What I See...
Most of you want to keep Freddie, and that is your opinion. I love Freddie and what he stands for, but I think he is very close to the end, and his decline will get steeper.
As I have emphasized many times, this team is still relevant. They don't need to blow it up - they just need a minor renovation and a different approach. The Dodgers swing for the fences every time (almost). That has to change. They need to swing for the fences when the situation calls for it.
EXAMPLE: Let's say the Brewers get the first two hitters on. What happens? Each batter is looking to move the runner, maybe an opposite-field hit... even a bunt to get runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Then a ground ball doesn't end an inning with a double play... it scores a run! A fly ball scores a run... and maybe the hitter gets THE PITCH and sends it out.
Too many times, the Dodgers get runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, and it's a pop-up, a strikeout, a strikeout, or a double play. That's what happens when you swing from the heels.
Also, for the record, I just want to see the Dodgers get younger... overall!
I do not believe they need to sign any big free agents.
Most of you want to keep Freddie, and that is your opinion. I love Freddie and what he stands for, but I think he is very close to the end, and his decline will get steeper. I think that Atlanta would take him back as a DH for a Reunion Tour if the Dodgers paid half his salary.
Sentimental? This is a business... Sorry!
That is my opinion. We will find out.
Do we need a new SS? Maybe... maybe not. Mookie is fine for another year, but Freeland can play it as well.
The biggest problem many of you have is that you look at young players (think Alex Freeland and Miguel Vargas). You look at their first or second year, or their first or second cup of coffee, and in your mind... that is what they are.
That is not true. Look at Milwaukee's players. Up and down their roster, you see growth.
At some point, you need to let players like Alex Freeland play. He might be Jeremy Pena! I can see him hitting .260 with a .775 OPS next year, with further growth after that. Using the players we have, we are still the class of the NL West.
Kim will get another opportunity, but so far, I see a tremendous athlete with great speed who can't hit. He is going to have t be able to OPS bettwr than .674 at AAA to ever be taken seriously.
I would not be afraid to go with this lineup in 2027:
1. DePaula LF
2. Pages CF
3. Ohtani DH
4. Smith C
5. Muncy 3B
6. Betts 2B
7. Tucker RF
8. Freeland SS
9. Tibbs3 1B
Bench: Edman, Feduccia, Sirota (better than Call), Kim (I am giving him a chance).
The Dodgers have to protect Zazueta, Ferris, Gelof, and Serwinski or risk losing them in Rule 5. Kike, MiggyRo, Lauer, and Call make the decision easy.
The Mets have not learned and will outbid the Dodgers for Skubal. He's gone!
I can see as many as 15 players who are on the roster now being gone by Spring!
FROM MLB.COM
Jesús Made, SS, Brewers: The No. 1 prospect in baseball, Made went 2-for-5 on Sunday for Licey, raising his Dominican winter league batting average to .310. It was yet another solid day at the plate for Made, who now has four multi-hit games in just seven games in winter ball. Despite being among the youngest players in the league, Made has more walks (six) than strikeouts (4). In a lineup with seven players with MLB experience, the 19-year-old has batted leadoff or second in all seven games. He is hitting .310/.429/.414.
Jesus will likely be at SS next year for the Brewers. They will keep getting younger.
Discussion (123)
Disagree, not disagreeable
So many people have this strange narrative that the Brewers have this hot shot young roster full of 22-year old prospects slapping the ball all over the field like Wee Willie Keeler. While Milwaukee does have a considerably younger roster than the Dodgers, that's not why they beat the Dodgers in the NLCS nor is the latter.
The Brewers hit 7 home runs in the series, and the Dodgers only hit one. 7-1 in home runs. And this weird narrative that Milwaukee was stealing bases like Rickey Henderson was also false. Milwaukee stole 5 bases in 4 games. That's barely an average of one steal per game. It just looks like a lot more next to the Dodgers 0 stolen bases. 3 of those steals were from David Hamilton.
They may not hit as many home runs as the Dodgers do, but Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers, Contreras can all slug. Milwaukee has a strong lineup that can slug as well. The other reason?
