Do the Dodgers Bring Back Either of Their Postseason Heroes?
Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández have both given the Dodgers some huge moments over the years. Now that they're free agents, should either of them be brought back?
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For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Dodgers emerged victorious in the World Series. While the club was not necessarily the best team in the game this year, they played solid ball when the lights were the brightest and came out on top because of it.
The Dodgers are armed with baseball’s largest payroll and a roster stacked top to bottom with some of the greatest players Major League Baseball has ever seen. To put it simply, we’re dealing with an absolute juggernaut that is not going away anytime soon.
Speaking of departing, the Dodgers just recently had eight players hit the open market via unrestricted free agency. Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates, Evan Phillips, Tony Gonsolin, Andrew Heaney, and Michael Conforto are the most notable of the bunch, and I wouldn’t specifically count on any of them returning in 2026.
Then there’s Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández, both of whom just earned another ring (Rojas’ second, Hernández’s third). These two aging veterans didn’t have the best seasons when digging into surface-level numbers. However, they’re both well-liked amongst fans and in the clubhouse, and each played hero at separate times in the 2025 postseason.
The question is, do either of them really need to be brought back for another go-round in 2026?
Miguel Rojas’ Reunion Case With the Dodgers Is a Simple One
The Dodgers are one of baseball’s only teams that can afford to roster a player like Rojas simply because he’s a solid vibes guy. The team just won two straight championships and has one of the deepest lineups we’ve seen in years, so bringing Rojas back would work with little to no question marks.
It also helps that he just hit arguably the biggest home run in all of baseball in 2025, and is largely to thank for bringing this team that second straight ring. With the Dodgers down to their final two outs, Rojas hit a game-tying home run on a two-strike pitch to keep the team in the game. Of course, he wound up coming through in the clutch on defense as well, but it’s the dinger that will live on forever.
As things currently stand, the team’s bench would consist of Dalton Rushing as the backup catcher, Alex Freeland as the backup infielder, and both Alex Call and Esteury Ruiz on hand as backup outfielders. That’s if the season began today.
You don’t have to squint very hard to find where a player like Rojas, who at this point is a beloved and highly respected all around the game, fits on the team. He’s made it known on multiple occasions that he’s only got one year left in him before retiring, while also hammering home the fact that he’d love to play his final season on the Dodgers.
In his fourth season on the Dodgers (2014, 2023-’25), Rojas hit seven regular-season home runs while posting a .715 OPS and above-average production by both Baseball Reference’s OPS+ and FanGraphs’ wRC+. Defensively, he played second base, third base, and shortstop, with his best position being second by a long shot, as he posted 5 Defensive Runs Saved and 6 Outs Above Average there.
Rojas is certainly not cut out to be a starter on the 2026 Dodgers. However, he demolished left-handed pitching this past year (143 wRC+), won’t cost much at all on a single-year pact, and could easily platoon with Hyeseong Kim at second base next year. What’s not to like about this reunion?
Kiké Hernández’s Dodgers Legacy Warrants a Reunion Discussion
As previously stated, the Dodgers are one of the few teams in baseball that can afford to roster a player (or two) that are only around because of nostalgia’s sake. Rojas has a clear fit on the 2026 installment of this team, but Hernández’s is a little bit more cloudy.
Hernández, now 34, is a 12-year veteran in the big leagues and nine of them have come on the Dodgers across two separate stints. He’s always been an outstanding vibes guy who shows up when the lights are the brightest, is always available, and can bounce around the field at a number of defensive positions.
To date, Hernández has a career .272 average and .826 OPS in 103 playoff games. Only 11 of those games came while he was with the Boston Red Sox. Otherwise, he’s always been known as a playoff stud while a member of the Dodgers.
In typical Kiké Hernández form, he drove in seven runs in the 2025 postseason while scoring nine more. Still, his overall production resulted in a wRC+ of just 80, which is the lowest he’s had in a single year’s playoffs since all the way back in 2018.
Then there’s the regular season production. While it’s nice to have a popular player on the team who is occasionally good for a standout October play, it’s a bit hard to justify bringing Hernández back when he’s barely been a productive player in a while.
In the regular season this past year, Hernández wound up posting a 70 wRC+ with an fWAR that dipped all the way down to -0.2. He’s historically been excellent against left-handed pitching, but his wRC+ against southpaws fell to 85 (15% below league-average) and his defense – at least at some positions – is getting dangerously close to “just okay” territory as he ages.
Does he deserves a discussion with the Dodgers’ decision makers to see if one last single-year deal can be figured out? Sure. Is it an absolute necessity though? Not really. It’s also worth noting that he underwent surgery on his left elbow once the offseason commenced, and it’s unclear when exactly he’ll be ready to go for the coming season. He’s already been deemed unavailable for the coming World Baseball Classic.
Closing Thoughts
If the Dodgers were going to choose between these two players, Rojas is the one that I believe deserves more of another shot. It’s true that Hernández has been in Dodger Blue forever now, but the numbers don’t lie. He’s started to slowly decline, and while the team can easily hide a player like him on their team while putting other superstars around him, it just feels like Rojas would be a better fit.
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Eric Treuden (troy-din) is one of Just Baseball's Managing Editors and Facebook manager. After previous stops at FanSided's news desk, Yardbarker, and Jays Journal, he has…