Dodgers Opinion: Biggest Questions this Offseason for the Dodgers

LOS ANGELES, CA—The Los Angeles Dodgers are World Champions of Baseball yet again entering the 2026 offseason, but if they truly plan to compete, they’ll have their work cut out for them with the roster.

While most of the core group will be returning for the upcoming 2026 regular season, there are a few question marks surrounding the team heading into the offseason.

What’s the Plan for Dalton Rushing?

Early on in the regular season, the Dodgers made the shocking decision to finally move on from long-time veteran backstop Austin Barnes and promote the organization’s top prospect, catcher Dalton Rushing.

Rushing’s rise through the Dodgers pipeline was no fluke, as the former Louisville standout was set to transition to a new role that was foreign to him: a backup to the Dodgers’ primary catcher, Will Smith.

Rushing hit well in Triple-A this season, slashing .314/.436/.517 with a .953 OPS in 35 games this season, but upon a promotion to the Major League team, those numbers declined.

In Rushing’s first season, the 24-year-old backstop hit just .204 with a below league average 62 wRC+. While he was on the Dodgers’ Wild Card and National League Division Series roster, he was ultimately left off the rest of the postseason in favor of Ben Rortvedt.

Rushing’s rookie season can be chalked up to being thrown into a role he was unfamiliar with, unable to get the amount of playing time to find any rhythm, but that’s where things get interesting.

With Will Smith locked up long-term, there is no true spot for Rushing to get runway for a starting role, and with the Dodgers discovering Ben Rortvedt at the end of the season and the way he handled the backup role and the Dodgers’ pitching staff, would it be crazy if the Dodgers put Rushing on the trade block?

Rushing would still generate not only massive amounts of interest but would also fetch a decent player in a trade, and with the Dodgers expected to look for a replacement in left field, we could see Rushing used as leverage.

However, the Dodgers keeping Rortvedt on the team would be a gamble, as the 28-year-old backstop has hit just .190/.279/.270 with a 62 wRC+ in his career.

Rortvedt is out of minor league options, which adds another wrinkle to the backup catcher dilemma.

Does Teoscar Hernández Stay in Right Field?

One aspect of the 2025 Dodgers that drove fans to the edge was the adventure that was Teoscar Hernández in right field.

Hernández would be the first to tell you that he had a down offensive season compared to his first year in Dodger Blue.

Overall, the 33-year-old outfielder hit .247/.284/.454 with a 102 wRC+ while also slugging 25 home runs in 134 games this season, still after getting a multi-year deal from the Dodgers over the winter, more was to be expected.

However, where Hernández really fell off was defensively.

During the 2024 season, the Dodgers did their best to hide Hernández in left field, and it worked with him posting a respectable .981 fielding percentage there in 871.2 innings; however, with Mookie Betts now moving to shortstop full-time, the Dodgers needed a new right fielder, and that’s where Hernández would play all of 2025.

Hernández was one of the worst defensive outfielders in baseball this past season, ranking in just the third percentile in OAA and sixth percentile fielding run value. At the same time, he posted a .992 fielding percentage this season, but many mistakes were hidden in what the numbers can’t show, such as bad routes and misreads.

Those mistakes were on full display in October and in front of a national audience after the right fielder had multiple defensive errors and missed playing in almost every round of the postseason.

However, right now, the Dodgers don’t have a clear option to replace him there.

Logically, young outfielder Andy Pages would slide over from center to right, but with Tommy Edman’s ankle still an issue, the team would be without a clear replacement there also.

The Dodgers did their best to put up some production in left field with the signing of Michael Conforto to a one-year $17 million deal last offseason, but we know how that worked out.

The Dodgers figure to be aggressive for a corner outfielder this winter and have already been linked to top free agent Kyle Tucker, but it’s safe to say Hernández won’t be the team’s everyday right fielder in 2026.

How Much is the Team Willing to Spend this Offseason?

After getting swept out of the 2023 postseason at the hands of another National League West opponent, the Dodgers went into the 2024 offseason on a mission to make sure that would not happen again.

That winter, the Dodgers spent over $1.2 billion bringing in two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to a massive 10-year, $700 million contract.

They signed top free agent starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a $325 million deal. The team continued to add on by trading and extending right-hander Tyler Glasnow, Teoscar Hernández, and extending catcher Will Smith with a 10-year deal.

Those moves paid off, and the Dodgers won the World Series, their first in a full season since 1988, beating the New York Yankees in five games.

Despite winning their 8th title, the Dodgers went scorched-earth again the following offseason.

The team signed left-hander Blake Snell to a massive multi-year deal. They fortified the bullpen with veteran arms Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and re-signed Blake Treinen.

A one-year deal wasn’t enough for Teoscar Hernández, as they rewarded him with a multi-year contract and won the bidding on right-handed international free agent Roki Sasaki to put the cherry on top of another great offseason.

With six players hitting free agency, dropping around $55 million off the books for the 2026 season, the Dodgers seem to have plenty to spend, despite being projected to be well over the $244 million CBT total in 2026 and taxed 50% on every dollar spent.

Eventually, the spending has to end, right? Well, don’t be so sure it will happen until the 2027 season.

Due to the Dodgers’ success, they’ve made more money than every franchise in the sport and have seen their net worth grow to $6.9 billion at the start of this season.

With holes on the roster, a lockout of some sort staring them in the face next offseason, and multiple teams’ TV deals in flux, expect the Dodgers to once again take advantage of the reluctance to give out money to players and be labeled as the villains yet again.

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