The 2026 season will end this week, possibly tonight, if World Series Game 3 was any indication.
The Dodgers got thoroughly skunked, which is fitting considering the fact that the Brewers are from the Midwest, and when one lives in locales that frequently get snowed in, or one is in a committed relationship with someone who grew up, one learns about card games like cribbage.
Cribbage is easy enough to learn, but one of the first terms you learn about is “skunked,” a blowout loss where you lose by more
than 31 points. What we just saw over four games was the Dodgers getting roundly skunked by the Milwaukee Brewers. Still, given how badly the Tampa Bay Rays are floundering this Fall Classic, one might expect the front office to be asking itself, “What if?” Oh well.
Still, at least one current Dodger is at these proceedings: Teoscar Hernandez.
Given my five-year history writing columns here, one might expect another jeremiad on these Dodgers. Those folks expecting another long-winded rant will be sorely disappointed.
Unlike 2022, when the Dodgers romped to 111 victories only to save their worst ball for the most important games of the year. Further, they were supposed to be motivated by the death of Vin Scully. They won one game and then shuffled off the stage.
If you paid any attention in August, you saw this underperforming version of the Dodgers in action, with just about every wart on display, including previous warts thought to be in remission (i.e., some of Dave Roberts’ managerial decisions). When you have a series where you lead every single game, just to lose every single time, there’s not a lot to say, apart from tipping your cap to the victors and muttering words that are unprintable in this venue.
Would a healthy Shohei Ohtani have helped? We’ll never know; it couldn’t have hurt.
The 2025 Dodgers answered a question that only the most deranged madmen would have asked last year: “Could a team hit like the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and still win a championship in today’s game?” The answer was “Yes, by the skin of their collective teeth when the opposition is on a heater, unlike the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers.”
Last year, as a unit for the entire playoffs in 17 games, they collectively hit .233/.320/.402. There were seven players having an average OPS of .750 or higher:
- Ohtani – 1.096
- Ben Rortvedt – 1.071 (in four games before Will Smith came back)
- Alex Call – .897 (in seven games)
- Teoscar Hernandez – .788
- Will Smith – .777 (in 15 games)
- Max Muncy – .764
- Miguel Rojas – .760 (in 8 games)
This year’s team, as a unit for the entire playoffs in eight games, collectively hit .195/.267/.323. There were three players having an average OPS of .750 or higher:
- Kyle Tucker – .938
- Rojas – .929 (in five games)
- Muncy – .792
In one of life’s little ironies, Kyle Tucker started hitting in October; most of his teammates did not. Rojas has already announced his retirement. Even if the pitching staff repeated its stellar performance in 2026, rather than taking a step back as we all saw, this run was probably doomed.
A better team exposed the Dodgers. Where the Dodgers looked crisp and hungry in 2024 and got away with their fair share of miscues in 2025 (see Game 3 and Game 7 of the 2025 World Series), they looked slow and weary in 2026 when it mattered most during this playoff run.
It happens. Extra playoffs mean extra wear and tear, and the margin for error shrinks exponentially.
With the accelerated pace of the offseason that is about to start, let us take a moment to acknowledge something I hope happens once baseball resumes in 2027.
The 2027 Dodgers will hopefully look quite different
I make the following statement upfront: I do not think there is much appetite or wisdom behind trying to run it back in 2027. In that madness, Philadelphia lies; ask a Phillie fan how that strategy is going lately.
Unlike rogue AI agents that learned how to lie to their human masters, which is a terrifying recent development we do not have time to adequately cover here, this baseball machine is run by and carried out by people. Andrew Friedman seemed to tip his hand toward a more conservative approach to integrating the wave of prospects into the existing core, warning about a fear of winning only 86 games and missing the playoffs.
I think caution would be a mistake, and I think there’s an opportunity both Friedman and I recognize.
Yes, there is a risk that the prospects and new additions in free agency (whoever they are) will result in missing the playoffs for the first time in fifteen years. Variance happens. If anything, we’ve seen the opposite end of the spectrum here in the conservatism that Friedman seems to be alluding to in Philadelphia and over the past decade in San Francisco: you hold on too long, eventually you get thrown off the ride anyway with diminishing returns.
I am not going to argue something borderline moronic like trading Shohei Ohtani or casting off Max Muncy or Freddie Freeman. That’s silly. I am saying some of the core is reaching their autumnal years and maybe some more aggressive finessing of the roster is in order.
