Editor’s Note: On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal.
In luxury tax payments alone, the Los Angeles Dodgers shelled out close to $170 million last season — more than the combined total of the second- and third-place New York Mets and New York Yankees. The gap between what the Dodgers and others are capable of keeps widening, and that is especially stark within the confines of the National League West, a division L.A. has won in 12 of the past 13 years.
While the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres are suddenly exercising restraint with their payrolls, the Colorado Rockies are prolonging what was already a lengthy rebuild and the Arizona Diamondbacks continue to feel the limitations of their market, the Dodgers are operating with no limitations in their quest for a World Series three-peat. Keeping up requires the type of creativity that continues to strain their rivals.
With spring training coming next month, we’re taking a look at each team’s offseason activity and what might be next, continuing with the NL West. Additionally, we’ve assigned each team an Urgency Rating from 1 to 5, based on how much it still needs to accomplish before reporting to camp:
1 — The work is (basically) done.
2 — The team is having a strong winter but more would help.
3 — We’ll judge the winter on where it goes from here.
4 — We’re waaaaaiting …
5 — It has been a disaster. Can the team turn it around?
Key additions
3B Nolan ArenadoRHP Merrill KellyRHP Michael Soroka
What they’ve accomplished so far: After pulling All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte off the trade market and passing on Alex Bregman in free agency, the D-backs made a stunning swap for Arenado, who fills a hole at third base. Given Zac Gallen’s expected departure and Corbin Burnes’ recovery from Tommy John surgery, the club also filled a starting-pitching void by bringing back Kelly and taking a chance on Soroka.
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What they still need to do: Arenado might no longer be the player Bregman is — and adding the former Cardinal can’t equate to the splash a Marte deal could have made — but team officials believe he will have a major impact in the clubhouse and are hopeful that he can bounce back offensively in his age-35 season. The D-backs believe they can contend in 2026, but they need to be good enough to keep themselves in the mix while Burnes, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk spend roughly half the season rehabbing.
Arenado aids that cause, but the D-backs still need something else: bullpen help.
In Martinez and Puk, they’ll be without their two most important relievers perhaps through the All-Star break. The team agreed to a minor league deal with Jonathan Loáisiga on Tuesday but could stand to add more. The D-backs blew 29 saves last season, tied for the second most in the majors. Their bullpen ERA (4.82) was the fourth highest. Given the questions that linger over their rotation, bullpen reinforcements are necessary.
Urgency Rating: 3
Key additions
OF Jake McCarthyRHP Michael Lorenzen
What they’ve accomplished so far: The Rockies are in the embryonic stage of their next phase, spearheaded by new head of baseball operations Paul DePodesta. A lot of this year will be about internal assessments. That said, they want veteran starting pitchers who can eat innings and rangy outfielders who can cover a lot of ground in Coors Field’s expansive outfield. Lorenzen and McCarthy check those boxes, respectively.
What they still need to do: Rockies starters finished last season with a 6.65 ERA, the highest in history. Germán Márquez is gone, destined to sign elsewhere, and Kyle Freeland and Ryan Feltner are the only experienced starters returning. Lorenzen was a necessary addition, but the new front office would like to sign one more veteran arm. The challenge, of course, is persuading proven pitchers to sign free agent deals at mile-high altitude.
Similarly, the Rockies have expressed interest in adding another veteran to supplement a position-player group headlined by Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle and Hunter Goodman. Last season, the likes of Kyle Karros, Ryan Ritter and Yanquiel Fernández came up before they were ready. They needed more seasoning. Adding at least one experienced utility player can help to ensure that.
Urgency Rating: 3
Key additions
RHP Edwin DíazINF Andy IbáñezINF Miguel Rojas
What they’ve accomplished so far: The Dodgers’ biggest hole heading into the offseason was the ninth inning, and they filled it with one of the game’s most decorated closers, landing Díaz on a three-year, $69 million contract. With Ibáñez and Rojas, they provided themselves with infield depth behind Tommy Edman, who’s coming off ankle surgery and might be needed in the outfield.
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What they still need to do: The Dodgers will probably seek more bullpen depth, and the expectation is that, despite signing Ibáñez and Rojas, they’ll eventually bring back Enrique Hernández, who is coming off elbow surgery. But that is all nominal compared with what’s left on their to-do list this winter: The Dodgers seek another bat, preferably a big one. They remain on the periphery for Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, ready to pounce if a short-term deal with a high average annual value becomes alluring to either. And they’ll pivot to the trade market if it doesn’t.
The Dodgers won a championship last fall despite slashing a combined .213/.303/.364 over the final three rounds of the postseason. And though their lineup is still loaded with stars and remains arguably the deepest unit in the sport, they have proved they will do whatever it takes to stack championships. Securing another bat — preferably a left-handed one who can slot into the outfield and consistently make contact — is the most direct path toward improving a team that is already a World Series favorite.
Urgency Rating: 2
Key additions
RHP Michael KingINF Sung-Mun Song
What they’ve accomplished so far: With Yu Darvish set to spend all of 2026 recovering from elbow surgery and Dylan Cease now in Toronto, the Padres desperately needed to address their rotation. Bringing back King, then, was huge. Song, meanwhile, provides versatility and depth. The hope, though, is that the Padres do enough the rest of this winter that he starts off as a bench player.
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What they still need to do: With King back, joining Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove, the Padres have a formidable top three in their rotation. But the depth behind them is questionable, especially with the team choosing to keep Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon in the bullpen. And both King and Pivetta can opt out after the 2026 season. The Padres need more in their rotation. They also need at least one other bat, particularly at first base.
How they go about getting that, however, is the big question. Money is once again tight in San Diego. The family of the late Peter Seidler is exploring a sale of the team, and the team’s tax payroll for 2026 is already right around where it finished last year: between $260 million and $270 million, well on track to exceed the luxury tax threshold for a second straight time.
The perception throughout the industry is that Padres general manager A.J. Preller is going to have to get creative if he wants to fill his remaining needs without making other areas of his team weaker.
Urgency Rating: 3
Key additions
RHP Tyler MahleRHP Adrian Houser
What they’ve accomplished so far: It has been a much more conservative offseason for a Giants team that signed shortstop Willy Adames last winter and executed the blockbuster trade for Rafael Devers last summer. But the team believes it has addressed its rotation depth with Mahle and Houser, who came in on deals totaling $32 million in guaranteed money. New relievers Jason Foley and Sam Hentges, meanwhile, will make a combined $3.4 million on one-year deals.
What they still need to do: The Giants were aggressively pursuing a second baseman as of Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. On their radar were Nico Hoerner, whose name has been running through the rumor mill after the Chicago Cubs signed Bregman, and Brendan Donovan, who has fielded a lot of interest from a St. Louis Cardinals team clearly entering a rebuilding phase.
Second base, where the Giants received a mere .616 OPS last season, is a clear position to upgrade. More broadly, Adames, Devers and Matt Chapman remain in their primes. There’s a strong case to be made that they’ll never be better than what they will be in 2026. That’s why the Giants need to do everything they can to maximize this window — and why their conservative approach to pitching has left so much to be desired.
Urgency Rating: 4
