Los Angeles Dodgers fans hoping for a big offseason featuring a splash or two might want to brace themselves for disappointment. General manager Brandon Gomes recently spoke about LA’s offseason outlook while in Las Vegas, and his comments didn’t exactly foreshadow an aggressive, spending spree of a winter for the Dodgers.
LA’s most obvious area of need is the bullpen. Devin Williams, Edwin Diaz, and Pete Fairbanks are some names that have been floated in connection with the Dodgers in that regard. But is Gomes more interested in his in-house options? There’s been speculation that because LA has already taken on some big reliever contracts recently with mixed results (Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen), Gomes might be hesitant to keep beating a dead horse.
Perhaps Gomes is more interested in improving the team along the margins. After all, that’s not a bad strategy for a roster as star-studded and as deep as LA’s. At this point, the Dodgers are actually overstocked at certain positions, with Ben Rortvedt joining the Cincinnati Reds being the latest consequence of such a surplus.
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes discussed his offseason strategy, and he doesn’t sound under pressure to buy
Will Gomes make an exception to a “margins” mindset when it comes to the ‘pen, or is he truly going to play it ultra-conservative this offseason? His latest remarks from the GM summit in Vegas didn’t suggest an aggressive next few months for the back-to-back reigning champs.
“I think the mindset is still to approach the offseason and not have to go out and make big splashy trades at the deadline,” Gomes said, per the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris. “But what that all looks like? Thankfully, we haven’t had a ton of time to dive in, but we’re gonna look to do that here over this week and the coming weeks.”
“By being aggressive over the last couple offseasons, we do have a very, very good core in place,” Gomes added. “So it’s continuing to fine-tune and look at what the weaknesses on the roster are and try to address those … It’s being very targeted in who we go out and look to acquire. I think that holds true across the board, without many glaring holes.”
Despite Gomes’s comments, let’s not get too carried away here. It’s not like the Dodgers aren’t going to spend at all, especially with $87 million in salary coming off the books via Clayton Kershaw’s retirement and a few other expiring deals/non-tender decisions.
LA will be in on the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes, certainly. If anything, Gomes’s remarks weren’t a rigid harbinger of things to come, but more so a reflection of how near-perfectly set up the Dodgers already are. Gomes shouldn’t sleepwalk through the offseason or anything, but he can definitely relax a bit. If anything, too many moves could spoil what’s clearly a magical alchemy going on in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.
Perhaps all he’s trying to say is that if the Dodgers don’t land any marquee names, there’s nothing to worry about. They’re running it back with essentially the same group, and still have the No. 1 farm system in the sport to sway sellers at the 2026 deadline.