Dodgers Sign Cole Irvin To Minor-League Contract With Spring Invite

The Los Angeles Dodgers added left-hander Cole Irvin to their system on a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to big-league spring camp, a move that gives Los Angeles inexpensive veteran depth and a chance to evaluate a 32-year-old with substantial starting experience. The signing was first reported by Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton and confirmed by other outlets, including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.

Irvin arrives with a mixed recent track record but clear workload history. He made 28 starts for the KBO’s Doosan Bears in 2025, posting a 4.48 ERA with 128 strikeouts and 79 walks in 144 2/3 innings. In MLB in 2024 he logged 111 innings with a 5.11 ERA split between Baltimore and Minnesota after the Orioles designated him for assignment and he finished the year with the Twins following a waiver claim. Over parts of six major-league seasons Irvin has appeared in 134 games, including 93 starts, compiling a 4.54 ERA, a 4.45 FIP, 434 strikeouts and 142 walks in 593 innings with a 28-40 record and a 1.31 WHIP.

Fabian Ardaya summarized the transaction plainly on social media: “The Dodgers signed LHP Cole Irvin to a minor league deal with a spring invite. Has big league time with PHI, OAK, BAL and MIN before spending last year with the KBO’s Doosan Bears (28 GS, 4.48 ERA). @AramLeighton8 was on it.”

Irvin’s profile is that of a swingman who has mostly been deployed as a starter overseas and in parts of his major-league career, but who has prior bullpen experience, he made 41 relief appearances across six MLB seasons. That versatility is relevant in Los Angeles, a club that has leaned on a deep pool of pitchers the last several seasons. The Dodgers used a franchise-record 40 pitchers in each of the last two seasons after using 39 pitchers in 2023, and recent spring training practice shows non-roster invitees have real runway: five of 14 non-roster arms from last spring camp pitched in the majors that season, seven of 12 in 2024, and 10 of 16 in 2023.

Practical roster mechanics temper Irvin’s immediate upside. He comes in as a non-roster invitee and would need to be added to the 40-man roster to be recalled to the big league club. With the Dodgers projecting a rotation headlined by Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan, plus depth options River Ryan and Gavin Stone, Irvin faces long odds to crack the Opening Day rotation. If he does not make the major-league club, Triple-A Oklahoma City is the likeliest landing spot to begin the season and a place where a strong spring could trigger a call or attract interest from other clubs.

For fans, Irvin’s signing is a practical nod to depth-building and the low-risk, high-reward strategy the Dodgers have employed with non-roster arms in spring training. The immediate story now moves to camp: Irvin will have a platform to show whether his KBO innings translated into refinements that can translate back to another big-league opportunity as a starter or a left-handed option out of the bullpen.