Five Things the Dodgers Need To Do To Stay On Top

When all was said and done, it seemed as if every part of the 2024 season went in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ favor.

They started by being the class of the 2023-24 MLB offseason after signing Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández and trading for and subsequently extending Tyler Glasnow.

They then made arguably the best trade of the deadline at the end of July, acquiring both Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech.

All of those moves culminated in a season in which they finished with the league’s best regular season record ahead of run to the World Series. Once there, they captured their second championship in five years and eighth in franchise history.

Now, the focus in Los Angeles shifts to what they’ll do in order to give themselves a shot to be just as successful in 2025.

While it may be hard to think a team of the Dodgers’ standing could get any better than they were in 2024, there are still some aspects of the club that could use some attention from the front office this winter.

Here are five things the Dodgers have to do in order to stay on top of MLB in 2025:

1. Make the Expected Happen and Sign Roki Sasaki

The wait for one of the most anticipated international free agents is almost over, as Roki Sasaki will be posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of NPB this winter.

Now the focus turns to where the budding 23-year-old star will land when he comes stateside, with the Dodgers being heavily speculated as the frontrunners to secure his signature.

So if Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers’ front office want to continue to position this team as the gold standard in MLB, then they need to make the expected become a reality and not let Sasaki slip through their fingers.

Los Angeles has been known as a prime location for both developing great pitching from the prospect level and then managing and supporting that talent once their young pitchers reach the major league level.

This makes Sasaki the perfect acquisition for an organization that strives to get the most out of its players at every level.

After making his NPB debut at the age of 19, Sasaki had an incredible four-season stretch. In 394.2 innings across 64 career NPB games, he posted a 2.10 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with 505 strikeouts.

This included a remarkable 2023 campaign in which he threw to a 1.78 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP with 135 punch-outs in 91.0 innings across 15 games, all off the back of a World Baseball Classic title with his native Japan.

With his track record of success, Sasaki can certainly make a considerable impact for the Dodgers within their big league rotation in 2025 alongside stars like Ohtani, Yamamoto and Glasnow.

But at his young age, there’s room for the Dodgers to showcase their skills in developing prospects and really mold him into the pitcher they feel will have the most success at the big league level.

It’s not often teams can sign an incoming talent at his age with the track record he has, as Sasaki sports the potential to be the next big star in MLB for years to come.

And given the fact that he’ll be coming over here on a league minimum deal (due to his age and the fact he holds less than six years of professional service time), with a signing bonus from the Dodgers’ international bonus pool, he offers Los Angeles the opportunity to sign a potential top-end arm for just a fraction of the price that other top names on the open market will cost.

So, as the favorite to sign Sasaki, it’s all but a no-brainer that the Dodgers need to make this move happen to keep up appearances in 2025 and beyond.

2. Identify and Address the Surplus in the Starting Rotation

If the Dodgers do end up getting a Sasaki deal completed, it will certainly be a benefit to their organization. However, it will add to an existing problem they have on their hands for 2025, and that’s the fact they’ll have more starting pitching options than available spots in the rotation.

Supposing the Dodgers go with a six-man rotation to protect some of their recently injured arms, three names already on the roster are automatic shoo-ins for spots: Ohtani, Yamamoto and Glasnow.

In a recent Just Baseball article by Aram Leighton pertaining to Sasaki, he mentioned that it may not be shocking to see whatever organization signs Sasaki handle him in the same way the Pittsburgh Pirates handled Paul Skenes this past season.

This would mean sending him to the minors to slowly build him up before testing him at the major league level. If that’s the case and the Dodgers end up signing him, that would free up a spot, at least initially, on the active roster. And given the Dodgers’ tumultuous injury history this past season, there could very well be an open spot for Sasaki by the time they’re ready to promote him.

Then there are names with talented track records coming off the shelf, like Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin. The Dodgers may want to see what they have with them post-injury before making any decisions on their futures with the club.

Theoretically speaking, we’re up to six names now, and that’s before the likely return of Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw in free agency this winter.

That still leaves a series of young arms left for the Dodgers to account for.

Bobby Miller is at the top of this list despite his very poor sophomore season, in which he pitched to an 8.52 ERA in 13 starts and spent a considerable amount in the minor leagues as a result. But a 3.84 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 22 starts in 2023, paired with his past prospect pedigree, makes him a strong option to get another full-time shot at the big league level should he channel that pre-2024 form.

Then there are a couple of options that reached the big leagues last year and played some pretty key roles for the Dodgers both in the regular season and in October.

