The baseball winter meetings start on Sunday night in Orlando, in which the entire baseball world convenes, a period that often stokes the hot stove flames.
We are already five weeks into the offseason,
and the Dodgers have made several roster moves after winning the World Series.
Clayton Kershaw retired. Michael Kopech, Michael Conforto, Kirby Yates, and Andrew Heaney are free agents.
Kiké Hernández is also a free agent, and had left elbow surgery in November that will keep him out of the World Baseball Classic in March.
Miguel Rojas re-signed with the Dodgers for one more season, and will transition into the player development department in 2027.
Max Muncy’s 2026 option was exercised, as was Alex Vesia’s.
Tony Gonsolin and Michael Grove were removed from the 40-man roster and are now free agents. Evan Phillips and Nick Frasso are also free agents after they were not tendered contracts for 2026.
Justin Dean was claimed off waivers by the Giants. Ben Rortvedt was claimed off waivers by the Reds.
Ryan Ward and Ronan Kopp were added to the 40-man roster. Robinson Ortiz was also added, but then got traded for minor league pitcher Tyler Gough.
Dodgers needs
Thirty-eight players currently reside on the 40-man roster, including 23 pitchers.
Other additions will be made. Even after adding Rojas, more position players are needed, both for depth and adding at least one more impact hitter.
Teoscar Hernández has two years and $33 million guaranteed remaining on his contract, and was brought up as a trade possibility this week by Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic.
“Hernández’s name is coming up in trade conversations, according to league sources,” Rosenthal wrote Thursday. “The Dodgers view a deal as unlikely, but the idea of it, at least, is not without logic.”
By Wins Above Replacement, nearly the entire 2025 outfield production came from Andy Pages. The Dodgers will likely add an outfielder whether or not they deal Hernández. Tommy Edman coming off right ankle surgery puts into question how much center field he’ll be able to play, at least early in the season. Kiké Hernández might also return.
Among the possible outfielders the Dodgers might add are current Cardinals Lars Nootbaar and (utility player) Brendan Donovan, both of whom were mentioned by Fabian Ardaya at Katie Woo at The Athletic, as were free agents Cody Bellinger and Harrison Bader. Byron Buxton could be an option, with the outfielder’s no-trade clause giving him the power of deciding where he goes if he’s dealt at all. But the Twins this week went out of their way to say they won’t trade Buxton.
On the pitching side, the Dodgers have a solid six starting pitchers in place in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Emmet Sheehan, and Roki Sasaki, with Brandon Gomes confirming at the general manager meetings that Sasaki will be in the rotation after his need-based transition to relief in October. So a more likely addition for the Dodgers would be in relief, but a trade might shift plans, making it possible another starter could be pursued, under the caveat you can never have too much pitching.
The last two weeks or so has seen a run on relievers, with Devin Williams to the Mets, Ryan Helsley to the Orioles, the Braves re-signing Raisel Iglesias and Joel Payamps, Emilio Pagán back to the Reds, and the Mariners trading for Jose Ferrer.
Other relievers the Dodgers have been linked to, even loosely, include Edwin Díaz on the high end to Robert Suarez and Pete Fairbanks, to varying degrees. An Evan Phillips reunion could happen after the right-hander was non-tendered, but considering he’ll miss over half of 2026 after Tommy John surgery this could be a later signing, when he could be simultaneously added to the 60-day injured list.
