Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Dodgers
The reigning champions weren’t the busiest team this winter but the moves they made were impactful and addressed their relative weak spots. They go into 2026 looking for the elusive three-peat, something not seen in MLB since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
Major League Signings
- OF Kyle Tucker: Four years, $240MM (includes $64MM signing bonus, $30MM in deferrals)
- RHP Edwin Díaz: Three years, $69MM (contains $13.5MM in deferrals and conditional club option for 2029)
- RHP Evan Phillips: One year, $6.5MM
- IF Miguel Rojas: One year, $5.5MM
- IF/OF Enrique Hernández: One year, $4.5MM
- IF Andy Ibáñez: One year, $1.2MM (later lost on waivers to Athletics)
2026 spending (not including Ibáñez): $90MM
Total spending (not including Ibáñez): $325.5MM
Trades and Claims
- Acquired RHP Tyler Gough from the Mariners for LHP Robinson Ortiz
- Claimed OF Michael Siani off waivers from Braves (later lost on waivers to Yankees)
- Traded OF Esteury Ruiz to Marlins for RHP Adriano Marrero
- Claimed IF Ryan Fitzgerald off waivers from the Twins (later outrighted)
- Claimed OF Michael Siani off waivers from Yankees
- Claimed C Ben Rortvedt off waivers from Reds (later lost on waivers to Mets)
- Traded LHP Anthony Banda to Twins for $500K of international bonus pool space
- Claimed OF Jack Suwinski off waivers from Pirates (later outrighted)
Option Decisions
- Team exercised $10MM club option on 3B Max Muncy (later extended, as seen below)
- Team exercised $3.65MM club option on LHP Alex Vesia
Notable Minor League Signings
- Nick Frasso, Chuckie Robinson, Nick Robertson, Ryder Ryan, Cole Irvin, Seby Zavala, Jordan Weems, Keston Hiura, Santiago Espinal, Yency Almonte, Keynan Middleton
Extensions
- 3B Max Muncy: One year, $10MM (including $3MM buyout of $10MM club option for 2028)
Notable Losses
- Tony Gonsolin (still unsigned), Michael Kopech (still unsigned), Kirby Yates, Michael Conforto, Justin Dean (lost on waivers), Ben Rortvedt (lost on waivers), Esteury Ruiz, Anthony Banda
The Dodgers went into the offseason in a great spot. The roster was strong enough to win the World Series for a second straight year. Their free agent class mostly consisted of relievers and role players, so no major holes were opening up.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman addressed that situation in December, speaking to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. He acknowledged that the club had less “heavy lifting” to do than in previous offseasons.
He pointed to the outfield and bullpen as places they could add but also said they were cognizant of the fact that the roster is getting older, with many of their stars being well into their 30s. They were actually the oldest club in the league in 2025. Going forward, it would make sense to sign fewer long-term deals and incorporate more young prospects. But at the same time, winning with their legendary core is a short-term priority.
Though the Dodgers did emerge victorious in 2025, they were not perfect and were almost eliminated a few times. Manager Dave Roberts seemed to have almost no trust in the relief corps, so he relied more and more on his starting pitchers as the postseason went along.
The outfield was also a bit wobbly. Teoscar Hernández has often out-hit his defensive shortcomings but was around league average offensively in 2025. Andy Pages had a good year but went ice cold in the playoffs. Michael Conforto was enough of a bust to be left off the postseason roster. Tommy Edman was fighting an ankle injury that would eventually require surgery.
On the bullpen pursuit, there were a number of high-profile relievers available in free agency. The Dodgers were connected to guys like Devin Williams, Pete Fairbanks, Raisel Iglesias and Robert Suarez. In the end, they somewhat surprisingly landed the top guy on the market, getting Edwin Díaz via a three-year deal worth $69MM.
Diaz is about to turn 32 and isn’t quite as dominant as he was a few years ago, but he’s still one of the best relievers in the game. He posted a 1.63 earned run average for the Mets in 2025, striking out 38% of batters faced.
Many expected Díaz to stay in Queens, since the Mets also needed to address their bullpen and are one of the few clubs with roughly the same spending power as the Dodgers. It would later come out that the Mets had offered him a three-year, $66MM deal. Considering the modest deferrals in the deal Díaz accepted from the Dodgers, the two offers were pretty close to identical. Some reports said the Mets were willing to go higher but were caught off-guard when he quickly agreed with the Dodgers before they could.
