Hello and welcome back to having Dodgers content to write about. We’re less than a month away from getting a constant barrage of news, so it was nice to get a bit of a warmup recently.
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Okay, so I think the big news is that Blake Snell sounds like he might be on that get-ready-for-the-second-half plan again, as he revealed his shoulder was barking all year and he barely got through the World Series.
“Just never felt great, never felt what the normal (is) I’ve felt my whole career,” Snell said during Saturday’s DodgerFest.Some of that, he said, may have been of his own doing.“Last year, I was rushing,” Snell said, cognizant of having just landed the five-year, $182 million deal in free agency that he’d sought. “I wanted to pitch so bad.”Now, Snell said, he wants to take things slow. The 33-year-old said he anticipates having a more deliberate ramp-up period this spring training to ensure that his shoulder is back to full health.
He does say surgery has never been on the table and he’s feeling good, but it definitely sounds like another rotation opening for a while to start the season.
That may explain why they’ve still been in on pitching this off-season, at least in terms of depth.
Additionally, Tommy Edman is out of a walking boot after off-season ankle surgery.
Opening Day is still far from a lock for the Dodgers utilityman, who has been hampered by ankle trouble since he arrived midseason in 2024. He and the Dodgers are hoping a slower progression this spring puts those ankle troubles aside for good. This winter’s procedure, Edman said, included a ligament repair and the removal of some painful bone spurs in the ankle, which had limited not just his baserunning but his ability to bounce back and forth between the infield and the outfield.
“I think it all depends on how the progression goes along,” Edman said. “I’m not putting that as a hard line in the sand. I am doing everything I can to be ready for Opening Day. But if it comes around to that time and my ankle is 90 percent, not quite where I need it to be, I’m going to do my best to be patient with it and get it back to 100 percent and not dealing with it for the rest of the year.”
A similar situation in the sense that he’s not going to rush it back, which likely opens up a spot for their depth guys like Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland to have a tryout of sorts to see who sticks.
In other updates, we got weight reports on River Ryan and Brusdar Graterol, one who added beef and another who subtracted some.
A couple players showed up at Fanfest with noticeably different physiques. Starting pitcher River Ryan, a former top prospect who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, said he added roughly 30 pounds of muscle during his rehab process, bulking up from 195 to 225. “I can throw a lot harder, a lot easier,” he joked. Reliever Brusdar Graterol, on the other hand, slimmed down about 15 pounds this winter after missing all of last year recovering from shoulder surgery. Both are expected to be ready for opening day.
Whatever they feel is best, I suppose. Mass has never necessarily been a negative for a pitcher
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Speaking of pitching depth, the Dodgers added Cole Irvin on a minor-league deal.
The Dodgers and LHP Cole Irvin have agreed to a Minor League deal, sources tell @JustBB_Media
Irvin, 32, spent last season in KBO with the Doosan Bears, where he pitched to a 4.48 ERA in 144 2/3 IP. Over parts of 6 MLB seasons (593 IP), Irvin owns a 4.54 ERA.
— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) February 1, 2026
He has extensive big league experience as a starter, so it’s quality depth on paper. However, after a career of being a command guy, he experienced a loss of command over a small sample to end 2024, then went to the KBO in 2025 and walked 79 in 144.2 innings, more than double his big-league career average. Something to monitor in Spring Training as they evaluate his legitimacy as starting depth.
Right-handed reliever Nick Robertson (27) has signed with the Dodgers on a minor-league deal.
Source: The #Dodgers are signing RHP Nick Robertson to a minor league deal.
Robertson was in the #Astros and #Royals systems in 2025.
He has MLB experience with the Dodgers, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Cardinals. pic.twitter.com/LASbFFpLhx
— Ari Alexander (@AriA1exander) January 16, 2026
In 35.2 career MLB innings over two seasons with four teams, he has a 5.30 ERA and a 4.09 FIP, including 10.1 innings with the Dodgers back in 2023 when he debuted. He did not appear in the majors last year, staying at AAA the whole season.
Yet another pitcher signing is River Ryan’s brother Ryder Ryan on a minor-league deal.
The Dodgers signed RHP Ryder Ryan to a minor league deal, sources tell The Athletic. Brother of Dodgers RHP River Ryan. Will make $800K if he makes the majors.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) January 29, 2026
Ryder is already 30, and has 21.2 innings in the majors between the Mariners and Pirates. Last year, in AAA with the Pirates, he posted a 4.73 ERA over 72.1 innings with unremarkable strikeout and walk rates. He sits around 93 MPH, so it’s not necessarily an explosive arm, but they might see something in the slider that makes him a potential guy in the pen for them.
Overall, organizational depth is always welcome, and honestly there’s always a decent chance with this team that they see the mound.
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Hey, remember that Kyle Tucker guy they signed? Well to make room for him, they designated outfielder Michael Siani, who they picked up off waivers late last year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year contract for $240 million. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated outfielder Michael Siani for assignment.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 21, 2026
The Dodgers do this kind of maneuvering a lot around the margins, just attempting to add to organizational depth by trying to sneak guys through waivers. Unfortunately, it didn’t work this time as the Yankees claimed him.
Additionally, when the Dodgers finalized the Andy Ibanez deal they designated Ryan Fitzgerald, who they claimed off waivers from the Twins around the time Ibanez’s contract was being reported on. That pickup was also about trying to stockpile depth in the minors, but this one was successful as Fitzgerald was later outrighted to AAA.
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I can’t imagine how the players feel when this off-season seemed short even just as a fan.
