As the Milwaukee Brewers celebrate their World Series championship, Andrew Friedman and Co. are gearing up for an offseason that carries a lot of uncertainty for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
LA fell short in its bid for a historic three-peat and, despite the ongoing federal investigations surrounding Dodgers owner Mark Walter that has led to the sale of several of the Guggenheim majority partner's pro sports franchises (such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Chelsea FC), Friedman has said he's under no impression that he'll have any less resources.
"It's been business as usual for us," Friedman said at the Dodgers' end of year press conference.
But "business as usual" can only mean so much entering an offseason that could potentially reshape the business of baseball.
The league's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Dec. 1. The 30 MLB and the MLB Players Association haven't gotten any closer to agreeing to terms before that deadline, with the owners' push to implement a salary cap a major point of contention, making a lockout seem all but certain.
If a cap were to be introduced in 2027, the Dodgers and their $384.7 million luxury tax payroll would be among the clubs most affected. But regardless of where the chips may fall a month from now, Friedman plans to be aggressive in improving the roster to prepare for another run in 2027.
"It's about us being as prepared as we can be, depending on what opportunities pop up and when, to be able to pounce," he said. "But we feel good about our jumping off point of where we are."
Here's what that may look like this winter:
Dodgers pending free agents
The Dodgers have eight players set to hit free agency, not counting the now-retired Miguel Rojas. Several fee agents have been stalwarts through the team's World Series runs this decade, such as Alex Vesia, Kiké Hernández, Blake Treinen and Evan Phillips. There is no bigger name available this winter, however, than Tarik Skubal. The Dodgers paid a steep price to acquire the back-to-back Cy Young winner from the Detroit Tigers at this year's trade deadline, but his future in LA is up in the air.
Skubal is expected to become one of the highest-paid pitchers of all time on the open market. The Dodgers have shown a willingness to let rentals, such as Yu Darvish, Max Scherzer and Manny Machado, walk over the years, and Skubal might not be an exception.
"I can't say enough good things about the impact he made in such a short period of time," Friedman said. "We have a tremendous amount of respect for him on and off the field and for us, he's put himself in this position to go out and be a free agent. ... He and his family get to make a choice over where they want to spend the next X number of years and, obviously, we wish them nothing but the best."
Outside of Skubal, the other top arms available in free agency include Freddy Peralta, Michael King and maybe Sonny Gray if the Red Sox decline his $30 million option. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Luis Arraez, Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki headline the position player side, but none appear to be clear fits within the Dodgers' lineup.
Here's a full list of every Dodgers free agent:
- Tarik Skubal, LHP
- Evan Phillips, RHP
- Kiké Hernández, UTIL
- Alex Vesia, LHP
- Kris Bubic, LHP
- Blake Treinen, RHP
- Brusdar Graterol, RHP
- Eric Lauer, LHP
Dodgers trade candidates
The other biggest question facing the Dodgers this offseason is where Josue De Paula fits. The 21-year-old thrived in his two weeks in the big leagues filling in for Shohei Ohtani at DH, enough so that he earned a spot on the postseason roster as a lefty bat off the bench. His poise, confidence and command of the strike zone have shown to be MLB-ready, in a small sample size, but his glove still has room for improvement.
Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes applauded De Paula's jump defensively from 2025 to '26, and they fully expect him to take a similar leap entering 2027.
"We've all seen what he's capable of in the box, which is incredibly exciting," Gomes said. "With that being said, we already have a very talented core group already here. So, it's finding those opportunities but also making sure that throughout this offseason and coming into spring that he continues to improve and gets to that bar and gets to be an above average defender."
If De Paula does take that next step over the winter, Teoscar Hernández could be a candidate to be moved entering the final year of his contract.
And don't discount the Dodgers' willingness to trade some of their top prospects for more firepower that can help them right now. While Friedman acknowledged the importance of the farm system in helping the Dodgers transition from an aging roster, many of those top prospects play the same position, which might lead to limited opportunities for development. Four of their six prospects ranked in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 − De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota and Charles Davalan − are all outfielders.
Friedman isn't too worried about that. He's noticed things usually "sort themselves out" when it comes to the farm system. Guys change positions, get injured, fall off − or get traded − all the time in the minor leagues.
There's some sorting around the front office will have to do, but this wave of young talent is what keeps Friedman hopeful the Dodgers will be able to avoid "falling off a cliff," the way most veteran teams eventually do.
"That is why we have poured so much energy and focus into our farm system," he said. "… We couldn't feel more bullish on the position player core group, from A-ball through Triple-A that are coming, and obviously we've traded away a lot of really talented players also.
"… We feel really good about our future outlook."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Los Angeles Dodgers offseason outlook: Free agents, trade candidates
