The reigning champions may not have been the busiest team this winter, but the moves they made were impactful and addressed their relative weaknesses. They enter 2026 looking for an elusive three-peat not seen in MLB since the Yankees in 1998-2000.
Major League Recruitment
2026 spending (excluding Ibáñez): $90 million
Total spending (excluding Ibáñez): $325.5 million
Transactions and Billing
Deciding on Options
Notable Minor League Contracts
- Nick Praso, Chucky Robinson, Nick Robertson, rider ryan, Cole Irvine, Sebi Zavala, Jordan Weems, Keston Hiura, Santiago Espinal, Yancy Almonte, Kenan Middleton
expansion
notable losses
The Dodgers started the offseason in a good position. The roster was strong enough to win the World Series two years in a row. The free-agent class was comprised mostly of relievers and role players, so there were no major holes left to open.
President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman addressed the situation last December while speaking with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. He admitted the club had less “heavy work” to do than in previous offseasons.
He pointed to the outfield and bullpen as places they could add, but also said they recognize the roster is getting older with many stars entering their 30s. They were actually the oldest club in the league in 2025. Going forward, it would make sense to sign fewer long-term contracts and include more young prospects. But at the same time, leveraging a legendary core to win is a short-term priority.
The Dodgers came away victorious in 2025, but they weren’t perfect and came close to being eliminated a few times. Manager Dave Roberts seemed to have little trust in his relief corps, relying more and more on his starting pitchers as the postseason progressed.
The outfield was also somewhat shaken. Teosca Hernández Although he often outgrew his defensive shortcomings, he was league average offensively in 2025. Andy Page They had a good year, but went ice cold in the playoffs. Michael Conforto That was enough to get him left off the postseason roster. tommy edman I was battling an ankle injury that eventually required surgery.
The bullpen chase had a number of high-profile relievers available in free agency. The Dodgers have been linked to the following players: Devin Williams, Pete Fairbanks, Rayzel Iglesias and robert suarez. In the end, somewhat surprisingly, they got the best company on the market. Edwin Diaz Through a three-year contract worth $69 million.
Diaz will soon turn 32, and while he’s not as dominant as he was a few years ago, he’s still one of the best relievers in the game. He posted a 1.63 earned run average for the Mets in 2025 and struck out 38% of the batters he faced.
Many expected Diaz to remain in Queens because the Mets need to address their bullpen and are one of the few clubs with roughly the same spending power as the Dodgers. It was later revealed that the Mets offered him a three-year, $66 million contract. Considering the slight delay in the deal Díaz accepted from the Dodgers, the two offers were nearly identical. Some reports say the Mets were willing to go higher, but were caught flat-footed before he quickly reached an agreement with the Dodgers.
Diaz also reportedly received a five-year contract offer from Atlanta, but the amount was not disclosed. This was probably a lower average annual value than the three-year contracts he received from the Dodgers and Mets.
Maybe he wanted to break his own AAV record for a reliever ($20.4MM in his previous contract). Even taking into account the deferrals, the Dodgers’ contract is worth about $21.1 million per year. Maybe he wanted to join the best organization in baseball. According to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen, during Edwin’s introductory press conference, he mentioned that his older brother Alexis said he likes the Dodgers after spending a short time with them in 2025.
Whatever the reason, the Dodgers added something closer to the elite to an already powerful club just before the holiday break. Later in the winter they will also return. Evan Phillips At a much more modest deal worth $6.5 million. He’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and won’t be available until the second half, but could provide another bullpen boost for the Dodgers down the stretch and into the playoffs.
As the calendar turns to 2026, the outfield market hasn’t moved much. Top 2 free agents; Kyle Tucker and Cody BellingerBoth were still there in January. After the holidays and the team returning to work in January, the Tucker market quickly came back to life.
Tucker seemed to have a clear and distinct choice. The Blue Jays were essentially offering Tucker a more traditional long-term contract that would cover the remainder of his career. It is known that it rose to $350 million over 10 years. This closely matched MLBTR’s 11-year, $400 million projection and was one of the 10 highest guarantees in MLB history.
The Mets and Dodgers were competing against each other again, offering Tucker a different path. Both clubs were keen to avoid that kind of period and were willing to increase their short-term spending. Taking this route means Tucker will secure less overall, but could earn a lot of money in the next few years with the opportunity to return to free agency to make more money in the long run.