Landon Knack was a spot starter for the Dodgers in the regular season, while also pitching seven postseason innings across three appearances out of the bullpen. Just looking at his regular season, he delivered when called upon. In 15 outings, 12 of which were starts, Knack posted a 3.65 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP and .219 AVG against.

Ben Casparius had a little less run for the Dodgers than Knack this season, but in his time with the big league club, he made a solid impression. In 8.1 innings across three regular season appearances, he pitched to the tune of a 2.16 ERA. And come October, across 6.1 innings of work, Casparius posted an impressive 1.42 ERA.

Nick Frasso and Justin Wrobleski are two more arms on the 40-man roster to keep in mind.

All of these names still have minor league options, so it’s feasible the Dodgers could simply opt to keep stretching them out and get them innings in Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2025.

But there’s always the possibility that the Dodgers could look to get savvy and trade from their surplus to address some other needs on their roster, some of which we will talk about shortly.

It’s always better to have too much depth than no depth at all, especially in the Dodgers’ case when nearly every starter seemed to have some sort of ailment at one point or the other in 2024.

But depth is only of real value if it’s utilized properly, meaning Los Angeles certainly has to create some sort of strategy this winter to maximize the value of their starting depth.

3. Invest in a Closer

I want to preface that the bullpen isn’t an issue for the Dodgers. But when we’re dealing with a team that dominated its way to a World Series title, there aren’t a whole lot of issues present in the first place. It becomes a matter of what moves can be made to be that much more dominant, and adding a closer is one of the first things that come to mind.

The Dodgers bullpen as a whole was amongst the best in MLB in the 2024 regular season, tying for fourth in both ERA and AVG against and tying for fifth in WHIP.

But they did all that without an undisputed closer, as the ninth inning was handled by committee this past season through plenty of capable arms, none of whom exceeded 18 saves.

This winter, the Dodgers are already faced with having to account for potentially two losses to their bullpen. One is guaranteed, as Daniel Hudson announced his retirement not long after the World Series concluded. And Blake Treinen is currently an unrestricted free agent, so there is certainly a possibility he walks this offseason.

The closing-by-committee approach worked in 2024, and the Dodgers definitely have the talent in the back end of the bullpen to account for the later innings with the likes of Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, and Kopech to lead the charge. Still, if the Dodgers want to continue to be the league’s gold standard and improve even further upon their 2024 form, then adding an out-and-out top closing option is the way to do that.

And there are some great options on the open market that Los Angeles could make a run at.

The first is Tanner Scott, who is undoubtedly the best reliever available this winter. In 72.0 innings this season, combined between the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres, he threw to a 1.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and .175 AVG against.

He also had some of the best swing-and-miss capabilities among relief arms last season, ranking within the 84th percentile or higher in chase rate, whiff rate and strikeout rate, according to Baseball Savant.

Scott paired that with an elite ability to limit solid contact, posting a hard-hit rate and an average exit velocity in the 99th percentile or higher in 2024.

And over the past two seasons combined, Scott has been the league’s most valuable reliever as per FanGraphs WAR, leading the way at 4.5.

Another option is Jeff Hoffman, who dazzled for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2024 resulting in his first career All-Star selection. In 66.1 innings across 68 outings, he posted a 2.17 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and a .195 AVG against. This marked the second consecutive season in which he posted a sub-2.50 ERA, a sub-1.00 WHIP and a sub-.200 AVG against.

What’s made him so lethal on the mound has been his elite strikeout capabilities, with him ranking in the league’s 96th percentile in K-rate, chase rate and whiff rate this past season.

While these are the top upgrades available to the Dodgers this offseason, there are other options who may have been less dominant than Scott and Hoffman but were still solid primary closing options this past season, such as Carlos Estévez or former Dodgers great Kenley Jansen.

The fact is, the Dodgers are realistically just a closer away from taking their already great bullpen and making it an upper-echelon bullpen, similar to what the Cleveland Guardians had this past season with their league-best ‘pen.

That should not only excite the Dodgers brass to get a deal like this done, but it should strike fear into the 29 other organizations that the reigning World Series Champions have a relatively simple way to get that much better with just one move.

4. Sign a Starting-Caliber Outfielder

Moving away from the mound, the Dodgers have work to do with their lineup as well, particularly in their outfield.

Now that Hernández is a free agent and manager Dave Roberts has said Mookie Betts will be moving back to the infield, Los Angeles suddenly has some uncertainty surrounding who exactly will man the outfield for them in 2025.

