One of the most pressing needs the Dodgers have this offseason is the outfield. Their outfielders were firmly in the middle of the pack, offensively, and were better on paper, defensively, than they actually were when watching.
I made a case for Cody Bellinger‘s return in my offseason plan and I laid out the reasons why I’m not big on Kyle Tucker in another post. After Bellinger and Tucker, and with Trent Grisham accepting the qualifying offer from the Yankees, the free-agent outfielder market is, to put it nicely, lacking.
The fact remains, the Dodgers need more production from their outfield in 2026. Teoscar Hernandez had a down season compared to 2024 and Andy Pages — while a bright spot — almost completely disappeared at the plate in the postseason. Alex Call isn’t a full-timer and Tommy Edman might be needed more at second base than center field, as it stands right now.
Ideally, the Dodgers would acquire a guy capable of handling center field, which would shift Pages to right field and Hernandez to left. Hernandez didn’t really hit enough to overcome a +1 DRS (which seems generous!) and a -9 outs above average (seem accurate). Pages’ arm plays anywhere and the fact that he’s decent in center field should, in theory, translate to him being above-average right. Putting Hernandez back in left field — in effect, hiding him — would be the best thing for all involved. Having said all that, there will be some left fielders listed below because other teams aren’t exactly jumping at the bit to trade controllable center- and right fielders.
So, let’s take a look at some potential options on the free-agent and trade market.
Free Agents
CF/LF Harrison Bader, Phillies
The best of the free agents remaining, Bader, 31, is coming off a career-year split between the Twins and Phillies. He hit .277/.347/.449 with a 122 wRC+. He did benefit from a .359 BABIP, but it was still easily his best offensive season in four years. He also played a more-than-competent outfield, posting a 13 DRS and 6 OAA split mostly between left- and center fields. His arm doesn’t really play in right field. His Statcast profile is kinda blue, which isn’t great and also doesn’t bode well for him repeating his offensive success in 2026 and beyond.
RF Adolis Garcia, Rangers
Garcia, a postseason hero for the Rangers, was non-tendered after struggling mightily over the last two seasons — .225/.278/.397, 89 wRC+, 6.2 BB%, 26.4 K%. He has always been a free-swinger, even in his career-best 2023 season. The difference there is he hit 39 home runs and had a .328 OBP. Hernandez’s first season with the Dodgers saw him hit 33 home runs with a .339 OBP. Garcia is basically a worse version of Hernandez, offensively. However, he’d be a massive upgrade over Teo defensively. Garcia had 16 DRS in right field and has 92nd percentile arm strength. His 2024 defensive numbers weren’t great, but I’m going to chalk it up to not trusting single-season defensive metrics, especially since he’s always been a solid defender. With the Dodgers needing more offense than defense in the outfield, they can probably do better than Garcia (who turns 33 years old in March).
LF/RF Max Kepler, Phillies
Kepler, somehow 32 years old, is coming off a down season in Philadelphia that saw him hit .216/.300/.391 with a 90 wRC+. Just two years prior, he had a 122 wRC+ and hit 24 homers for the Twins before a poor 2024 led to the Twins not re-signing him and him ending up in Philly. In 2023, he was a Statcast darling, with a lot of red on his ledger. Even in a down 2025, he had a 90.8 MPH average exit velocity (66th percentile), an 11.6 Barrel% (73rd) and 29.1 Squared-Up% (80th). There’s still some positive signs. Then again, this could just be Michael Conforto, v 2.0, which went poorly.
LF/RF Ryan O’Hearn, Padres
O’Hearn, 32, enjoyed the best season of his career split between the Orioles and Padres. He hit .281/.366/.437 with a 127 wRC+. He fits because he’s left handed and can play outfield. However, he’s not a great defender in either corner and has about 535 more innings in right field (634) than left (99) in his career. Of course, he’s really a first baseman playing the corner outfield, as he has 2,886 1/3 innings at first base. He’d be like fitting an oblong piece into a circular hole.
RF Mike Yastrzemski, Royals
Would you guess of these free-agent outfielders, Yastrzemski is the oldest at 35? Me neither. After struggling with the Giants before the trade deadline, he was dealt to the Royals where he had a bit of a resurgence. He hit .237/.339/.500 with a 127 wRC+ with Kansas City en route to an overall line of .233/.333/.403 with a 106 wRC+. He put up similar Statcast numbers to Kepler — 90.6 MPH EV, 29 Squared-Up% — while being among the best in chase rate, whiff rate and walk rate. He, like everyone not named Bader on the free agent list, would be paired with Call.