Players are: Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso And while others have taken this approach in free agency before, Tucker was offered a stronger version of it. The Mets reportedly made $220 million over four years, opting out after years two and three. The Dodgers had a slightly higher $240MM over the same four-year period, with opt-outs after years two and three. That’s it.
There’s some deferral in Tucker’s contract, but there’s also a huge signing bonus. The sticker price has an average annual value of $60 million. The delay has disrupted AAV, but only slightly, as it is said to be worth about $57.1 million in competitive balance tax terms.
For all intents and purposes, it was easily a new record. Shohei Otani‘s 10-year, $700 million deal ostensibly has an AAV of $70 million, but the deal’s infamous delays have pushed the AAV down to the $46 million range. With this in mind, Juan Soto Prior to this Tucker deal, he was effectively the record holder for AAV at $51MM.
That was a surprising number and could potentially represent many different things to different people. For some, the Dodgers and Mets’ proposals represent an economic imbalance that is unrealistic in modern football. Both clubs repeatedly enter the top tier of the CBT, which means they are taxed at a 110% rate on new transactions. The Dodgers will effectively spend $120 million to have Tucker join the team this year. That’s more than the entire salaries of many clubs’ players.
This has increased the appetite for drastic changes to baseball rules, with many fans and owners calling for drastic changes to salary caps or revenue-sharing rules. The Dodgers have already dominated the field and offseason, making them Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of many baseball fans. Every new contract increases anger, and the Tucker trade certainly did.
From an MLBPA perspective, this is proof why there shouldn’t be a cap. If multiple teams value Tucker so highly that they’re willing to pay him $120 million per year, it’s a sign that the league as a whole is in strong financial shape. Even under the current rules, Tucker only gets about half the value he produces on the field. The other half, or taxes, goes to the league. Some of it ends up in central funds, some is distributed to smaller clubs like the Guardians, and the Marlins have no real mechanism to ensure they use it. In the eyes of many, the lack of urgency on the part of some teams is a bigger problem than the Dodgers’ willingness to invest in a winning team.
Additionally, the circumstances may be a perfect match. By all accounts, the Dodgers are generating all kinds of huge profits, as you would expect from a successful club. But the star presence of Japanese players means they basically have a money faucet flowing across the Pacific. As mentioned, they’re trying to avoid the trap of overcommitting to their current core and then suddenly finding themselves with an old and creaky roster. They used their financial power to add Tucker the way they wanted.
From his perspective, Tucker is technically leaving money on the table, but he’ll have a good chance of getting it back. In an ideal financial situation, he would spend his 29th and 30th seasons playing for the best team in baseball. He will commit $120 million and could return to free agency to seek another contract ahead of his age-31 campaign. From that point on, if he can find $230 million, he’ll make up the difference in what the Jays offered. If the next collective bargaining agreement appears to bring positive change for his players, he could benefit from it.
There were a few other notable highlights from the Dodgers’ offseason. There were trade rumors going around. Teosca Hernández and Tyler Glasnow But there seemed absolutely no chance of either side moving. Max Muncy One more year has been added to the contract. This slightly contradicts the plan to avoid aging as Muncy turns 36 this year, but he is still productive and guaranteed one more season. old friend Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernández Although re-signed for a bench role, Hernández will begin the season on the injured list.
The main storyline of the Dodgers’ offseason is simple. They’ve already been good in November, with some question marks around the bullpen and outfield. They signed the best free agents available in both areas. They did so while limiting their long-term commitments as they wished. RosterResource expects $395 million in payroll and $450 million in CBT, which is clearly OK, although they’ve increased spending in the short term.
They are clear favorites for 2026. FanGraphs’ projected rankings predict 96 wins, which would be eight wins ahead of every other club in the major leagues. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA rankings are more optimistic, with the Dodgers ranked 104th and 10th better than any other team. Anything can happen in baseball’s chaotic postseason, but right now, the organization is the jewel of the league.
There is a possibility that the ripple effect will spread in unpredictable ways this offseason. Many people claim that baseball is “broken” and point to the Dodgers as the perpetrators. The Tucker deal alone didn’t do it, but some believe it may have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Many fans are fed up and want change. The collective bargaining agreement is scheduled to expire after this season. Lockdown feels certain and many expect it to get messy. Some even fear losing games, if not the entire 2027 season.
Time will tell everything. The 2026 Dodgers couldn’t have been pictured any better.
How would you rate the Dodgers’ offseason?
Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
