The Los Angeles Dodgers appeared poised to three-peat as World Series champions. They loaded up after winning their second straight title, signing Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz in free agency and trading for Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline. All they had to do was get through a Milwaukee Brewers team they swept in last year’s NLCS in order to appear in a World Series against either Tampa Bay or Cleveland, both of whom L.A. would be favored to take care of.
Instead, the Dodgers’ incredible run was stymied by Milwaukee in an NLCS that can only be classified as embarrassing for L.A. The Dodgers could not get anything going offensively, and their vaunted rotation underwhelmed. Now, with their three-peat bid having been a failure, an important offseason is ahead. Will Tarik Skubal be back? That shouldn’t be ruled out. These other players, though, almost certainly won’t be back with the Dodgers seeking revenge in 2027 (if there even is a 2027 season).
INF Miguel Rojas
Why not start out with an easy one? Miguel Rojas has made it clear that he plans on retiring after the 2026 campaign. He can always change his mind, and he told Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times that he wouldn’t play for another team, but with Rojas now 37 years old and with a pair of World Series wins on his resume, what more does he have to play for?
Rojas retiring would be a tough blow for the Dodgers, given the fact that he’s still a solid bench piece, is an important clubhouse presence, and recorded one of the biggest and unlikeliest hits in MLB history when he tied Game 7 of the 2025 World Series with a home run, but it’s hard to imagine Rojas sticking around for another year.
RHP Blake Treinen
Once upon a time, Blake Treinen was one of the best relievers in the sport. He saved 38 games for the Athletics in 2018, and had a pair of sub-2.00 ERA seasons for the Dodgers in 2021 and 2024. Unfortunately, Treinen has a 4.47 ERA in 68 appearances since the start of the 2025 campaign, and injuries have limited him to fewer than 40 outings in each of those years.
Treinen missed nearly three months of the 2026 campaign with elbow inflammation, didn’t pitch all that great upon his return, and was placed on the IL with shoulder inflammation at the end of the regular season. Injuries have been a common theme for Treinen over the course of his career, and while he had always been good enough to keep around despite his missed time, now, at 38 years old, he isn’t what he once was. It’s hard to envision the Dodgers being eager to bring him back.
LHP Kris Bubic
The Dodgers bolstered their pitching depth by acquiring Kris Bubic at the trade deadline from the Kansas City Royals. Sure, Bubic was hurt at the time, which made the move a bit risky, but L.A. made this move with the postseason in mind. Well, while Bubic came through with five scoreless appearances in the regular season, he allowed a run in each of his postseason appearances, taking a loss in the NLDS against the Braves and blowing a rare lead the Dodgers had in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Brewers.
These rough outings aren’t reason enough to not want to bring Bubic back, but odds are, the southpaw is going to want to start (he was rock-solid in that role with the Royals), and I’m not sold that the Dodgers will be eager to guarantee him a rotation spot, with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow locked in if healthy, and guys like Justin Wrobleski, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan still in the organization. Odds are, Bubic will earn a solidified rotation spot elsewhere.
LHP Eric Lauer
The Dodgers dealt with a slew of pitching injuries, and brought Eric Lauer in to give them needed depth. To his credit, Lauer pitched quite well in his 13 appearances (11 starts) for the Dodgers. In fact, He allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts and allowed just one run in eight innings in two appearances as a bulk reliever. If it weren’t for a couple of especially brutal starts, Lauer’s numbers in L.A. would’ve wound up looking much better than they did.
With that being said, Lauer ended the year on the IL with left elbow inflammation and, as is the case with Bubic, is probably looking for more of a solidified role than the Dodgers would be willing to give him. He’d be a solid option to bring back in a swingman role, but it’s likely that the 31-year-old will end up elsewhere.
OF Teoscar Hernandez
Here’s the big one. Teoscar Hernandez is the only player on this list under contract for 2027, and he’s been a staple in L.A. since the 2024 campaign. There’re a couple of reasons why it makes sense to move him, though. First, he’s simply not worth the $17 million he’s owed in 2027 after the year he just had. He still mashes left-handed pitching, but he had a subpar .695 OPS against righties in the regular season and is a very poor defensive outfielder. It’s hard to justify playing him regularly on a team trying to contend.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, the Dodgers need to find a spot for top prospect Josue De Paula to play regularly. The ideal spot for De Paula, an outstanding hitter whose defense leaves much to be desired, would be DH, but that’s Shohei Ohtani’s spot for the foreseeable future. Kyle Tucker is locked into right field given his absurd contract, and De Paula can’t play center field (nor should the Dodgers be eager to move off of Andy Pages). That leaves left field, Hernandez’s spot, as the position where De Paula seems likeliest to slot in.
The Dodgers can keep Hernandez around as a platoon partner for De Paula, but a trade could make sense. Hernandez was in rumors last offseason, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see those resurface this winter.
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