I think all the ink asking whether the Dodgers dynasty is over misses the point. For 715 days, from October 30, 2024 to October 15, 2026, the Dodgers were baseball’s champions. Nothing can take that away. However, in the next seven days, maybe as soon as tonight, a new champion will be crowned.
The goal now is to retool and reload now that the team is a challenger again. I don’t see this organization sitting on its laurels. Yes, they faltered. Now, maybe things can tighten up as the team remembers how bitter defeat tastes.
Unlike recent years, there is a delightful glut of promising talent in the minor leagues that will need protection from the Rule 5 draft. This year, along with phenom Josue De Paula, the team will likely need 40-man roster spots for Christian Zazueta, Jackson Ferris, Noah Miller, Jake Gelof, and Adam Serwinoski, or some combination thereof.
Things get really interesting next year, as James Tibbs III, Zack Ehrhard, Mike Sirota, and Eduardo Quintero are also knocking at the door and, coincidentally, will need Rule 5 protection at the end of 2027. Roster slots will be at a premium.
Will everyone I just listed pan out?
The law of averages says no, but my mind keeps going back to that one scene in Moneyball where not-Paul dePodesta tells Billy Beane about the opportunity present now that Johnny Damon is off the roster. If I have a criticism of the 2026 trade deadline, it’s that the Dodgers seemed conservative in trying to upgrade the roster on the fringes.
One does not have to go back very far in history to find an example of when the Dodgers were banking on a prospect to stick who didn’t, unless everyone forgot the Gavin Lux Starting Shortstop Experience?
On that note, could the Dodgers have traded players like Alex Call or Ryan Ward at the deadline? Sure. But clearly, they calculated that what was offered wasn’t good enough. Ward is in Japan now. It’s not as if another MLB roster claimed him to the team’s detriment. As for Call…read on.
The Coming Roster Crunch
At season’s end, the injured list goes away. The Dodgers currently have six players on the soon-to-expire 60-day injured list:
- Ben Casparius
- Jake Cousins
- Will Klein
- Brusdar Graterol
- Eric Lauer
- Gavin Stone
Some of these names will resolve themselves as you will read below. Ben Casparius and Will Klein are coming back next season; Seth Halvorsen likely so. And that calculus hasn’t even touched who gets added to the 40-man roster from the minors.
You have to make room somehow, and yes, the Dodgers are currently carrying four catchers on the 40-man roster. Put another way: you can’t DFA Eliezer Alfonzo more than once to avoid the coming roster crunch. Maybe the goal should be to wring as much baseball as possible out of the aging core while supplementing with some new blood.
The Dodgers 2026 Free Agent Forecast
It’s worth noting that since Tarik Skubal was acquired midseason in a trade, he’s ineligible for a Qualifying Offer that would give the Dodgers a marginal draft pick, due to the team’s record and being well over the draft penalty threshold.
The 2027 Qualifying Offer is a one-year/$23.15 million contract. Below are the Dodgers’ current crop of potentially departing free agents, with annotations of my best guess of what’s about to happen.
Spoiler Alert: No one is getting a qualifying offer in Los Angeles this go-around.
- Tarik Skubal (gone)
- Miguel Rojas (retired)
- Kiké Hernández (likely gone)
- Kris Bubic (gone)
- Eric Lauer (gone)
- Alex Vesia (likely gone)
- Evan Phillips (probably gone)
- Blake Treinen (gone, likely retired)
- Brusdar Graterol (gone)
As a lawyer in my day job, I give myself room to hedge.
If I say “gone,” I will be shocked into silence if I am wrong. If I say someone is “likely gone,” I would say it’s a 51/49 prospect that someone is gone, more often than not, but maybe wiggle room can be had. I would be surprised, but not shocked. If I say someone is “probably gone,” I would say that it is a 25/75 prospect that someone is gone, less likely than not. I would hope that something could be worked out, but I am mentally preparing myself to see them in a different uniform.
These forecasts are based entirely on observation and experience over the past five campaigns; I have no insider information. I’m trying something new, because I have the bandwidth.
Gone
Tarik Skubal: Sure, the Dodgers would like him back. How could you not? He did what the Dodgers acquired him for. Per Andy McCullough of The Athletic:
Across the past three seasons, [Skubal] led all pitchers in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement (18.0), while ranking second in ERA (2.42), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) and fifth in innings (182 per season). In 2026, he returned from midseason elbow surgery to post a 2.72 ERA with 186 strikeouts in 158.2 innings.
