in April before going on the IL with a right flexor strain. He returned to the mound but never made it back from Triple-A Sacramento, where he struggled mightily with his command. He was taken off the 40-man roster in September.

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Moronta played winter ball to prove his health and he'll now try to make a Dodgers bullpen that is being slightly remade this offseason. His last roster move as a member of the Giants bullpen will always be notable, though; when the Giants put Moronta on the IL, they filled the roster spot by recalling LaMonte Wade Jr.

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