Will the Dodgers re-sign Teoscar Hernández? Walker Buehler? The offseason questions begin
For the first time in four years, the Dodgers are once again World Series champions.
That doesn’t mean they enter the offseason without any questions.
Just as soon as the team had descended its rally stage at Dodger Stadium on Friday, following the first Dodgers parade in Los Angeles in 36 years, manager Dave Roberts remarked it might be the last time the group is all together.
“The landscape of the roster is certainly going to change,” Roberts said. “That’s the nature of baseball.”
Much of the Dodgers’ title-winning core will remain intact for next year.
At the plate, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith are all signed to long-term contracts. Tommy Edman, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor are entering their final year under contract, too. Gavin Lux and Andy Pages are under team control as arbitration-eligible players. And the club holds 2025 options on Miguel Rojas ($5 million) and Austin Barnes ($3.5 million), if it wishes to keep those depth pieces.
On the mound, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will once again top a rotation that will also add Ohtani as he resumes two-way duties. Clayton Kershaw has said he will be back (either by picking up his $10 million player option or working out a new deal with the Dodgers) but is scheduled to undergo toe and knee surgeries next week, leaving his status for opening day unclear. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May will both be returning from surgeries that sidelined them for all of 2024. The Dodgers’ other healthy starting pitching options include Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski.
Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan and Kyle Hurt will all start next season recovering from 2024 surgeries.