He beat Atlanta, but he got beat by the Brewers and Jacob Misiorowski; there was a lot of that going around.
Blake Snell really wants him back, as he apparently is figuratively cosplaying the main characters from Step Brothers with Skubal. However, unless Skubal is willing to do a short-term, Kyle Tucker-esque deal, he’s likely to eclipse Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s contract in total or, at the very least, annual value. My best guess is in New York (doesn’t matter which team), but maybe the Dodgers’ brain trust can pull another rabbit out of its figurative hat as to the soon-to-be 30-year-old left-hander.
Miguel Rojas: Has already retired and is already eating meat with Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox.
Kris Bubic and Eric Lauer: Bubic was a bullpen gamble that didn’t pay off. Moreover, Bubic has been a starter for his career; is he just a bullpen guy now? Maybe. Seems doubtful, but as far as I know, he’s not on the Bobby Miller Express of forced bullpen service. Lauer was a depth piece to absorb innings. The Eric Lauer Experience is likely a one-off, barring a non-roster invite or him turning his nose up at offers from West Sacramento.
Blake Treinen: Treinen injured his shoulder warming up in the penultimate game of the regular season in San Francisco. He’s entering his age-39 season. There were five relievers over the age of 38 in MLB in 2026: Luis Garcia (39), Caleb Theilbar (39), Carlos Carrasco (39), Kirby Yates (39), and Chris Martin (40).
I’m sure the doctors told Treinen that they can fix you, but at some point, time just marches on.
None of these pitchers appeared in more than 60 games in 2026; Theilbar was closest at 58. Yates has already announced his retirement, and if I were pressed, I would be flabbergasted if Treinen came back to MLB at all, much less with the Dodgers. We’ll always have 2024.
Brusdar Graterol: If Graterol is willing to come back on a minor league, prove-it deal, that’s my carve-out. But if Graterol is expecting a major league roster spot, the mark against him is that he hasn’t been able to stay healthy or get healthy. He has pitched in seven regular-season games since the start of the 2024 season, and all of them were in the 2024 campaign. As much as I personally enjoy watching Graterol, those are attendance records that would make Danny Duffy go, “Man, he’s never here.”
Likely Gone / Probably Gone
Kiké Hernández: Kiké is entering his age-35 season, and while he states that he can still play ball, there are two facts that likely spell an end to his time in Los Angeles, unless he is willing to take a lesser role (think minor league invite):
The Dodgers are facing a roster crunch discussed above, and Kiké’s main claim to fame the past few years has been his effectiveness in the postseason. This past October, he went 1 for 14, granted that one hit was his 17th postseason homer off of Chris Sale.
Otherwise, it was his worst postseason since going hitless in 2016.
I can see the Dodgers moving on if they buy in on Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim. The problem with those two players is that, even with extended runways in 2026, neither player could lock down playing time.
A reunion with Kiké makes more sense than the Dodgers trying to acquire a player like Luis Arraez. The goal with this thought exercise isn’t to chase names; it’s to get younger.
Honestly, the worst-case scenario is the Dodgers trading for Kiké at another trade deadline if they can’t work something out now.
Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips: Alex Vesia is arguably one of the most underrated bullpen arms in baseball. Even when the eye test falters, his peripheral statistics have stayed consistent over the past three campaigns. Vesia has a 2.66 ERA over 367 games and 328 total innings with the Dodgers. He posted 6.3 bWAR in his tenure with the Dodgers. In the postseason, he has a 1.59 ERA over 31 appearances.
His two-year, $5.8 million contract just expired. He’s probably worth at least $5 to 7 million per year, even as he enters his age-30 season. Is he worth Tanner Scott/Edwin Diaz money? No, but no one is, apart from prime-Mariano Rivera if he were pitching today.
Vesia will likely test the free-agent market, and it seems more likely than not that someone will finally wise up and pay (or overpay) for his services. For comparison, 32-year-old Luke Weaver is currently on a two-year, $22 million contract. Vesia is probably worth at least that, if not more, due to his age and effectiveness.
When healthy, and since becoming a bullpen mainstay in 2022, Phillips has a 2.31 ERA over 225 games and 210 2/3 innings with the Dodgers. He posted 4.6 bWAR since joining the Dodgers. In the postseason, he has a 0.00 ERA over 17 appearances.
