It’s still ridiculously early in the offseason and many moves will be made. But LA’s roster is very pitcher-heavy at the moment.
We are still in the relative infancy of the Major League Baseball offseason, with only a handful of mostly minor transactions across the sport over the last week. Rosters at the moment, basically by design given where we are on the calendar, are incomplete, like musical chairs before anyone sits.
But it is a little bit weird at the moment to see 24 pitchers and only 14 position players on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.
Among those pitchers are Gavin Stone, Emmet Sheehan, Kyle Hurt, and River Ryan, who will miss either all or most of the 2025 season after surgeries this year. They’ll all find their way to the 60-day injured list eventually, but that roster mechanism can’t be used until spring training starts.
Reporting dates haven’t been announced yet, and by rule pitchers and catchers can’t be asked to report earlier than 43 days prior to opening day, which would be February 12. But given that the Dodgers and Cubs will open the regular season a week early in Japan, they will likely both start spring training a few days early too, like the Dodgers did in 2024 before their South Korea opener.
But the point is those four pitchers will still count against the 40-man roster until early February, and will have to be worked around when assembling the rest of the roster.
With 20 functional pitchers on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers will almost certainly add more. During the 2024 season, their usual roster split was 22-23 pitchers and 17-18 position players, for reference.
One of those additions will be Clayton Kershaw, who declined his player option but will undoubtedly be back. His readiness for spring training and the regular season remains to be seen, following surgeries on his left foot and left knee on November 6.
A wrinkle in all this is if the Dodgers happen to sign Roki Sasaki, he won’t count against the 40-man roster right away. Because he’s considered an international amateur and is subject to bonus pool limits, Sasaki will receive a signing bonus and signed to a minor league deal. He would be added to the 40-man roster later, when he makes the team.
Given that active rosters must contain 13 position players, the Dodgers will obviously add position players as well. Four of those position players are catchers, so in terms of planning for the active roster there are really just 12 position players at the moment, and that’s with both Andy Pages and James Outman active.
Other additions will be made.
A Teoscar Hernández reunion in Los Angeles seems best for all parties. The Dodgers will definitely kick the tires on Juan Soto. The defensive versatility of Tommy Edman gives the Dodgers options when adding players, no matter which middle infield position Mookie Betts plays.
There’s still room to add at the moment, with two open spots. More might be opened up if the Dodgers non-tender anyone on November 19, or try to sneak someone through waivers to keep them around, but off the 40-man roster.
There might not be too much of a logjam when it comes to adding prospects to protect from the Rule 5 Draft — the deadline for that is November 19 — mostly because three of the must-adds were already added during the season — Justin Wrobleski, Ben Casparius, and Edgardo Henríquez. Austin Gauthier is a possibility to be added, as he started games at shortstop, second base, third base, and both corner outfield spots and hit at every level before an 81 wRC+ in 106 games in Triple-A this year.
Dalton Rushing, named the Branch Rickey Award winner in 2024 as the Dodgers minor league player of the year, could very well play his way onto the 40-man roster in 2025, but because he was a college draftee in 2022 he doesn’t have to be added until next November.
The main takeaway here is that while the Dodgers roster might be lopsided now, their offseason cart is still empty, there’s more shopping to do, and plenty of time to do it.