Great relief pitching. I've said many times this season how much the Dodgers bullpen sucked. Milwaukee relievers were very good. Ashby tossed 6.2 shutout innings, Robert Gasser 5 shutout innings in relief. Mcgill their closer 2.1 shutout frames, DL Hall 3 shutout innings, Jojo Romero 3 shutout innings.
In contrast the Dodger relievers came into games and walked the entire universe. Huge difference. Better power, better relief pitching (and starting as well) and better hitting with RISP too.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing up a player who may not be quite ready. Most people here believe JDP is a can’t miss hitter. I am in that group long term. But he is going to be tested once the pitchers figure out his weakness(es), and they will. These are not AA or AAA or AAAA pitchers he will be facing. He is going to need to fail in order to adjust and grow. Maybe he gets optioned at some point next year to work on those weaknesses. Or maybe he goes off and stays hot. Regardless, he deserves the chance to fail at the MLB level.
His defense is suspect. Some learn a little slower than most. Some never learn but are still productive MLB hitters…Greg Luzinski, Jose Canseco, and Nick Castellanos as examples. The Dodgers still have one of the best defensive OF as a special assistant in baseball operations: Jason Heyward. IMO, he needs to come to ST already showing significant improvement.
It is time to get younger, and in the case of LF, that could be better. If JDP falters badly, the organization has a cadre of potential OF who could fill the role without paying for a veteran: Zach Ehrhard, James Tibbs III, and Mike Sirota.
I agree with Mark that too many here quit on the kids unless they break out as All Stars. Alex Freeland has shown improvement every time he has been optioned and recalled. He ended the season on a very high note. I loved hearing Joe Davis remind everyone that Brice Turang had a very rough start to his career in Milwaukee, but Brewers management was patient, and they now have a star, defensively and offensively. They are taking the same approach with Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick. I think they will be rewarded with David Hamilton as well. Milwaukee is also not afraid to push their kids. Ask Jackson Chourio and Cooper Pratt (he was playing HS 3 years ago).
Will Freeland get there? I do not know, and neither does anyone else. But he deserves the same Brice Turang run. If the Dodgers stars hit, it will not matter what offense Freeland brings, because his defense will be elite. If the stars do not hit, it will not matter either. I am also not quitting on Hyeseong Kim. I would prefer Kim over Santiago Espinal, or any similar veteran middle-infielder.
Longenhagen on the AFL: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/arizona-fall-league-midseason-check-in/
Good Prospects Reinforcing Strong Pre-existing Evals Zyhir Hope, OF, Detroit Tigers Arjun Nimmala, SS, Los Angeles Angels Eduardo Quintero, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers Tate Southisene, SS, Atlanta Braves Caleb Bonemer, OF, Chicago White Sox
...Southisense and Quintero feel, to me, like the ones with the best chance of outgrowing the 50-FV tier between now and when they debut. They simply have better tools than the other power-centric hitters here, especially Southisene....
Arrow Up Potential Stars Nathan Flewelling, C, Tampa Bays Rays Charles Davalan, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers Zion Rose, OF, Kansas City Royals Tai Peete, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
...Davalan is revisiting second base, where he played as a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast, and it’s going well. A long in-person look has also made me confident that he has meaningful juice despite being such a little guy. He’s going to be an everyday player, even if that means playing a mix of second base and left field the way Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández would in concert with Max Muncy...
The Best of the New Names Joey Dixon, RHP, Houston Astros Sam Horn, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers Maddox Long, RHP, Detroit Tigers Joe Ariola, LHP, Arizona Diamondbacks
...Sam Horn was a college quarterback at Missouri who missed time because of an elbow surgery and a fractured tibia. He rehabbed throughout 2026 and was active during Bridge League/Instructs, but I didn’t see him then because on the one day I knew he’d be pitching,...
I get it, but it isn't going to happen. LA is not trading him to anyone, especially the Braves. If he wants to return there in free agency then so be it, but they like Freddie too much.
Nice to see Mark using the Branch Rickey quote that I have cited many times here.
