The Los Angeles Dodgers will need to find room on their 40-man roster in the coming days as the addition of top free agent Kyle Tucker should become official soon.
Dodgers Nation host Doug McKain listed four players whose roster spots may be in jeopardy ahead of the 2026 season.
Alex Call
The Dodgers acquired Alex Call at the trade deadline in 2025, and while he made plenty of appearances for LA throughout the remainder of the year, McKain believes he’s a name to watch should the Dodgers need a 40-man spot.
“It’s kind of interesting because Alex Call is an outfielder, and the Dodgers need an outfielder, and they traded for Alex Call,” McKain said. “And a lot of players, they can embrace certain roles with teams, but a lot of players too, they would rather be in situations where you can compete for more playing time. And right now it doesn’t feel like the Dodgers are very interested in giving Alex Call the opportunity to chase a starting role with this team.
“…But I think that from an option standpoint, we’ll see. Because he’s the fourth or fifth outfielder. You got Ryan Ward coming up. You got Michael Siani, who they brought in, who they claimed. And Siani is an elite defender. Ward, a great potential as a bat. What is Call’s ceiling?”
Call played 38 games for the Dodgers in the 2025 regular season, logging 73 at-bats and posting a reasonable .247/.333/.384 slash line. The Dodgers found their answer to the outfield woes in Tucker before winter’s end, so they may see Call as the odd man out.
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Alex Freeland
The Dodgers called Alex Freeland up towards the end of July, and gave him a month-long run at the MLB level while some of their key infielders sat on the injured list.
“Alex Freeland is pretty interesting too. Because you look at the infield right now, and you got Mookie Betts, Hyeseong Kim, Tommy Edman, Miguel Rojas, Max Muncy,” McKain said. “He’s a left-handed bat. He’s a solid glove. But he’s a shortstop. And he’s told me himself that he’s a shortstop. So Alex Call is another guy along with Alex Freeland, the Alexes, they could be in trouble as far as their roster spot goes.”
Through 29 games in MLB last season, Freeland batted .190 with two home runs and a .602 OPS. The Dodgers’ logjam in the infield became all the more crowded with the additions of Andy Ibanez and Ryan Fitzgerald, so another addition could be trouble for the Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect.
Ben Casparius
Ben Casparius spent most of 2025 in the majors with the Dodgers, marking the first season he had done so in his career. With new, high-profile additions to the bullpen, though, McKain thinks he could be the first person out of the bullpen.
“You look at the bullpen starting to add up,” McKain said. “Edwin Díaz one, Tanner Scott two, Alex Vesia three, Brusdar Graterol, Brock Stewart’s going to be back, Kyle Hurt. What happens with Gavin Stone and River Ryan and Roki Sasaki and guys like that? Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer. Ben Casparius had some really, really nice moments with this team. But if everyone performs to their capabilities and the guys returning are as good as we think they’re going to be…”
Casparius had a 4.64 ERA in his 46 appearances last season, striking out 71 batters in 77.2 innings pitched.
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Dalton Rushing
Dalton Rushing spent his first season in MLB largely as Will Smith’s backup, but still managed plenty of playing time. Despite this, McKain thinks his limited opportunities could stagnate his growth, but his status as a top prospect could lure suitors from around the league.
“And then four, Dalton Rushing is always an interesting one if the Tarik Skubal deal could possibly go down and he’s included in that,” McKain said. “And at that point, you’re the Dodgers, you got to bring up a backup catcher at some point. We saw what Ben Rortvedt did for this team. So there’s that with possible players that could be in jeopardy of losing their roster spot.”
Rushing batted .204 in 2025, hitting four homers and driving in 24 runs throughout the season.
In such a competitive team, even some of the better players’ spots are at jeopardy.
“The funny thing about this is on most teams, you’re not even really having this conversation because these are all players that would make up most rosters,” McKain said. “But guess what? You’re on a super team. You’re on the team. You’re on a team that could go down as one of the best ever in an organization that’s all in on winning multiple World Series titles. So because of that, you could be on the chopping block even as a good player. Anything can happen.”
Photo Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