Diaz also reportedly received a five-year offer from Atlanta, though the dollar value of that wasn’t revealed. Presumably, it would have been a lower average annual value than the three-year offers he was getting from the Dodgers and Mets.
Maybe he wanted to break his own AAV record for a reliever, which was $20.4MM on his previous deal. The Dodgers deal, even factoring in the deferrals, is worth about $21.1MM annually. Maybe he just wanted to join baseball’s premier organization. At Edwin’s introductory press conference, he mentioned that his brother Alexis spoke fondly of the Dodgers after spending some brief time with them in 2025, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
Whatever the reasoning, the Dodgers added an elite closer to their already-strong club, just before the holiday break. Later in the winter, they would also bring back Evan Phillips on a much more modest deal worth $6.5MM. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery and won’t be available until the second half, but he could give the Dodgers another bullpen boost for the stretch run and playoffs.
As the calendar flipped to 2026, the outfield market hadn’t moved much. The top two free agents, Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, were both still out there in January. As the holidays ended and teams got back to business in January, the Tucker market quickly picked up steam.
Tucker seemed to have some clear, distinct choices. The Blue Jays were offering a more traditional long-term deal that would essentially cover the remainder of Tucker’s career. They reportedly went as high as $350MM over ten years. That was a pretty close match for MLBTR’s 11-year, $400MM prediction and would have been one of the ten highest guarantees in MLB history.
The Mets and Dodgers were again bidding against each other and offering Tucker a different path. Both clubs were eager to avoid that kind of length and were willing to jack up the short-term spending. Taking this path would mean Tucker secures less overall but could earn a large amount of money in the next few years, with a chance to return to free agency to make more in the long run.
Players like Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and others had taken this approach in free agency before but Tucker was being offered a super-charged version of it. The Mets reportedly went to $220MM over four years, with opt-outs after the second and third years. The Dodgers went slightly higher to $240MM over the same four-year term, also with opt-outs after year two and year three. That got it done.
There are some deferrals in the Tucker deal, but also a huge signing bonus. The sticker price comes with a $60MM average annual value. The deferrals knock the AAV down but only a little, as it is reportedly considered to be about $57.1MM in terms of the competitive balance tax.
For all intents and purposes that was easily a new record. Shohei Ohtani‘s ten-year, $700MM deal has a $70MM AAV on the surface, but the infamous deferrals in that deal knock it down to the $46MM range. With that in mind, Juan Soto was effectively the AAV record holder at $51MM before this Tucker deal.
It was a stunning number and could potentially represent many different things to different people. To some, the offers from the Dodgers and Mets represent the unworkable economic imbalances in the modern game. Both clubs repeatedly go into the top bracket of the CBT, meaning they face a 110% tax rate on new deals. The Dodgers will effectively send out $120MM to have Tucker on their team this year. That’s more than the entire player payroll of many clubs.
This had led to increased desire for drastic changes to baseball’s rules, with many fans and team owners clamoring for a salary cap or extreme alterations to the revenue-sharing rules. The Dodgers had already become public enemy number one in the eyes of many baseball fans by dominating on the field and in the offseason. Every new signing increases the outrage and the Tucker deal certainly cranked it up.
From the MLBPA perspective, this is evidence of why there should not be a cap. If multiple teams value Tucker highly enough that they are willing to pay out $120MM annually, it’s a sign that the league is in a strong financial position on the whole. Even under the current rules, Tucker is only going to get about half of the value he is producing on the field. The other half, the tax money, will go the league. Some of it will end up in a central fund, some will be distributed to smaller clubs like the Guardians and Marlins will no real mechanism to make them spend it. In the eyes of many, that lack of urgency from some teams is a bigger problem than the Dodgers’ willingness to invest in a winning team.
It also might just be a perfect alignment of circumstances. By all accounts, the Dodgers are bringing in all kinds of crazy revenue, as one would expect for a successful club. But the star presence of their Japanese players also means they basically have a money faucet running across the Pacific Ocean. As mentioned, they are trying to avoid a pitfall where they overcommit to their current core and suddenly find themselves with an old and creaky roster. They have used their financial might to add Tucker in the way that they wanted.
From his perspective, Tucker is technically leaving money on the table but he will have a good chance to get it back, and then some. In the ideal situation for him financially, he spends his age-29 and age-30 seasons playing for the best team in baseball. He will bank $120MM and could return to free agency looking for another deal ahead of his age-31 campaign. If he can find $230MM from that point on, he will make up the difference of what the Jays offered. If the next collective bargaining agreement looks to have made positive changes for players, he can benefit from that.