I think Freddie stays next year and plays out his contract but that he's gone in 2028. I think Teo's already gone. I advocated trading him last fall. I think Glasnow's also trade bait. They have 3 SP that only pitch 50-100 innings per year (with Snell and Ohtani). No team needs that. Snell's harder to trade so Tyler's gone.
I agree we trade prospects too soon sometimes but let's be frank - Vargas is one of the few who made it big after fizzling out with the Dodgers and frankly he's a bad 3B still. He's better for the Chisox than for the Dodgers.
I am not sure that Alex Freeland is a big league hitter period. He's great in the field. Same with Kim, who is even better in the field and faster. Speed never slumps and if they could get him to slap the ball more he could be an on base and base stealing machine.
Mookie is regressing as well to be sure. Too expensive to trade and I think that with Freddie leaving soon and Kike and Rojas gone that they need him in the clubhouse.
I don't think that the Dodgers need to change the way they play baseball. 14 years in the playoffs, 13 division titles, 5 trips to the World Series 2017-2025 with 3 titles. I don't think we need to panic. I do think they need to get younger and more athletic.
And they do need to fix the bullpen. 2 years in a row it's let the team down and been a weakness and not a strength.
The team with the greatest ground ball rate, the greatest opposite-field hitting rate, the lowest pull-side air rate and the lowest average launch angle is redefining what wins. One convicted swing at a time, the Brewers are changing the game. Milwaukee bashed 16 hits in all. Only four of them were hit to the pull side. None of them were home runs. In that big inning every single Brewer hitter hit the ball where it was pitched. Nobody tried to pull a ball that wasn't "pullible". Nobody rolled over pitches. Do they ever hit into double plays? So much for the theory that in order to beat playoff pitching you win with homers as it isn't possible to string enough hits together to do damage.
That catch by Chandler Simpson in the 2nd inning gives me hope for JDP. Last year Simpson was one of the very worst OF in MLB to being optioned to work on his OF defense, to a GG candidate in his nex year. For those who did not see it:
Simpson was shaded into left-center as the hitter was Sal Frelich, a LH batter.
Branch Rickey, the legendary baseball executive who ran the Brooklyn Dodgers and helped pioneer baseball's farm system, had a famous quote:
“Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.”
Rickey believed that successful organizations must recognize declining value before everyone else does.
That’s a philosophy Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers should take seriously.
The hardest part of building a championship team isn't acquiring great players. It's recognizing when those players are no longer the players they once were.
Trade a player too early, and you might lose a year of production. Trade him too late, and you might lose his trade value, your roster flexibility, and the opportunity to develop his replacement.
Sentimentality rewards yesterday. Smart roster construction prepares for tomorrow.
The Dodgers don't need to get younger just for the sake of getting younger. They need to stop confusing past performance with future value.
Had Dodgers not traded Pepiot and DeLuca, they wouldn't have resigned Teo and been closer to a lineup like Milwaukee's.
Micheal Elizondo of TrueBlueLA must be a loyal Mark Timmons reader. That's what I was thinking when I read this line in his essay about the Dodgers' roster crunch and the need to get younger: "I am not going to argue something borderline moronic like trading Shohei Ohtani or casting off Max Muncy or Freddie Freeman. That’s silly." Anyway, Elizondo's piece is a good, thoughtful deep-dive into the Dodgers' personnel, covering such topics as how the pressing service deadlines could alter the 40-man roster. For example, I keep forgetting about Jake Geloff, despite his impressive Jeff Kent imitation in Tulsa. Rather than risk losing Geloff and Noah Miller in the Rule 5 draft, Elizondo argues, the Dodgers may put them on the 40-man, while a more ML-ready guy like Tibbs can wait another season. The Rule 5 issues could also factor into trade strategies, as guys like Geloff and Miller (and also Bobby Miller) could factor into deals for new SS, should the brass decide to go that route. Use them or lose them. Geloff's 2026 power surge--a .985 OPS, 34 HRs--should put him in the mix for a UT job this Spring, along with Freeland, Kim, Davalan, Miller and PTBNL. He bats from the right side, which could make him a nice complement to Max at 3B and Freddie at 1B. I sort of wish Elizondo had explored the "borderline moronic" idea of dealing Freddie, because I think it's fun. Does anybody know where Freddie and his family makes his home now? Is he back in OC? Seriously, if I ran the Angels, I'd be intrigued. He could be the local legend and hometown hero, with a new contract that helps him to 3,000 hits, batting next to Mike Trout. After all, the Angels have made stupider deals.
