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Alden Gonzalez
los angeles dodgers greeted their fans at the end of the championship parade on November 3, and nearly every player holding a microphone atop a makeshift stage at Dodger Stadium expressed the same goal:
Three-peat.
Only two franchises began in the 1970s, the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees In the late 1990s, they have won three consecutive World Series titles since Major League Baseball introduced divisional play in 1969. And yet the current Dodgers are also bold in their desire to do so.
“It’s not whether it is or not [or] How are we going to do it,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “It’s just that we’ll be extremely motivated and do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to do it again.”
What it looks like is actually a source of intrigue throughout the game.
The Dodgers have spent an astonishing level of money over the past two off-seasons. In the signing and extension, they added five nine-figure contracts to their payroll that, for competitive-balance-tax purposes, is worth approximately $415 million in 2025. Because of this the industry seemed to be bending to his will. Now the Dodgers serve as a boogeyman of sorts. Agents connect them to their clients in an effort to raise prices, with rival executives worried that they will pounce on the business targets they have their eye on.
However, the Dodgers continue to fight an internal battle, which was voiced by general manager Brandon Gomes at the general managers’ meeting in Las Vegas last week.
“How do you win this year,” he asked rhetorically, “without falling off that cliff?”
Friedman, Gomes and the rest of the Dodgers’ decision-makers are constantly trying to balance winning now and winning later, an inexact science that periodically throws them off track. Over the past two winters, the Dodgers leaned heavily into the present. Now he hopes to find more balance, several sources familiar with his thinking said, though to what extent remains to be seen.
On one hand, the Dodgers are aware of how deep they are running back and how old their roster has become. On the other hand, they’re wondering how a third straight title could cement that legacy, considering that Friedman is determined to maximize the “golden age” of this franchise.
“I think definitely, it’s a dynasty,” Friedman said after watching his team claim its third championship in six years. “But for me, in many ways, if you say, ‘Okay, this is it.’ To me, it’s still evolving and growing, and we want to add to it and we want to continue to build on it and do whatever we can to get it to a level where people after us will have a hard time getting to.”
How they do this will depend on how they answer three key questions.
How do they fix their bullpen?
With everything at stake in Game 7 of the World Series, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts deployed six starting pitchers, including his entire postseason rotation (shohei ohtani, tyler glasnow, blake snell And yoshinobu yamamoto) and two young starters who became relievers out of necessity (Emmett Sheehan And Justin Wrobleski,
It says everything about how badly the Dodgers’ bullpen declined in 2025, and yet it is the exact opposite of what the front office firmly believes at this point, according to sources — that the depth of their bullpen will inspire confidence in 2026.
There is some truth in this. If everyone is healthy, seven of the Dodgers’ eight bullpen spots have already been accounted for: tanner scott, blake trainin, alex vesia, evan phillips, brock stewart, Bruiser Graterole And anthony bandaThen there are the eight alternate relievers on the 40-man roster, all of whom are promising in their own right: Edgardo Henriquez, ben casparius, Will Klein, jack dreyer, paul gerves, bobby miller, kyle hurt and Wroblewski, assuming the latter three remain in the bullpen.
That certainly doesn’t mean the Dodgers are set here. Their bullpen is coming off a season in which it posted a 4.27 ERA, which is 21st in the majors. And there are plenty of questions surrounding their returning weapons, whether they’re coming back from injury (Graterol and Phillips), advanced age (Treinen and Stewart), control issues (Henriquez, Clyne, Hurt and Gervase) or harsh memories of a disastrous 2025 (Scott). But if there’s one thing that’s worth removing from all this, it’s this:
The Dodgers will be on a high when it comes to getting bullpen help.
A strong closer, or at least a leverage arm capable of handling the ninth inning of a championship team, will be who they spend the most time on in the coming weeks. And although the trade option remains his ideal route, free agency is filled with exceptional finishers. is the headliner Edwin DiazHowever the idea of a long-term deal and the presence of a qualifying offer may scare the Dodgers. It is more likely that someone devin williamsAccording to sources, they have already expressed interest in it. And the tier below includes several others who, like Williams, could be acquired for the type of short-term deals the Dodgers prefer, including brad keller, pete fairbanks, Emilio Pagan, kyle finnegan, luke weaver, Raisel Iglesias And robert suarez,
How badly do they need another bat?