Trades
RF Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox
Abreu, 26, is coming off another solid season with the bat that saw him hit .247/.317/.469 with a 110 wRC+. He dealt with some injury issues, which limited him to just 417 plate appearances. Well, that and his struggles against southpaws (85 wRC+). He has power, as he has posted an ISO better than .200 the last two seasons and he walks a decent amount while striking out in the mid-20% range. He was bitten a bit by the BABIP bug (.277), but he hits the ball hard and swings hard. Also, he’s one of the best defensive right fielders in the game and is under team control through the 2029 season. The asking price will be substantial.
CF Byron Buxton, Twins
Buxton, 32 next month, is coming off the best season of his injury-riddled career. He hit .264/.327/.551 with a 136 wRC+. He also established a career-high in plate appearances with 542. It’s only the second time in his career he has topped 500 PAs (2017). Health has always been the biggest hurdle for Buxton, who is one of the most talented center fielders in the game. He’d be a really good fit for the Dodgers, as his Statcast batting metrics are bathed in red. And his contract is insanely affordable for a player of his skill set. The biggest thing to note with Buxton is his full no-trade clause. He can veto any trade and has publicly stated he wants to remain a Twin. However, that was before their trade deadline sell-off last season and ownership’s desire to trim payroll, which could result in them trading Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan. If that comes to pass, perhaps Buxton changes his mind about being traded.
LF Brendan Donovan, Cardinals
Donovan, you may be saying to yourself, is more known for being an infielder. And you’d be correct. The 28-year-old is coming off another solid season for the Cardinals that saw him spend 100 of his 118 games played at second base. The Dodgers, reportedly, had interest in him at the trade deadline — the second year in a row they’ve been after a Cardinals’ utility player — but nothing came to fruition. He hit .287/.353/.422 with a 119 wRC+. He walks a decent amount (9.1 BB%) while limiting strikeouts (13.5 K%) and has the slightest bit of pop in his left-handed bat. While he doesn’t have the best average exit velo, he’s in the 94th and 96th percentile when it comes to launch angle sweet spot and squaring the ball up. As far as his left field prowess, he has 1,245 2/3 innings in his career out there with a 0 DRS and -2 OAA. Perfectly pedestrian. His bat is fine but not that of a prototypical left fielder. He’s under control through 2027, so the acquisition cost might be a bit prohibitive unless you’re actually using him in a utility role. And that’s not to say he wouldn’t see some time in the infield, but he’d probably make most of his appearances in left field for the Dodgers.
CF Brenton Doyle, Rockies
After enjoying a bit of a breakout 2024 season, Doyle, 27, regressed (offensively) in 2025. He hit just .233/.274/.376 with an ugly 65 wRC+ (wRC+ is always lower for Rockies’ players because of Coors Field, but still). The only Statcast metric that was even remotely good was his 10.8 Barrell% — 65th percentile. Everything else was no higher than 58th percent and most were sub-50th percentile. He did achieve his career-best in max exit velo in 2025 (111.3 MPH), but he saw his ground ball rate increase 5 percentage points while his Pull AIR% dropped by 2.6%. Perhaps a swing adjustment could be in order to unlock his fully power, because topping the ball 35.2% of the time isn’t going to do him much good, despite his elite speed. What should most interest the Dodgers is Doyle’s center field defense. He’s among the best in the sport, even if he took a slight step back last season. But he can chase it down and has an elite-level throwing arm. He would surely make the Dodgers move Pages to right field and Hernandez to left, thus improving the defense even further. And miss me with the intra-division trade stuff. If a team comes calling for a non-Hunter Goodman player, the Rockies shouldn’t care where said player would be going. They need talent, period.
LF Jarren Duran, Red Sox
Duran, 29, followed up a solid 2023 with a 2024 breakout campaign that saw him hit .285/.342/.492 with a 131 wRC+. Expectations were high, but Durran suffered from a little regression — .256/.332/.442 with a 111 wRC+. Despite that, he still posted an average exit velo (91.8 MPH) that was in the 87th percentile has some pop. Defensively, he’s a strong defender in left field and was really good in center field in 2024. The biggest knock on him is he struggles a lot against left-handed pitching, which would be good news for Call. It’d probably be more of a platoon situation, but the acquisition cost for him would be closer to that of a starter with two years of team control remaining. I’m betting the Dodgers pass on the asking price.
