Dodgers offseason yet to heat up. Will winter

ORLANDO, Fla. — At the start of this offseason, the Dodgers signaled a willingness to be affected person and methodical in building their roster for 2026.

At the start of this week’s MLB winter conferences, at least, the crew arrives in Orlando, Fla., having thus far remained true to kind.

Compared with their whirlwind offseasons the past two winters, the Dodgers have been conspicuously quiet in the wake of their second consecutive World Series championship. Their only free-agent deal has been the re-signing of veteran infielder Miguel Rojas. Their only commerce was a swap of minor-league pitchers with the Seattle Mariners. The greatest news, to this level, was their determination to non-tender reliever Evan Phillips (and they might very properly wind up bringing him back).

Behind the scenes, there have been efforts for more, of course. The crew got here up short in pursuit of free-agent relievers Raisel Iglesias and Devin Williams. They have canvassed the commerce market and laid potential groundwork for doable future strikes.

But for now, precisely what their winter will maintain stays a largely unanswered query.

And, in all probability, it might in the end be dictated by whom they’re prepared to half with as they go about reshaping their roster.

All offseason, the commerce market has appeared just like the Dodgers’ most logical path to upgrading their roster — the place they might most simply shore up their wants in the bullpen and outfield, while still avoiding having to add another long-term contract to their costly and growing older core.

There are targets galore to go after, too, from Brendan Donovan or Lars Nootbaar of the St. Louis Cardinals, to Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu of the Boston Red Sox, to probably even larger names such as Cleveland’s Steven Kwan or Minnesota’s Byron Buxton (though the latter is reportedly unlikely to be dealt this offseason).

Oh, and as long as there stays even a slim probability of two-time Cy Young-winning pitcher Tarik Skubal getting traded by the Detroit Tigers, you’ll be able to wager the Dodgers shall be monitoring that scenario too.

For president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Co., the duty shall be attempting to line up a commerce package deal to pull off any of those strikes.

The Dodgers have a lot of chips to convey to the bargaining desk, with ample younger pitching depth and a minor-league farm system thought of maybe best in the game. But balancing it all while discovering worth is still a problem. Which is why, as commerce rumors fly, don’t be stunned to see a probably wide selection of acquainted names bandied about in such hypothesis.

The crew’s most apparent commerce bait, of course, stays their assortment of younger expertise. They have a crop of extremely touted outfielder prospects they might probably deal from, including Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Eduardo Quintero and a number of others. They have a former top prospect in Dalton Rushing, who struggled through his rookie 12 months but still possesses promising uncooked instruments.

Most of all, they’ve a lot of younger pitchers who might also help fetch a good return, from ascendant minor-league prospect Jackson Ferris, to returning 2024 breakout rookies River Ryan and Gavin Stone, to probably even more established big-league names such as Justin Wrobleski (a natural beginning pitcher who was caught in more of a swingman position in the bullpen last 12 months) and Emmet Sheehan (who is about at the same stage of his profession that former top Dodgers prospect Ryan Pepiot was when he was dealt two winters in the past).

The Dodgers, however, are still prioritizing the future. They need to go for a historic three-peat next season. But they also know, at some level in the approaching years, they’ll need to cycle in a new technology of expertise to preserve their championship window.

Thus, any younger participant traded now will come with a potential future price.

Which might help clarify why, in current weeks, younger gamers haven’t been the only ones caught up in commerce rumors around the crew.

Last month, ESPN cited one nameless MLB government who described Tyler Glasnow as a potential “sleeper name” on this 12 months’s commerce market. Last week, the Athletic reported that Teoscar Hernández’s title has come up in commerce discussions too.

Granted, the chances of either getting dealt seem low. And for now, they determine to stay key cogs in next 12 months’s pursuit of another World Series title.

At the same time, however, they’re also veterans approaching their mid-30s, with important salaries due over the next a number of seasons. And if the Dodgers have been to discover offers to transfer them — either as a method to shore up other spots of the roster, or to offload money for a potential free-agent signing — it’s far from unfeasible that the membership might pull the set off.

After all, for a entrance workplace that is acutely aware of its roster’s advancing age, and attempting to juggle both short- and long-term objectives, such issues replicate the vast internet the Dodgers are believed to be casting this offseason; the type of deliberate, exploratory mode they’ve been in while evaluating potential paths through this winter.

Perhaps this week, the crew’s most critical pursuits will turn into clearer, as they meet with rival golf equipment during the league’s annual winter conferences at the Signia by Hilton right here in Orlando.

But to this level, they’re seemingly retaining their choices open, content to interact in a slower winter tempo as they continue to let both the free-agent and commerce market develop around them.