There were a few other things of note in the Dodgers’ offseason. There were some trade rumors surrounding Teoscar Hernández and Tyler Glasnow but it never seemed especially likely that either would move. Max Muncy got another year added to his contract. That slightly contradicts the plan to avoid an aging roster, as Muncy will turn 36 this year, but he’s still plenty productive and it’s just one more guaranteed season. Old friends Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernández were re-signed for bench roles, though Hernández will start the season on the injured list.
The main storyline of the Dodger offseason is straightforward. They were already great in November, with some slight question marks around the bullpen and outfield. They signed the top free agent available for both of those areas. They did so while limiting their long-term commitments, as they wished. They ramped up spending in the short term, with RosterResource projecting them for a $395MM payroll and $405MM CBT number, but they are clearly fine with that.
They go into 2026 as the clear favorites. The Projected Standings at FanGraphs expect 96 wins, putting them eight wins clear of every other club in the majors. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even more bullish, putting the Dodgers at 104, ten clear of any other team. Anything can happen in baseball’s chaotic postseason but the organization is the jewel of the league right now.
It’s also possible that this offseason will have ripple effects that spread out in ways that can’t be foreseen. Many claim that baseball is “broken” and point to the Dodgers as the perpetrator. The Tucker deal alone didn’t do the deed but some feel it may have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Huge swaths of fans are fed up and want change. The collective bargaining agreement is set to expire after this season. A lockout feels assured and many expect it to get nasty. Some even fear lost games, if not the entire 2027 season.
Time will tell on all of that. For the 2026 Dodgers, they could hardly have drawn it up any better.
How would you grade the Dodgers' offseason?
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Dodgers Outright Jack Suwinski
The Dodgers sent Jack Suwinski outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. The team had not previously designated Suwinski for assignment, so this drops their 40-man roster tally to 39.
Los Angeles claimed the lefty-hitting outfielder off waivers from Pittsburgh last month. They assumed his $1.25MM salary and an accompanying $1.375MM luxury tax commitment in the process. It always seemed like a depth move. Suwinski is out of minor league options and didn’t have a great chance to break camp with the two-time defending champions.
The Dodgers pay a few million dollars to get him into the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Suwinski showed promise a few seasons ago but hasn’t performed well over the past two years. He hit 26 homers with a .224/.339/.454 slash line for the Pirates in 2023. He has been well below the Mendoza line with an on-base percentage under .300 in the two years since then.
Since the start of ’24, Suwinski carries a .169/.271/.297 mark across 455 plate appearances. He has gone down on strikes at a 30% clip and only combined for 12 home runs. Suwinski had a much more impressive .283/.389/.565 showing in Triple-A last year. That also came with a concerning number of strikeouts, though, and he needed to go through waivers before a team could assign him back to the minors.
Suwinski will remain in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. The Dodgers have Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker left to right in the outfield. Alex Call has a decent shot to win a bench job as a righty platoon bat, while Ryan Ward and Michael Siani occupy spots at the back of the 40-man roster.
Roberts: “Hard To Imagine” Espinal Not Making Dodgers’ Roster
Veteran infielder Santiago Espinal is in Dodgers camp as a non-roster invitee, but it seems he’s already positioned himself as a favorite to break camp with the club. Manager Dave Roberts said this morning that it’s “hard to imagine [Espinal] not being on the team” (via Jack Harris of the California Post). Plenty can change over the final few weeks of camp, but it’s still notable that Espinal already has caught the attention of his new skipper. Roberts spoke highly of Espinal when players reported to camp, and the veteran infielder has since gone 8-for-14 with a pair of doubles and a stolen base in his first handful of Cactus League plate appearances.
Espinal is a versatile, righty-swinging infielder with considerable experience at both third base (1794 MLB innings) and second base (1621 innings). He’s also logged 343 major league frames at shortstop (most coming back in 2020), chipped in 114 innings in the outfield corners and logged another 16 at first base. It’s the sort of defensive flexibility that the Dodgers tend to prioritize with their bench players.
The 31-year-old Espinal has spent the past two seasons in Cincinnati, struggling at the plate both years. He hit a combined .245/.294/.322 in 719 plate appearances as a Red but provided some solid defensive chops at the hot corner in particular. He’d be more of a second base option with the Dodgers — a potential right-handed complement to lefty-hitting Hyeseong Kim, who’s entering the second season of a three-year contract.