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There’s what Mark sees and the there’s what AF sees
Andrew Friedman on the narrative that the Dodgers’ dynasty has fallen:
“I welcome it… People saying that we’re done and we’re on the downside of this run — it’s just more noise to us.” pic.twitter.com/yvXcasNoYU
Wow. The Brewers go up 3-0 with a 10-1 beatdown in Tampa Bay. I'm not sure if I want to Brewers to complete another sweep or not... No, I'd rather see the Rays storm back and make it interesting. But the Brewers are on a helluva run, and back-to-back sweeps to win the NL pennant and World Series would be historic, right? The Cheeseheads must be thrilled. Party time in the taverns of Milwaukee.
Hmm. The Dodgers might not have to eat too much of Teo's salary to move him.
Open on codysnavely.substack.comhttps://codysnavely.substack.com/p/dodgers-trade-candidate-spotlight?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webLots of good stuff here in the comments. Agree with a lot, disagree with very few. My take. (Even if it doesn’t matter!). (1). Catcher. Need a better defensive backup. (2). Freddie ? One more year. (3). Second base? I’m still for trying to sign Brandon Lowe. Freeland as backup. (4). Mookie ? 2 years left at shortstop. (5). Max ? Wouldn’t be surprised if he plays in 2028. (6). Left field? It seems to be JDp’s. Although I don’t think he is a lock. (7). Centerfield? Pages still has room for improvement. But it’s his job. (8) Tucker? Bounces back. (9). Ohtani? Still worried about his workload. Need his bat more than his arm. (10). Pitchers? Skubal. If there’s no lockout, I believe he’s a Dodger. I believe he really wants to stay in LA! Bullpen? Work to be done. (11). Bench? Needs to be much stronger if they want to compete with Milwaukee. (12). HEALTHY? Please !!!!!
The Brewers possibly cheating is trending in a big way. I don't know if there's any there there. Probably not. I still hold to my hypothesis that teams, perhaps especially the Brewers, are leaning hard into using AI as a predictive tool. They might know what pitch is coming because an LLM has looked and analyzed every singe pitch ever thrown by a pitcher in granular detail and learned the pitcher's tendencies and what the sequencing strategies are.
I saw one stat from one of the recent games where the Rays threw 175 total pitches and only got something like 14 swing and misses. NO ONE on the Brewers is getting fooled by a pitch. Fooling hitters is how a pitcher gets a hitter out. It's the whole art of pitching. Without that you're doomed as pitcher, regardless of how good your stuff is.
Good read and Interview with Sam Horn.
I haven't watched any of the games in this year's World Series., but the Brewers are better than I thought they were. They are a solid, youthful, talented team with a good front office and manager. They will be our main National League competition in the coming years.
So, I know nobody wants to trade Freddie Freeman... well, maybe Duke is down with it and the Angels as a destination has merit, but I went to Claude and did a deep dive into Freddie's decline. Hrere's what Claude concluded:
"Freddie Freeman remains a productive major-league first baseman, but the underlying numbers show a player who is no longer performing at his historical level.
The most significant warning signs are declining power production, reduced mobility, and shrinking overall WAR, even though he still makes solid contact.
Freeman dropped from 6.6 bWAR in 2023 to 4.4 in 2024, 3.5 in 2025, and 2.7 in 2026. That is a meaningful multiyear decline."
Also, His exit velocity is down substantially (1.5 MPH); maximum exit velocity is down 4 MPH. His hard hit rate is down 4.5%, barrel rate is down 2.3%, and his sprint speed is now in the 8th percentile. His strikeout rate actually went down by 3%, which led to 22 double plays as his sprint speed dropped by 3%.