Phillips had a bit of an issue with the home run ball in his 2026 campaign, nearly giving up as many as he did in 2025 in less than half the work. Otherwise, entering his age-33 season, he is coming off his one-year/$6.5 million contract. He could have left last offseason; maybe he does this offseason, but if he and the Dodgers were willing to work something out last year, even on a truncated basis, nothing indicates it couldn’t happen again.
If the stars align, Skubal is priority one, but otherwise, you try to bring back both Vesia and Phillips back into the fold. If pressed, I would say Vesia is the top reasonable re-sign target, then Phillips.
The 2026 Arbitration Class
The Dodgers have six players eligible for arbitration.
- Brock Stewart
- Jake Cousins (probably non-tendered)
- Alex Call (likely non-tendered)
- Emmet Sheehan
- Gavin Stone
- Andy Pages
Same definitions as above, but with a slightly different format.
Andy Pages: He deserves his own essay as to why he should get a contract extension.
Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone: Sheehan is coming back and is probably on the cusp of getting an extension at some point, especially if Skubal does not return. Stone hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2024; I can’t see the Dodgers cutting ties with cost-controlled pitching that still has options remaining.
Brock Stewart: While Brock Stewart actually logged some innings in 2026, he was fine. If you factor in Treinen’s likely retirement and the fact that MLB Trade Rumors projects Stewart to make $1.8 million in 2027, under regular circumstances, I cannot fathom the Dodgers failing to offer him a contract.
Jake Cousins: Unless you have a hyperfixation on the 2024 World Series, you would be forgiven for drawing a blank as to who this reliever is. Technically, he was the losing pitcher in Game 1, as everyone remembers Nestor Cortes being nuked off the field after throwing two pitches: one to Ohtani and the other — let’s check the tape:
I’m a tad biased, as it’s no Miggy Ro blast, but it’ll do in a pinch. Cousins signed just before opening day, and spent most of the year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He was reinjured in Oklahoma City while rehabbing, after generally being ineffective in a handful of appearances. If there is a universe where Graterol comes back outside of a non-roster invite, it’s probably dependent on the Dodgers cutting ties with Cousins.
Most likely, the Dodgers can get comparable production with a non-roster invite to Cousins if he wants it, and protecting Adam
Alex Call: At the 2025 Trade Deadline, rumors swirled that the Dodgers were on the cusp of acquiring both Emmanuel Clase and Steven Kwan. Naturally, that move didn’t happen. In part because Clase was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave due to an ongoing pitch-rigging and sports-betting investigation. Clase was ultimately indicted for wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to influence sporting events by bribery. His trial is scheduled to start on November 2, 2026.
If I had a nickel for each time in recent years the Dodgers dodged acquiring a closer that would end up under federal investigation, I would have two nickels (Felipe Vasquez, Pittsburgh, 2019).
The acquisition of Call as an alternative to Kwan was one of necessity in 2025. In two seasons with the Dodgers, Call has played in 126 games with a slash line of .237/.344/.331, 3 HRs, 25 RBIs, posting a combined .5 bWAR. Under regular circumstances, Call is a serviceable fourth outfielder.
With numerous outfield options waiting in the wings, Call’s greatest value is the 40-man roster spot he currently holds, which could likely be better used to protect a Rule 5 candidate like Adam Serwinoski, as described above.
Call was left off the postseason roster, and his only contribution in October was rightfully calling out the salacious advertising running during MLB playoff games. Still, media criticism aside, it is hard to see Call returning to Los Angeles under these circumstances.
Special Consideration
- Teoscar Hernandez
- Landon Knack
While working on this feature, two other names came to mind.
Teoscar Hernandez: This essay’s genesis was formed around a single thought while watching the 2026 Dodgers: “How many singles is Teoscar going to play into triples? Because it’s literally happened in two postseasons in a row.”
It’s not that Teoscar hasn’t produced over the past few years, because he has. Teoscar is set to earn $14.5 million in the final year of his contract, with a club option for 2028 that is unlikely to be exercised. Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors summarizes the question nicely:
Since Opening Day 2025, Hernandez has hit .256/.308/.441 with 41 homers over 1037 PA, translating to a 105 wRC+. The 2026 campaign saw Hernandez increase his batting average and walk rate from 2025 (though his 8.6BB% was still below league average), but his power diminished.