After having the postseason of a lifetime with a 139 wRC+ and an .862 OPS and claiming NLCS MVP honors, Tommy Edman is surely in line to patrol center field next season.

Given the decent rookie campaign Andy Pages had (100 wRC+) paired with the prospect pedigree he bore prior to the season, he is a prime candidate to remain in a corner spot.

So that leaves other corner spot available to be filled, especially now that postseason hero Enrique Hernández is on the open market.

After a season that saw him as a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year (4.0 fWAR, 118 wRC+) James Outman was the complete opposite in 2024.

He spent the majority of this past season in the minor leagues, and when he was in the major leagues, he was largely ineffective, slashing .147/.256/.265 with a 54 wRC+ and a -0.3 fWAR, making him a less-than-optimal choice to be an everyday at bat, if a major league option at all.

Veteran utility bat Chris Taylor had himself a poor season as well, hitting marginally ahead of the Mendoza Line at .202 with a .598 OPS, as his decline in the later years of his career continues.

Luckily for the Dodgers, we all know they have the financial ability to go out and sign big-name free agents, and there are definitely some top-end outfield options to choose from.

While Juan Soto dominates the rumor mill and takes up the headlines, he doesn’t have to be the option for the Dodgers in order for them to hold their top standing in the league.

Don’t get me wrong, adding Soto to a lineup with Ohtani, Betts and Freddie Freeman would certainly ensure this team keeps its top status and would not be a bad move to make by any means. But the Dodgers don’t have to continue to run up the tax bill by exceeding the luxury tax threshold even further for a starting corner outfielder.

Bringing back the All-Star Hernández, who was instrumental for the team in 2024 in the top half of their order with 33 HR, 99 RBI and an .840 OPS, would be a more cost-effective option that would serve the Dodgers well in their quest to repeat.

Anthony Santander, coming off a season with 44 HR and a .814 OPS, is also a solid Soto alternative.

Even a tertiary-tier option, like Tyler O’Neill, would be suitable to address the Dodgers’ outfield hole, especially after his breakout campaign with the Boston Red Sox in 2024.

At the end of the day, there are multiple ways the Dodgers could go about addressing this matter, and given the stellar state of the rest of their lineup, it doesn’t have to be a ground-breaking move – so long as they do enough so they don’t have to rely on the likes of Outman or Taylor on a full-time basis.

5. Figure Out How Gavin Lux Fits into the Plan

It’s not an overstatement to say that Gavin Lux has not lived up to the hype he carried as a prospect.

After missing all of the 2023 season with injury, he returned to post a fairly average season across the board in 2024.

In 487 plate appearances, Lux finished the year with a league average 100 wRC+ and 10 HR, 50 RBI, a .251 AVG and a .703 OPS.

With Betts moving back into the infield in 2025, and some talented shortstop options available in free agency, like Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim, the question of whether the Dodgers feel the need to upgrade Lux becomes all the more relevant.

After a relatively solid showing in the Dodgers’ NLDS against the Padres, Lux’s production was abysmal when the stakes were at their highest this October in the NLCS and World Series.

If the Dodgers want to remain the cream of the crop in MLB moving forward, they have to ensure they’re getting the most out of every position. At the moment, it feels they can do better than Lux at second.

Moving on from Lux as a starter could be a wise move considering the infield options available on the open market that we’ve touched on already, and his league average totals would suit the Dodgers’ currently unimpressive bench well.

If the Dodgers plan to continue to deploy Lux at second on a regular basis, they’ll have to ensure he can at least capture the league-average form he had in 2024 and hope he doesn’t fall flat in the postseason once again.

To me, the former option sounds more beneficial for the reigning World Champs.

Back-to-Back Titles Could Be in the Cards for the Dodgers

When all is said and done, the Dodgers are the reigning champions with a team that still sports three MVPs atop the lineup, countless All-Star caliber bats and arms on the roster, arguably the league’s best manager, a front office that is not afraid to get bullish with the payroll, and an ownership group that can go toe-to-toe with the deepest pockets in the league.

So, any matters facing the Dodgers this offseason are seemingly less dire than the issues facing almost any other team.

But no matter how strong the squad may be, no team will get anywhere by living in the past, and that goes for the Dodgers too. They must remain focused on how they can evolve in order to go back-to-back.

With options to upgrade the starting pitching depth, the back end of the bullpen and both the corner outfield and middle infield, there is no shortage of ways the Dodgers can take this elite roster even higher.