Kim played superlative second base defense last season but was largely shielded from left-handed pitching. He hit well in the 21 left-on-left plate appearances the Dodgers allowed him to take (8-for-21 with a double and a homer), but Kim also fanned at a near-31% clip in 170 plate appearances overall and posted poor batted-ball metrics. Espinal is a career .291/.344/.409 hitter versus left-handed pitching. Back in 2021-22, he slashed a combined .282/.340/.382 in 737 plate appearances for the Blue Jays.
Second base is eventually earmarked for the versatile Tommy Edman, but he’s expected to begin the season on the injured list as he continues recovering from November ankle surgery. Kim’s stellar defense gives him a strong chance to secure regular work at second base in the interim, though veteran Miguel Rojas is on hand as an alternative, as is well-regarded prospect Alex Freeland.
Breaking camp with Espinal on the roster would allow the Dodgers to more easily get Freeland everyday at-bats back in Triple-A. The switch-hitting 24-year-old was L.A.’s third-round pick in 2022 and is a year removed from ranking among baseball’s top-100 prospects at Baseball America and MLB.com. He turned in a nice .263/.384/.451 batting line in Triple-A last season (115 wRC+) but hit .190/.292/.310 with 35 strikeouts in 97 MLB plate appearances.
Gavin Stone Dealing With Shoulder Inflammation
March 3: Roberts told the Dodgers beat this morning that the team “dodged a bullet” with regard to Stone (link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). Imaging revealed inflammation in Stone’s surgically repaired shoulder but no structural damage. He’ll be shut down from throwing for a couple of weeks but for now does not appear to be facing a monthslong absence.
March 2: Dodgers right-hander Gavin Stone is battling shoulder discomfort, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of The California Post and Sonja Chen of MLB.com). Stone is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season.
It’s a concerning setback for a pitcher who missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing surgery on that shoulder. It was a significant operation that involved repair to his labrum, capsule and rotator cuff. Stone underwent the procedure in October ’24 and was immediately ruled out for the following season.
The 27-year-old entered camp without restrictions and tossed a perfect inning with two strikeouts in his Spring Training debut last week. Stone threw a bullpen session between game appearances and came out of that work with the shoulder flareup. There’s no indication anything is amiss structurally. Stone is shut down from throwing for the time being, an understandable precaution given his health history.
Stone was amidst a quality ’24 season before the injury. He had a 3.53 earned run average across 140 1/3 innings. His 20% strikeout rate was a hair below average but he limited walks and hard contact. He looked the part of a mid-rotation arm.
The Dodgers are planning to open the season with a six-man rotation. Stone had a good chance to win a spot had he gotten through camp healthy. Blake Snell is trending toward a season-opening injured list stint of his own after battling postseason arm fatigue.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki should occupy the top four spots. Ohtani isn’t pitching in the World Baseball Classic and could be on a tight pitch count for his first few starts. Emmet Sheehan has been delayed in camp by an illness but should have sufficient time to build up for Opening Day. He’d probably win a rotation spot as well.
That would leave one rotation spot available. River Ryan missed all of 2025 rehabbing Tommy John surgery but is back to health this spring. Lefty Justin Wrobleski could start or work out of the bullpen. Landon Knack remains on the 40-man roster as a depth starter; he has been hit around through his first two Spring Training outings. Veteran southpaw Cole Irvin is in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Right-hander Kyle Hurt does not appear to be in the rotation mix. Roberts told reporters that the Dodgers view the 27-year-old as a reliever who could work multiple innings. Hurt didn’t make an MLB appearance last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July ’24. He has looked sharp early in camp, striking out six of 11 batters faced over his first three appearances. Hurt has fired three innings of one-run ball as he tries to claim an Opening Day bullpen spot.
Dodgers Notes: Snell, Graterol, Miller
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke to reporters, including Jack Harris of the California Post, and provided some updates about the players on the roster and their health or lack thereof. Perhaps most notably, the skipper said left-hander Blake Snell is making a bit of progress in his ramp-up but is probably running out of time to be ready for Opening Day.
The Dodgers won the World Series a few months ago but did so with a lopsided pitching staff. The bullpen was fairly shaky, so they leaned hard on their starters, even using them in relief. Snell tossed five innings in the first game of the World Series, 6 2/3 in the fifth game, then an inning and a third out of the bullpen in the seventh game. In January, Snell admitted that he was exhausted by the end of the series.