Digging further into Hernandez’s 2026 production, he was hitting pretty well before a hamstring strain sidelined him from the end of May to the end of June. Upon returning from the injured list, Hernandez went into a protracted slump for the next two months before re-adopting his old batting stance, which seemed to get him back on track. Hernandez posted a 1.015 OPS over his final 104 PA of the regular season before cooling off in the playoffs.
While the Dodgers would surely prefer more than a 110 wRC+ from a player making Hernandez’s salary, that’s still a decent level of production for a player entering his age-34 season. So, why exactly is Hernandez a trade candidate, and perhaps the L.A. regular most likely to be playing elsewhere in 2027?
My biggest fear for the offseason, apart from an idiotic lockout I have seen coming since 2022, is that the Dodgers are just going to keep trotting guys out, because they are their guys. It used to be a more ruthless calculation; just ask Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Austin Barnes, and Chris Taylor, to name a few.
A platoon of Teoscar and Josue De Paula in left field makes no logical sense, especially if you are also somehow taking away at-bats from Ohtani at the DH spot.
Once again, Mr. Polishuk:
…[T]he Dodgers don’t have a ready-made third base replacement for Muncy in the way that [Josue] De Paula or several other top outfield prospects are knocking on the door for big league playing time. This wealth of prospect depth makes it fairly unlikely that Hernandez’s 2028 option will be exercised, so Los Angeles could look to address other needs by trading Hernandez this winter. It’s worth noting that there was some buzz around a Hernandez trade last offseason, though at the time, GM Brandon Gomes and manager Dave Roberts downplayed the seriousness of that speculation.
Now a veteran of 11 MLB seasons, Hernandez’s game is pretty well established. He brings a lot of strikeouts and doesn’t walk much, and he’s a subpar defender in both corner outfield slots despite a good throwing arm. On the plus side, Hernandez is still making plenty of hard contact with solid barrel rates, and it could be that his decreased power this season was an offshoot from his stance change and maybe the lingering impact of his hamstring strain. Playing for a team without a set DH could benefit Hernandez, as he could get some more partial rest days as the designated hitter.
[Emphasis added.]
The article also cites several potential trade partners, including the Mariners, Reds, Royals, and Orioles, just to name a few.
Honestly, it might be time for all parties involved to make a clean break. While there was some scuttlebutt that Teoscar would be traded at the deadline, Dave Roberts and the front office publicly downplayed it.
Would I be surprised if the Dodgers stand pat regarding Teoscar? No, and maybe that observation is the problem.
Landon Knack: Yes, he’s under team control for 2027. However, he is out of options and would need to be designated for assignment to move him to the minors.
Knack has played three seasons in Los Angeles, posting a 7-7 record and a 4.10 ERA over 123 innings in 29 games. Some of his peripheral stats are either terrible, namely his FIP (5.27), or are trending downward (more hits allowed per inning, more home runs allowed per inning, fewer strikeouts per inning).
Knack might need a change of scenery or a trade for a non-40-man prospect before the lockout starts. Even if players like Kyle Hurt and Bobby Miller have been disappointments in recent years, even while being serviceable in different roles, they have an option year remaining. Knack doesn’t,
What happened in 2021 is instructive
The last time baseball was in this situation was 2021, heading into the still-dumb 2022 lockout, that effectively kicked the labor can down the road, and cost Clayton Kershaw his opportunity to throw a perfect game in Minneapolis. It did not affect his failed perfect game attempt in Anaheim a few weeks later that year.
To conclude this exhaustive trip into the roster, I thought it might be instructive to see what the Dodgers did last time in this situation with a slightly less impressive crop of prospects on the horizon.
Per Eric Stephen:
The Dodgers added outfielder James Outman, shortstop Jacob Amaya, infielders Eddys Leobard and Jorbit Vivas, and pitcher Michael Grove to the 40-man roster ahead of Friday afternoon’s deadline to set rosters in preparation for the Rule 5 Draft.
To make room for them on the now full 40-man roster, outfielders Zack Reks and Billy McKinney were designated for assignment.
With all due respect to those listed, this list is infinitely less impressive than the current candidates under consideration. James Outman did have a far too brief moment of success while wearing Dodger blue. And, more importantly, Jacob Amaya led directly to the reunion with Miguel Rojas. No MiggyRo? No title in 2025. Okay, one last time while technically the defending champion…vitamins for everybody!
Sometimes fringe moves matter in ways that only blossom with time. On that note, let the youth movement begin!
