Every Los Angeles Dodgers free agent at the start of the offseason still remains available, but the team may soon shift their focus to that group after signing Blake Snell.
The Dodgers have seven players from their 2024 roster who are currently free agents. Of those, three are starting pitchers in the form of Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty. Kershaw’s return to the Dodgers is already a certainty, but the signing of Snell potentially has Flaherty as the odd man out.
While the Dodgers remain interested in Buehler, he too may not be back next season.
“We’ve had different conversations with our own guys. From our standpoint, throughout it, the only thing we can control is being honest and having conversations with those guys,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said when asked about the status of current Dodgers free agents.
“We have a lot of respect for them. They’ve put themselves in this position and they deserve the right to figure out what’s best for them and their family. The only thing we can control is being honest.
“So from our standpoint, stepping away from specific free agents, we’re still focused on what we can do to get better and improve our chances of winning a World Series in 2025. We’ll continue to talk through trade stuff and free agents, and figure out what potentially lines up.”
Teoscar Hernández, Kiké Hernández and Blake Treinen are three other free agents that the Dodgers should realistically be able to re-sign. Joe Kelly is on the open market as well.
The Dodgers have been engaged in negotiations with Juan Soto, but in reality might be on the verge of keeping Teoscar Hernández with the team.
Dodgers didn’t want to ‘force’ qualifying offer on Walker Buehler
The Dodgers decided against extending the qualifying offer Buehler for the 2025 season.
Had they done so and he accepted it, Buehler would have remained under contract with the Dodgers for one year at a $21.05 million salary. However, extending the one-year pact likely would’ve stunted Buehler’s market and arguably forced his hand, which the Dodgers wanted to avoid.
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