We’re now almost two weeks removed from the Texas Rangers’ World Series win, which means that it’s about time for Hot Stove season to really start burning. And just about nowhere will the stove be hotter than in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers are looking to wash away the stain of another early postseason exit — right as the most anticipated free agent in the history of the sport becomes available in their own backyard. Will L.A. be able to land Shohei Ohtani? What other holes need to be plugged, and where might Andrew Friedman look? We’re here to break it all down.
Dodgers offseason preview
Season in review
At first glance, 2023 was yet another ho-hum regular season for the Dodgers, with 100 wins, a +207 run differential and yet another waltz to the NL West title. Under the surface, however, cracks began to form — particularly in the starting rotation, which lost Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin to season-ending injuries and Julio Urias to another suspension related to domestic abuse allegations. Add to that Clayton Kershaw’s balky shoulder and Walker Buehler’s failure to return from Tommy John rehab, and L.A.’s pitching staff was dangerously thin … a weakness that cost them mightily in their NLDS sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pending free agents
Los Angeles will have to navigate a pretty lengthy list here, one made even longer after the team declined a number of options earlier this month. The headliner is Kershaw, although it’s hard to see him pitching in another uniform at this point in his career. After that, other notable names include Urias, Jason Heyward, J.D. Martinez, Lance Lynn, Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly, David Peralta, Amed Rosario, Enrique Hernandez and Daniel Hudson.
Biggest needs
As you might have gathered from the 2023 synopsis above: pitching, pitching and more pitching. Buehler is expected to be healthy for spring training, but he also hasn’t appeared in a game since early 2022 and is coming off of major elbow surgery. Beyond that, there’s no telling when Gonsolin and May might return from their own surgeries, meaning the only healthy big-league starters currently under contract are Ryan Yarbrough — who was mostly a reliever after coming to L.A. at the trade deadline — Ryan Pepiot and promising rookies Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. There’s plenty of potential there, Pepiot and Miller especially, but not much in the way of proven production; and even if Kershaw does inevitably turn for a 17th season with the team, who knows how many bullets are left in his arm.
Beyond that, there are also a couple of offensive questions to answer — namely at DH if Ohtani does land elsewhere. They could also use some help in the middle infield, even with Gavin Lux returning from his torn ACL and Mookie Betts set to play a fair amount of second base yet again. The corner outfield spots could also use a boost, with Heyward and Peralta now free agents. Still, this group ranked second in the Majors in both scoring and OPS this past season, so it’s unlikely they’ll devote huge resources to offensive upgrades.
Needs: starting pitcher, DH, middle infield, corner outfield
Best free-agent fits
Ohtani fits like a glove for all 30 MLB teams, but especially the Dodgers, who have a hole in their rotation long-term and at DH in the short-term with J.D. Martinez potentially moving on (though he could be a nice fallback option if Ohtani signs elsewhere). As far as other position players go, the team reportedly made a run at Tommy Pham at the trade deadline, while a reunion with Joc Pederson could make sense if bringing Heyward back isn’t in the cards. Gio Urshela looms as an option who can play all around the infield as well.
Really, though, this winter will be all about Ohtani and the starting pitching market. Assuming Kershaw does come back, that still leaves at least one, if not more, holes to fill. The Dodgers do have a surprisingly conservative track record with free-agent arms (Trevor Bauer is really the only big fish in Friedman’s time with the team) which would seem to make Blake Snell or Aaron Nola a long shot. Eduardo Rodriguez could be a nice fit, though, given the team’s attempt to acquire him this past August and his presumably more reasonable price tag. L.A. could also try and make a run at star Japanese righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who comes to the States after a dominant run in NPB (1.82 ERA over seven seasons) and whose age (25) should make teams feel a bit better about handing him a long-term deal.
Of course, free agency isn’t the only possible avenue to a rotation upgrade …
Potential trades
The Brewers already seemed likely to shop former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes as the righty enters his walk year, and they’re even more so now that Craig Counsell has jumped ship to the Cubs and Brandon Woodruff might be out for all of 2024 with a shoulder injury. If Burnes is indeed available, the Dodgers absolutely have the goods to get a deal done. But Burnes isn’t the only star pitcher on a small-market team that might want to get out ahead of things a year before free agency: Plenty of reports suggest that the Rays could look to move righty Tyler Glasnow, a Southern California native who’d likely be open to signing a long-term deal.
They could also look to flip one of their many young arms to the pitching-hungry Cardinals for one of several bounce-back candidates in the outfield like Tyler O’Neill or Dylan Carlson, while former Dodger Alex Verdugo looks to be on the trading block in Boston after falling out with manager Alex Cora.
