Who Replaces the Dodgers' Departing Free Agents?

Looking at the Dodgers' contingency plans.

Oct 11, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) reacts during the fifth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game one of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Los Angeles Dodgers had a total of nine players depart from the major league roster to enter free agency.

While the Dodgers will look to bring some of them back, they most certainly will not retain all of them, leaving some holes on the roster.

For the purpose of this exercise, we'll say the Dodgers don't bring back any of their free agents, thus leaving nine holes on the roster.

Here are the top internal candidates to replace them.

The Starting Pitchers

Tarik Skubal, LHP
Eric Lauer, LHP

The Dodgers have two starting pitchers on the open market in Skubal and Lauer. Fortunately, LA has plenty of starting pitching depth to replace them.

Assuming the team wants to keep a six-man rotation in 2027 — and it would be a big surprise if they didn't — they'd have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Justin Wrobleski and Roki Sasaki as the top six.

In the form of depth, they have Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and Landon Knack, among others.

The Dodgers would love to bring back Skubal. They'd be fine even if they didn't.

The Relievers

Alex Vesia, LHP
Evan Phillips, RHP
Blake Treinen, RHP
Kris Bubic, LHP
Brusdar Graterol, RHP

The first three players on this list have all played critical roles in the Dodgers bullpen since 2021. Bubic was just a late-season flier while Graterol hasn't played since 2024.

Assuming the Dodgers have a seven-man bullpen in 2027 — and everyone's healthy — the Opening day squad could look like this:

Edwin Diaz, RHP
Tanner Scott, LHP
Edgardo Henriquez, RHP
Brock Stewart, RHP
Jack Dreyer, LHP
Will Klein, RHP
Ben Casparius, RHP

Depth options then include right-handers Paul Gervase, Seth Halvorsen, Kyle Hurt and Bobby Miller.

The Dodgers would be fine if they didn't make a bullpen addition. However, it's clear they could use at least one — and specifically a left-handed reliever — this offseason.

The Position Players

Kiké Hernandez, UTIL
Miguel Rojas, INF

Rojas retired and has since joined the Dodgers' player development staff. That leaves Hernandez as the only true position player free agent.

The Dodgers could look to bring Hernandez back, but will likely prefer to get younger at that spot. Internal options to replace him include infielders Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim and just about any of their top prospect outfielders such as Josue De Paula, James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard.

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