It’s the new year, and there is still plenty to be done in this baseball offseason — and the Dodgers are no exception. There are no shortage of rumors, with the Dodgers squarely in the middle of a lot of them; it’s becoming an annual tradition. Despite that, the lack of moves has been a bit surprising so far.
Here’s a recap of the MLB moves the Dodgers have made so far this winter.
It may look like a lot, but it really isn’t. They’ve added four players from outside the organization — two of whom were not 40-man roster additions. Other than that, it was mostly procedural offseason moves, plus retaining one of the heroes of the 2025 World Series. I’m not complaining, as the Dodgers don’t really have a ton to do this offseason, but we know they want to add a position player (probably in the outfield) and have been on the periphery of some of the bigger names out there — Cody Bellinger, Bo Bichette, Tarik Skubal, Kyle Tucker and the latest entrant, Freddy Peralta (more on him in a moment).
Adding a bat should be high on the list. If it’s an outfielder, Bellinger or Tucker make sense — especially the latter if they were to get him on an Andrew Friedman-preferred deal (3-4 years, high annual average value, opt-outs), even if I’m not completely sold on him. If they really want to lean into the villainous nature baseball fans (and some media) have bestowed upon them, they’ll sign Bichette, because it’s looking less likely he’ll return to the American League Champion Toronto Blue Jays. Or maybe they make a trade for one of the Cardinals’ left-handed hitters in Brendan Donovan or Lars Nootbaar. No matter what path, the Dodgers will add a bat (probably) before Spring Training begins.
On the pitching side, they’re pretty much set. The rotation is full of aces and the bullpen should be better than last season based on Diaz’s addition alone. They could still bring back Evan Phillips, and I suspect they will once the 60-day injured list returns on the first day of Spring Training.
Their interest in Skubal makes sense. He’s the best pitcher in baseball and when the best pitcher in baseball is available, everyone should be interested. Their, reported, interest in Peralta is a bit more curious.
This is probably a case of an agent attaching the Dodgers to a player and leaking it to the media to help drum up even more interest in his client. However, since Peralta would have to be a trade acquisition, it’s seems to have a little more credibility, even if it’s just the Dodgers checking in and saying, “hey,” in regards to Peralta’s availability.
If they were to add a starter, I’m not sure how much sense Peralta makes, despite his Statcast profile being littered with numbers the Dodgers like in their pitchers — limits hard contact, whiffs, good expected numbers. First of all, Peralta would be, at best, the fourth-best starter in the current Dodgers’ rotation, and I’d still take Tyler Glasnow over him based on familiarity and ceiling. Second, trading for Skubal would mean strengthening the rotation from the top down. Trading for Peralta slightly strengthens the back-end of the rotation while the top remains the same. Unless the Dodgers are planning to move someone else, it’d be a hard sell considering the cost and the fact that they don’t need another starter, let alone a quality No. 2/3-type. Also, the Brewers would almost assuredly demand Emmet Sheehan in return, which makes sense for them, but I’d hope if the Dodgers trade Sheehan, it’d be for a controllable, younger bat. I get that we as Dodger fans might overrated him a bit, but I’d just as well go with Sheehan over Peralta for the Dodgers, considering he showed some versatility in the postseason by pitching out of the bullpen.
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The Dodgers are always going to be on the hunt for a good bargain or to strike when a player’s market hasn’t fully developed. Or, more recently, they throw caution to the wind and go get whoever they want since Shohei Ohtani‘s contract is allowing the Dodgers to do so (not to mention, they’re basically printing money due to the success the last two seasons). Maybe they sign Bichette. Maybe they sign Tucker. Maybe the trade for Skubal. One thing’s for sure, they aren’t done yet this offseason and with the holidays wrapped up, expect activity to pickup this month.
