2026 Profile: Los Angeles Dodgers

Félix Forget
2026 Profile: Los Angeles Dodgers
Credit: Los Angeles Times

The 2026 Major League Baseball season will begin shortly. At Passion MLB, as has been the case for years, we are setting the stage for the season by introducing the 30 teams of Major League Baseball.

Today, the Dodgers are on the menu.

2025 Season

Fresh off their 2024 World Series victory, the 2025 Dodgers were seen as possibly the best team in history. The signings of Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, and Tanner Scott added even more firepower to a club that was already equipped to stay up late.

There was speculation that this club would threaten the Mariners' record of 116 wins in a season.

That said, the club won only 93 games in the regular season. Injuries ravaged the team, which wasn't exactly hitting the gas pedal either as it focused on peaking for the playoffs.

And sure enough, that's what happened: the Dodgers crushed the Reds, Phillies, and Brewers to make it to the World Series… where they faced tough opposition from the Blue Jays, forcing them to play a Game 7.

And you know how that story ends.

Additions and departures

At the beginning of winter, the Dodgers publicly stated that they expected a quieter winter than in previous years. But that was to underestimate them.

After Tanner Scott's struggles in 2025, the Dodgers wanted to strengthen their bullpen. And that worked out well, because Edwin Diaz was on the free agent market.

Three years and $69 million later, he headed to Los Angeles.

But in reality, signing Diaz wasn't even the biggest coup for the two-time defending champions this winter. From the beginning to the end of the offseason, the club was in the running for the services of the biggest fish on the market, Kyle Tucker.

A four-year, $60 million contract finally allowed the Dodgers to land Tucker.

Miguel Rojas, Evan Phillips, and Kiké Hernandez, who were all free agents, decided to return home as well.

In fact, the only player who played for the Dodgers in 2025 and signed a major league contract elsewhere for 2026 is Kirby Yates, who joined the Angels. However, it should be noted that the club also lost Clayton Kershaw, who retired, and Anthony Banda, who was traded to the Twins.

Strengths and weaknesses

The term “weakness” isn't really part of the Dodgers' vocabulary for 2026. On paper, this team is strong across the board.

In terms of hitters, the club will rely on a lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages, and Tommy Edman.

Good luck to opposing pitchers.

And in fact, the rotation may be even stronger than the lineup. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell (who could miss the start of the season), Emmett Sheehan, and Roki Sasaki give the club plenty of options on the mound.

Oh, and let's not forget that Ohtani will start pitching again from the beginning of the season this year.

If you had to name one, the club's weakness might be in the bullpen. Diaz will come in and help out, but despite the presence of other big names (Tanner Scott and Blake Treinen, among others), these guys struggled in 2025.

They have the talent to bounce back, but there are still some questions here.

Expectations for the 2026 season

Obviously, the one and only goal for the Dodgers in 2026 is to win the World Series. The club wants to become three-time defending champions, and with Tucker and Diaz on board (and Ohtani finally fully recovered from Tommy John surgery to start the season), it's even stronger than it has been in recent years.

On paper, the Dodgers have all the resources they need to break the record for the most wins in a season. And we can all agree that no one would be surprised if they did… but the priority is to go all out once October rolls around.

And to absolutely no one's surprise, they are by far the favorites to win the World Series this year.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!