For the first time in four years, the Dodgers are once again World Series champions.
That doesn’t mean they enter the offseason without any questions.
Just as soon as the team had descended its rally stage at Dodger Stadium on Friday, following the first Dodgers parade in Los Angeles in 36 years, manager Dave Roberts remarked it might be the last time the group is all together.
“The landscape of the roster is certainly going to change,” Roberts said. “That’s the nature of baseball.”
Read more: L.A. toasts its World Series champion Dodgers: ‘The city needed this parade’
And in Major League Baseball’s offseason, changes can happen quickly.
As the offseason gets underway, here’s a primer on where the Dodgers stand, and the questions they’ll face as defending champions this winter.
Who will be back?
Much of the Dodgers’ title-winning core will remain intact for next year.
At the plate, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith are all signed to long-term contracts. Tommy Edman, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor are entering their final year under contract, too. Gavin Lux and Andy Pages are under team control as arbitration-eligible players. The club also picked up 2025 club options on Austin Barnes ($3.5 million) and Miguel Rojas ($5 million) on Saturday, ensuring they will return next year.
On the mound, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will once again top a rotation that will also add Ohtani as he resumes two-way duties. Clayton Kershaw has said he will be back (either by picking up his $10-million player option or working out a new deal with the Dodgers) but is scheduled to undergo toe and knee surgeries next week, leaving his status for opening day unclear. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May will both be returning from surgeries that sidelined them for all of 2024. The Dodgers’ other healthy starting pitching options include Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski.
Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan and Kyle Hurt will all start next season recovering from 2024 surgeries.
Veteran pitchers in the bullpen who remain under contract for next year include: Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, Ryan Brasier, Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia and Anthony…