He and the club are planning for a deliberate buildup here in camp, focused more on the long term than Opening Day. That’s a luxury the Dodgers can afford since the roster is so strong that they can downplay the importance of regular season games, making sure their players are focused on being healthy in October. With this approach in mind, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the only pitcher on the roster to throw at least 113 innings last year.
There’s no real reason for Snell and the Dodgers to push for him to be ready for Opening Day. The rotation should still be strong even without him in it. Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan should have four spots locked. Roki Sasaki will likely take the fifth. Guys like River Ryan, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, Kyle Hurt, Gavin Stone or Landon Knack could step up to make starts, if needed.
Turning to the bullpen, Roberts also said right-hander Brusdar Graterol is in a “holding pattern” and has not thrown off a mound lately. It was already known that he wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day but it’s notable that he’s still not making much progress.
Graterol was a key piece of the Dodger bullpen from 2020 to 2023, posting a 2.69 earned run average over 173 2/3 innings, but has hardly thrown for the past two years. Shoulder problems and a hamstring strain capped him at seven outings in 2024. Surgery on that shoulder wiped out his 2025 and it seems he’s still not fully over the hump. Similar to the Snell situation, the Dodgers can afford to not rush him and let him get to full health, but it would be encouraging to see some progress.
Roberts also noted that right-hander Bobby Miller has not yet thrown off a mound this spring due to some unspecified arm/shoulder issue. He is hoping to ramp up in the next few weeks but that is presumably contingent on the issue subsiding.
Miller is a wild card on the roster. He seemed to break out in 2023, making his major league debut with a 3.76 ERA in 124 1/3 innings. But he posted an ugly 8.52 ERA in 2024 and then spent most of 2025 on optional assignment with a 5.66 ERA in Triple-A. He was moved from the rotation to the bullpen in July but his results didn’t improve, with a 5.91 ERA after that switch. He struck out 28.6% of batters faced in that relief role but also gave out walks at a big 13.2% clip. He still has a couple of options, so the Dodgers can keep tinkering with him in the minors as long as they continue to deem him worthy of a spot on the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Dodgers Sign Keynan Middleton To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers have signed veteran reliever Keynan Middleton to a minor league contract, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The ACES client will add an experienced bullpen arm to the depth chart for Los Angeles.
Middleton didn’t pitch in the majors in either of the past two seasons and only tossed four minor league frames in 2024. He signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals following a nice 2023 season split between the White Sox and Yankees, but a spring flexor injury eventually required surgery over the summer. That sidelined him for the remainder of 2024 and nearly all of 2025, although Middleton did toss 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks late last season.
Injuries have repeatedly derailed an otherwise promising career trajectory for Middleton. He posted a 3.43 ERA with big strikeout numbers in 76 innings across his first two partial MLB seasons with the Angels in 2017-18 before requiring Tommy John surgery in 2019. He’s since dealt with biceps, ankle, foot and shoulder troubles, all leading to 2024’s flexor surgery.
Now 32 years old, Middleton has pitched in parts of seven major league seasons and compiled a 3.84 earned run average through 194 1/3 innings. He’s fanned an above-average 24.2% of his opponents but also issued walks at a 10.3% clip that’s a couple percentage points worse than average. Middleton averaged 97 mph with his fastball early in his big league career but was down to a 95.5 mph average in his most recent healthy season in 2023.
Even with that slightly diminished velocity, Middleton had no problem missing bats. From 2022-23, he posted an outrageous 17.1% swinging-strike rate, induced chases on 32.5% of pitches off the plate and struck out just over 28% of his opponents.
There’s not a lot of room in what’s currently a crowded Dodgers bullpen scene. Edwin Diaz will close games after signing as a free agent in the offseason. Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia are locked in as veteran setup pieces. Los Angeles has a deep collection of optionable young arms on the 40-man roster to help round the group out, including Will Klein, Justin Wrobleski, Ben Casparius, Edgardo Henriquez, Jack Dreyer, Paul Gervase, Bobby Miller and Ronan Kopp.
Freddie Freeman Hopes To Play Four More Seasons, Retire With Dodgers
Even though Freddie Freeman‘s bat remains as dangerous as ever, it isn’t surprising that the veteran is starting to consider the potential end of his career as he enters his age-36 season, and his 17th season as a Major League player. Freeman isn’t planning to hang up his cleats any time soon, as he told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other reporters that he would like to play four more seasons, and then retire at age 40 while still playing for the Dodgers.
