Miguel Rojas Planning to Follow in Footsteps of Clayton Kershaw

The Los Angeles Dodgers said goodbye to Clayton Kershaw after the 2025 season, though he's remaining with the organization in a special assist role, and now are seeing Miguel Rojas through the final year of his career.

Rojas is not the first-ballot Hall of Famer Kershaw will become, but he's forever going to be part of Dodgers lore. That started in 2014 when he saved Kershaw's no-hitter with an impressive play at third base, and continued in 2025 with a game-tying home run in Game 7 of the World Series.

In addition to their careers overlapping, Rojas is now looking to take something of a lead from Kershaw.

According to Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times, the veteran infielder wants to enjoy his final season much in the same fashion as Kershaw did last year.

“My wife and my kids call him Uncle Kersh because of the joy he had throughout the year,” Rojas said. “He was really happy all year. He wasn’t really caught up in numbers or stats. He was just enjoying his time. I really wish I can do a little bit of what he did last year. I hope I can enjoy it as much as he did last year.

“So I’m going to be Uncle Miggy this year.”

Kershaw did not announce his retirement plans until the middle of September, whereas Rojas got out in front of 2026 being the final year he will play. Rojas shared that news in conjuction with re-signing with the Dodgers on a one-year deal.

He additionally revealed plans to join the Dodgers front office in a player development role after retiring.

"Learning a little bit from every area and seeing what I'm going to be good at. I want to be a coach, but maybe I’m going to be good at something else," Rojas said earlier this year. "I feel like that’s something that I want to realize about myself.

"Coach a little bit of everything, TV maybe, work in the front office a little bit with Andrew and company. And definitely learn a little bit more from Doc and what they value as a team, as a player.”

Miguel Rojas' career

Rojas signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 2005 as an international free agent out of Venezuela. He joined the Dodgers seven years later and made his MLB debut with the team in 2014.

But that offseason saw Rojas included along with Dee Strange-Gordon, Dan Haren and cash in a trade with the Miami Marlins for Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, Andrew Heaney and Kiké Hernández. Rojas returned to the Dodgers in January 2023, as the Marlins traded him for Jacob Amaya.