Freddie is still a solid player, but no longer a Top or middle-of-the-order hitter. 6th maybe... as he will be 38 next year.
Add in the fact that Teoscar Hernandez produced 4.1 bWAR in 2024, but only 1.5 in 2025 and 1.0 in 2026. His WAR fell 76% from 2024 to 2026. That's too large to dismiss as a few unlucky bounces. His average exit velocity has stayed relatively steady since 2024, but his barrel rate has dropped from 15.0% to 10.7%.
He isn't simply getting slower. He's struggling to convert his athletic ability into effective outfield coverage.
Freeman still has enough exceptional offensive skills to justify everyday playing time. Teoscar is another matter.
The warning signs: - His WAR declined from 4.1 to 1.0 in two seasons. - His home-run production fell substantially. - His barrel rate has declined for two straight years. - His strikeout percentage remains high. - His defensive range is significantly below average. - He turned 34 in October 2026.
I would like to see LA move on from both players, but I also understand that trading for either would be hard without swallowing a lot of Benjamins. They have a replacement for Hernandez, albeit someone who needs work on his defense. I believe that they are working on it as we speak... THIS MORNING!
James Tibbs III just hit 30 home runs with a .941 OPS in Triple-A, and the Dodgers have already played him 53 games at first base during the past two seasons. If the Dodgers are serious about getting younger and planning for life after Freddie Freeman, why wouldn't Tibbs be part of that conversation? I think Tibbs should see a lot of time at 1B for OKC in 2027 and if the Dodgers can trade Teo, that may be the best we can hope for.
Turn out the light, the party's over. No doubt who the best team is in baseball.
Now back to news that matters. Dodgers caught the eye of the Japanese high school phenom, Oda who throws 100 MPH. He wants to skip NBL and go to MLB. He stuck out 400 in 300 innings. His comments were that he would like to play in the best league for the best team. I'm sure AF can accommodate him and bring a 3B slugger with him. Eventually, MLB will place a limit on the number Asian born players a team can have, call the "Dodgers hoard rule".
Why keep insisting on using Smith as the cleanup batter? Enough already—he’s a very good player, but not for that spot in the batting order.
The Japanese star that most have their eyes on is Teruaki Sato. The Hanshin Tigers slugger will be posted this offseason, and while the first destination that comes to mind for every is the Dodgers, he doesn't really make sense given the state of the roster.
Instead, the import that Los Angeles should be all over is 18-year-old high school star, right-handed pitcher Shoki Oda. Oda is already pumping 97-mile-per-hour heaters, and LA's outfielder-heavy farm system could definitely use an infusion of high-end pitching talent.
The Dodgers' Shoki Oda dream could be dashed by looming deadline
Oda announced that he's planning on pursuing an uncommon career path, forgoing the NPB draft and coming stateside either via the IFA process or the MLB draft. Shortly after that, it came to light that Oda is a Dodgers fan. Those dots aren't that hard to connect, and it seemed like Oda was destined to end up in Dodger Blue.
First I’ve heard of this,
This year, Major League Baseball's newest experiment is to restrict the positioning of outfielders on every at-bat.
The goal is to boost the game's sluggish offense by making outfielders play straight up -- instead of adjusting for individual hitters' tendencies -- which will in theory lead to more doubles and triples.
The outfield positioning experiment is limited to just games that are played at Salt River Fields, since it has similar technology to MLB parks.
How it works is outfielders will look up at a small video board that can tell a player where they are in the field and will either generate an "X," if he's incorrectly positioned or an "O" if he is in a defensively acceptable spot.
Mark, it sounds like you would try to trade Freeman and Teo this off-season. I'm ready to replace Teo immediately but would keep Freddie through the end of his contract.
If we want a younger faster team that also plays great defense, I wouldn't give JPD left field to lose status.
I think LF is wide open with George, Edman, Sirota, JDP, and a traded for candidate. I think Freeland has the best chance for a young player to be in the regular lineup.