Freeman still has two years remaining on the six-year, $162MM free agent deal he signed with the Dodgers during the 2021-22 offseason. His desire to play through his 40th birthday would therefore require another contract following his current deal, and the future Hall-of-Famer isn’t worried about his status with his local team.
“I love being here. I’m from Southern California,” Freeman said. “I’ve had a great time with fans. You guys treat me great. Everyone’s treating my family good….I’m not worried about another contract, not going to bring it up, not going to talk about it. I got two years left. I’m just an employee. I just do my job, and if they want me back, they want me back. But I think Andrew [president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman] and everyone knows that I love being here.”
Freeman only plays first base and Shohei Ohtani is locked into the Dodgers’ DH spot, so having both positions occupied for four more years might present some roster-building difficulties down the road. Besides that minor issue, it is hard to imagine the Dodgers wouldn’t have interest in continuing their relationship with Freeman if he stays healthy and keeps hitting anywhere close to his current pace.
Since arriving in L.A., Freeman has hit .310./391/.516 with 96 home runs, with a 149 wRC+ that ranks fifth among all players since the start of the 2022 season. He has been an All-Star in all four of his Dodgers seasons, and Freeman has a pair of top-four finishes in NL MVP voting. In the postseason, Freeman’s resume includes the 2024 World Series MVP trophy, and a pair of iconic walkoff homers — his grand slam to end Game 1 of the 2024 Series, and his solo shot to end the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3 of the 2025 Series.
The 2025 championship capped off another successful year for Freeman, who hit .295/.367/.502 with 24 homers over 627 plate appearances. Freeman posted these numbers despite playing on a surgically-repaired ankle that was “never really in a good spot” all year.
This offseason was normal from a health perspective, however, and Freeman is looking forward to an even more productive 2026, from both a hitting and defensive perspective. Freeman’s goal is to play in all 162 games, though he acknowledges that the team will give him some rest days to keep him fresh for the playoffs.
During his 11-plus seasons as the Dodgers’ PBO, Friedman has been proactive in extending and/or re-signing several cornerstone players (i.e. Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, Max Muncy, Will Smith), so a new deal for Freeman certainly seems plausible. This could take the form of an extension next year, or Freeman could even play out his current contract and enter free agency, still with the understanding that a new deal with the Dodgers would still happen once the team accesses other offseason business.
Dodgers Claim Jack Suwinski
3:23PM: Suwinski’s claim has been officially announced by the Dodgers, and Enrique Hernandez was placed on the 60-day injured list in the corresponding roster move. Hernandez underwent surgery in November to repair a torn muscle in his non-throwing arm, and it was already known that the utilityman would be missing at least the first couple of months of the 2026 season.
1:24PM: The Dodgers are claiming outfielder Jack Suwinski off waivers, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Pirates designated Suwinski for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for Marcell Ozuna.
The 27-year-old Suwinski has struggled mightily over the past two years, following a breakout 2023 campaign. The outfielder began last season on the big-league roster, but didn’t make it through April. He ended up tallying 59 games with the Pirates and 56 games at Triple-A. Suwinski mashed in the minors to the tune of a 150 wRC+. He managed just a 55 wRC+ in 178 MLB plate appearances.
With the Pirates adding outfielders Jhostynxon Garcia and Jake Mangum in separate trades this offseason, plus free agent signing Ryan O’Hearn potentially spending time on the grass, Suwinski was a long shot to contribute with the Pirates. The Ozuna addition locked up the DH spot, further limiting the chance for Suwinski to make the club. He’ll head to the Dodgers and look to rebuild his value in a different organization.
As good as Suwinski was in 2023, his swing-and-miss tendencies suggested the production was unsustainable. He hit 26 home runs and chipped in 13 steals in his first full season in the big leagues, but it came with a 32% strikeout rate. That was after a rookie year that saw him swat 19 home runs in 372 plate appearances while striking out at a 30.6% clip. Suwinski has walked at a strong 12.3% rate as a big leaguer, so he’s got the three true outcomes covered. He just hasn’t done enough of the home run part of the equation in recent seasons.