You know what else the Dodgers didn’t do well last season? Strike. At least for a good part of it. Over a period of 33 games from early July to mid-August, he batted .235 and drove in the sixth fewest runs in the majors. In his last three playoff rounds, he slashed a combined .213/.303/.364. If that sounds a bit harsh, it might be: 33 games represent only 20% of the regular season, and reaching the playoffs has proven to be quite difficult for any team. Keep this group intact, and on paper, it will represent arguably the best lineup in the game.
But last season’s lulls help highlight another important thing about the Dodgers’ offseason: They could stand to add another bat, and chances are they will.
The easiest path is to add an outfielder, and this year’s free agent options are headlined by two of them. kyle tucker And cody bellingerSources have indicated that the Dodgers are not expected to be one of the more aggressive suitors for Tucker, but will remain on the periphery if their market collapses and a short-term, high-dollar deal becomes attractive to their representatives in Excel, According to sources, he has also expressed interest in reuniting with Bellinger, although it remains to be seen if he will be motivated enough to win a potential bidding war with the Yankees,
ESPN’s Kylie McDaniel Projects an 11-year, $418 million contract for Tucker, who will turn 29 in January, and a much more modest six-year, $165 million contract for Bellinger, who will turn 31 in July.
The cost of the Bellinger deal matters more, but his ability to play center field also matters. If the Dodgers can slide they are a far better defensive team andy pages shift right and teoscar hernandez to left. To do this would require an everyday center fielder, and perhaps that would be unreasonable to ask. tommy adman To pick this up in the wake of offseason ankle surgery. Bellinger – a fourth-round pick by the Dodgers in 2013, Rookie of the Year in 2017, MVP in 2019 and champion in 2020, before being non-tendered just two years later – would fit the bill, and perhaps even move to first base after this. freddy freemanThe contract is expiring.
But the Dodgers could also sign someone like that Harrison Baderwhom they targeted in midseason for less money, or, given the lack of free agent outfielders other than him, turned to a trade option. The two players who could be fit are cleveland patron outfielder steven quan And St. Louis Cardinals utility man Brendan DonovanBoth are good at batting and making contact. Some high-ranking members of the organization believe there is a need for more in their lineup, given the scarcity and lack of guys like Page and Hernandez. Addressing this can help limit silences.
Do they need to be young?
mookie bets Recently gathered his teammates for a post-parade podcast, and at one point an 18-inning World Series game came up. Bates argued that the second half was boring. clayton kershaw Jokingly replied that, for everyone’s sake, the crime should have been brought to an end sooner.
“Our team is very old,” Kershaw said. “We were tired in the next two [games],
What Kershaw said without thinking was felt by many who follow the Dodgers inside and outside the organization. Playing the equivalent of two complete games in Game 3 of the World Series left them feeling more exhausted than their opponents, as evidenced by sluggish performances in Games 4 and 5, during which the Dodgers allowed a total of three runs and suffered back-to-back losses.
The average age of the Dodgers’ position players last season was 30.7, making them the oldest group in the majors (a little further down). philadelphia phillies at 30.3). Seven of their starting position players are now entering the season age 31 or older, and all but one of them — max munseyWhose 2026 option was picked up earlier this month – is signed for multiple years.
Friedman’s long-term quest to balance the present with the future faces a difficult test with this current construction. Freeman, Bates, Ohtani and Will Smith The cornerstone players will remain for years, but the Dodgers will spend some time this offseason thinking about how they can incorporate more youth around them.
They could do this in a more traditional way, by gradually converting some of their upper-tier prospects into everyday players (infielders). alex freelandoutfielder Ryan Ward and catcher dalton rushingJoe will return as Smith’s backup but may see time at first base and left field in 2026). Or they can take impactful steps through business.
The Dodgers currently have a plethora of highly regarded outfield prospects, such as Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Zaire Hope and Mike Sirota. The Dodgers’ preference is to move out of that group to address needs via trade, according to sources. And although they can use them as closers if they want, they can also add young, controllable position players, ideally at second base, shortstop or center field. And if they need to dip into their starting pitching, Ryan River And gavin stone Is returning from injury and has no place in the six-man rotation given the presence of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Sheehan and. roki sasaki,
However, Ryan and Stone have options. The Dodgers, setting a franchise record by deploying 40 pitchers in back-to-back seasons, could simply stash them in the minors and wait until they are essentially needed.
Once again, they can do everything and nothing.