LF Ian Happ, Cubs
Happ, 31, has been a fixture in left field for the Cubs for nearly a decade. He has a career .247/.343/.447 batting line with a 116 wRC+. He had exactly a 116 wRC+ in 2025, despite some of his Statcast metrics taking a slight step back. He draws walks (career 12.1 BB%), which comes with a bit of swing-and-miss (career 26.4 K%) and some power (.200 career ISO). Defensively, the metrics are split. If you go by DRS, he’s among the best left fielders in the game (37 DRS in his career). If you go by OAA, he’s slightly below-average (-6 OAA in his career). For what it’s worth, he has won a Gold Glove the last four years in left field and would be interesting addition as the Dodger roster doesn’t have a ton of switch-hitters. Unlike Edman, Happ has been better against right-handed pitchers than lefties. With the unknown offseason in Chicago, he could be had on the cheap if the Cubs are (for whatever reason) are looking to cut payroll.
LF Steven Kwan, Guardians
Kwan, 28, was hotly rumored to the Dodgers at the trade deadline. He’s not a traditional, thumping left fielder, as evidenced by his career .281/.351/.390 batting line. What he would do, though, is give the Dodgers’ lineup a different look and make it that much longer and peskier. Remember all the bat-to-ball guys the Blue Jays had in the World Series? Yeah, Kwan is like that. He doesn’t have the power to make pitchers pay for mistakes consistently, but he can draw a walk, doesn’t strike out and — like Donovan — has 90th-plus percentile LA Sweet-Spot% (93rd) and Sqaured-Up% (99th). Hitting him eighth- or ninth in this lineup would be almost unfair. Oh, and he’s the best defensive left fielder in baseball by a good margin — 22 DRS and 5 OAA, both of which led MLB. He wouldn’t do anything for Pages or Hernandez moving positions, but LF would be locked down for at least two years. The Guardians’ asking price is sure to by high, as Kwan is under team control for two more seasons.
RF/LF Lars Nootbaar, Cardinals
Nootbaar, 28, is coming off a subpar season after posting a wRC+ of no worse than 114 for the previous three seasons. Injuries played a part, as he he surgery to correct issues in both his heels. It’s an ailment that has bothered him for the better part of three seasons. The Southern California native has an interesting profile that would seem to fit what the Dodgers are looking for in an outfielder. He walks (career 12.8 BB%), limits strikeouts (20.2 K%), has some pop (.164 ISO) and plays a good right field. He has experience at all three outfield positions, but is much better in right (and the arm plays there, too). His speed and defensive prowess have taken a hit as his heels limited his effectiveness, but he’s athletic enough to potentially re-establish himself as a premium fielder. It’s also sure to help his offensive game get back on track. He has good exit velo numbers, doesn’t chase and would help extend the Dodger lineup even further. The Cardinals probably aren’t jumping to trade a guy with two years of team control left, but he could be had for the right price. He’s a sneaky good option for the Dodgers, provided his heels are OK.
CF Luis Robert Jr., White Sox
Robert Jr., 28, was a hot name leading up to the trade deadline. A hamstring injury (#TrueDodger) cost him the final six weeks of an uneven season for him. He’s oozing with talent and potential, but aside from 2023, he hasn’t fully put it together for a full season. He had 431 plate appearances in 2025, which was the second-mot in his career. He’s coming off back-to-back 84 wRC+ seasons that saw him post sub-.300 and sub.-400 OBP and SLG seasons. For a player of his talent, that’s almost unbelievable. A change of scenery could be in order, but that might not do anything for the injury-proneness of Robert Jr. When healthy, though, he’s dynamic with the bat and one of the best center fielders in the game. He’s also a strong base-stealer (80.9% success rate). I’m not sure Robert Jr. is the right guy for LA, but the talent is undeniable.
Honorable mentions: Evan Carter, Riley Greene, Garrett Mitchell, Kyle Stowers
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It’s a substantial list of candidates, even if most of them would have to come in via trade. Here’s how I’d rank them in terms of fit, acquisition cost and acquisition likelihood:
Kwan
Nootbaar
Donovan
Bader
Buxton
Doyle
Happ
Abreu
Yastrzemski
Duran
Kepler
Garcia
Robert
O’Hearn
It’s a long list. Kwan probably makes the most sense, while I have a soft spot for Nootbaar. Donovan is a lesser version of Kwan, while Bader would be an interesting guy to plug into center field. Buxton could go to the next level in LA (if he could stay healthy), while Doyle would be a longer-term play. Same goes for Abreu and Duran, though, I’m not terribly high on either. Yastrzemski is a sneaky interesting option if his numbers with the Royals carry over. After that, everyone outside of Robert would be a short-term stopgap while the Dodgers wait and hope for at least one of their outfield prospects to pan out.
We’ll see what they end up doing, but I’d be shocked if they don’t make a move for an outfielder this winter.