The Dodgers are set in the outfield with Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages, and Kyle Tucker locked into everyday roles. The right-handed Pages has been much better against lefties (.831 OPS) than righties (.722 OPS) in his career, so perhaps there’s a platoon opportunity there, but his glove is tough to take out of the lineup. Suwinski has put up -16 Defensive Runs Saved in his career as a center fielder, so he’s unlikely to be a fit in that role. Pushing Alex Call for the fourth outfielder gig is his best hope to make the roster.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
NL West Notes: Adam, Matsui, Hentges, Rushing
Padres reliever Jason Adam underwent surgery to fix a ruptured left quad last September, and as of November, Adam wasn’t sure if he’d be fully recovered in time for Opening Day. However, the early days of Spring Training have been promising for the right-hander. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Adam pitched a live batting practice for the first time today, and Adam is making slow but steady progress in fielding drills.
“Pitching-wise, we’re…beyond on pace. It’s just a matter of being cleared” by San Diego’s medical staff, Adam said. In terms of Opening Day readiness, Adam said the team’s trainers “haven’t told me ‘no’ yet.”
One of baseball’s top relievers over the last four seasons, Adam has a 1.66 ERA over 92 innings since the Padres acquired the righty from the Rays at the 2024 trade deadline. While the Padres still have an elite bullpen even without Adam, getting the All-Star back and healthy as early as possible in 2026 will be a huge boost to San Diego’s chances of both returning to the postseason and making a deeper run into October.
More from around the NL West…
- While things are looking positive for Adam, fellow Padres reliever Yuki Matsui is day-to-day with groin tightness after his injury cut short a live BP session on Thursday. Manager Craig Stammen told Acee and other reporters that the groin issue doesn’t appear to be serious enough to impact Matsui’s readiness for Opening Day, but it may well prevent the reliever from playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. Since signing a five-year, $28MM deal with the Padres in the 2023-24 offseason, Matsui has a solid but unspectacular 3.86 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, and 11.3% walk rate across 126 relief innings.
- Sam Hentges has thrown multiple 40-pitch bullpen sessions in the Giants‘ camp thus far, but he tells MLB.com’s Maria Guardado that he doesn’t have a set throwing progression in place, and it isn’t clear if he’ll be part of San Francisco’s Opening Day roster. The Giants signed the left-hander to a one-year, $1.4MM contract in December, even though Hentges hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 2024 (or in the minors since August 2024). A shoulder surgery was responsible for most of that layoff, but Hentges also underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this past September, which delayed his offseason prep and the final stages of his shoulder rehab. Hentges acknowledged that his long absence played a role in the Giants’ decision to take it slowly with his spring work, though he is hoping to pitch in some games before Spring Training is over.
- Dalton Rushing‘s short-lived turn as an outfielder could be over, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Katie Woo and other reporters that Rushing will be used this season as a backup catcher and occasional first baseman. Rushing played in 31 minor-league games as an outfielder in 2024, but was on the grass just twice with Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2025, and he didn’t see any outfield work after making his MLB debut with Los Angeles. The former top prospect’s positional future has been a question mark ever since L.A. signed Will Smith to a ten-year extension in March 2024, locking Smith up as the Dodgers’ catcher for the foreseeable future. Between Smith’s extension, Shohei Ohtani set as the DH, and Freddie Freeman at first base, Rushing could be limited to part-time duty perhaps for the next two seasons, until Freeman’s contract is up following the 2027 campaign. While there has been plenty of speculation that the Dodgers could swing a trade, the team seems to still have designs on Rushing (who turns 25 tomorrow) as a key piece of their roster.
Poll: Which Team Had The Best Offseason?
The offseason has more or less come to a close at this point. While a handful of players remain available in free agency and there’s always a chance of a surprise trade or two throughout Spring Training, the vast majority of the heavy lifting has been done. As Spring Training begins, it’s worth checking in on what teams around the league did this winter to see which club had the strongest offseason. A look at a few of the candidates:
Baltimore Orioles
After a disastrous 2025 season that saw the club fall to the basement of the American League, the Orioles have been very busy in their efforts to turn things around. A rotation that struggled to stay above water last year saw the return of Zach Eflin as well as the additions of both Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt. Those additions may not have included the front-of-the-rotation ace the Orioles were widely expected to pursue, but the club was aggressive elsewhere on the roster. Ryan Helsley was brought in to close while Felix Bautista is injured, and the club swung a deal for Taylor Ward to help round out their outfield. By far the biggest addition of the winter, however, was slugger Pete Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155MM contract. Alonso adds a legitimate 40-homer threat to the middle of a lineup that struggled to generate much offense outside of Gunnar Henderson last year and was heavily slanted toward lefty hitters.
Chicago Cubs
It’s rare that a team would be in this conversation after losing the offseason’s top-ranked free agent, but there’s a lot to like about the 2026 Cubs even after bidding farewell to Kyle Tucker. Alex Bregman, signed to a five-year, $175MM deal, can’t be expected to be the same offensive force as peak-level Tucker, but he makes up for that by helping to complete what’s arguably become the best defensive infield in baseball alongside Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, and Michael Busch. The move pushes Matt Shaw into a utility role, where he can serve as protection against injury for the club while also potentially sharing time with fellow youngster Moises Ballesteros at DH. The addition of Bregman was complemented by the decision to swing a trade for high-upside righty Edward Cabrera in the rotation. That likely pushes swingman Colin Rea back into a bullpen that’s been rebuilt with Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, and Hoby Milner after losing Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, and Drew Pomeranz back in November.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers’ offseason hasn’t been an exceptionally busy one, but the few moves they wound up making could prove to be the most impactful of any team this winter. They kicked off their offseason by poaching star closer Edwin Diaz away from the Mets, but their biggest splash was the addition of Tucker to their outfield. Diaz and Tucker are both All-Stars with among the highest ceilings in the game at their respective positions. Adding both to an already star-studded roster, the Dodgers managed to address the 2025 team’s biggest weaknesses: a lackluster outfield and a leaky bullpen. They also extended Max Muncy on an affordable one-year deal and reunited with Kiké Hernandez and Evan Phillips. After back-to-back World Series championships, the Dodgers look even better headed into 2026 despite their relatively low volume of transactions.
New York Mets
While the Dodgers mostly kept their 2025 team intact for 2026 with just a few additions, the Mets went in the opposite direction with a complete roster overhaul. Out went Alonso, Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil. Replacing them is a host of talent ranging from new staff ace Freddy Peralta to relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver on the pitching side, and a cluster of position players headlined by star infielder Bo Bichette. In addition to Bichette, who’ll move to third base alongside shortstop Francisco Lindor, the team brought in Marcus Semien to handle the keystone, Jorge Polanco to cover first base, and Luis Robert Jr. to work in center field. It’s a busy offseason that completely changed the look of the team that failed to make the playoffs last year, though it remains to be seen if this team will better support Lindor and Juan Soto in their pursuit of a World Series championship.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays finished just shy of a World Series championship last year, and this winter they acted like a team that wanted to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to close the gap. A new-look rotation added Dylan Cease at the front and Cody Ponce at the back. A lineup that lost Bichette in free agency looked to make up for it by bringing in Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez. Meanwhile, the team’s shaky bullpen upgraded from hard-throwing righty Seranthony Dominguez by bringing in ever-reliable soft-tosser Tyler Rogers. Missing out on both Bichette and Tucker takes some of the punch out of Toronto’s offseason, but adding Cease to a rotation that already includes Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage should make the Jays significantly more threatening than they already were last year.
Other Options
Plenty of teams had offseasons worthy of praise aside from the five listed above. The Tigers managed to snag arguably the top pitcher available in lefty Framber Valdez on a short-term deal while also reuniting with future Hall of Famer and Detroit legend Justin Verlander, though failing to upgrade the lineup is surely disappointing for fans hoping to see the team make the most of Tarik Skubal‘s likely last year in town.
The Red Sox were very busy this winter as they brought in Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Willson Contreras, and Caleb Durbin via the trade market while signing Ranger Suarez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in free agency, but the team’s failure to reunite with Bregman casts a shadow over their busy winter.
The Astros got the rotation depth they coveted, signing NPB star Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal with multiple opt-outs and acquiring righty Mike Burrows in a three-team trade that sent outfielder Jacob Melton to the Rays. They’re still too right-handed and have a glut of infielders that could still lead to one more big spring trade.
The Pirates were very active by their usual standards, overhauling the lineup to bring in Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna, and Brandon Lowe among others. The Rangers came into the winter without much room to add but managed to come away with a solid bat (Nimmo) for the lineup and a big arm (MacKenzie Gore) for the rotation nonetheless. The Mariners kept Josh Naylor and added Brendan Donovan to the infield. The A’s added only complementary pieces (McNeil, Aaron Civale) in terms of external additions but deserve praise for their franchise-altering extensions of Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson.
On the flipside, the rebuilding Cardinals managed to shed significant portions of the Contreras, Gray and Nolan Arenado contracts and pulled in a nice return from the Mariners (and Rays) in the three-team Donovan trade.
What team do MLBTR’s readers think had the best offseason this winter? Have your say in the poll below: