The Los Angeles Dodgers had a quiet offseason before the MLB Winter Meetings began this week in Orlando (before Tuesday).
Prior to Tuesday, their only major free-agent acquisition was signing infielder Miguel Rojas to a one-year, $5.5 million contract — a move that surprised no one. However, things changed in that department when LA signed arguably the biggest and best name in free agency, All-Star closer Edwin Diaz.
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LA is on pace to be big winners this winter, something that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t expect.
On Monday, Roberts advised against setting any lofty expectations regarding major moves before the start of spring training.
“We’re very confident with where the roster is at right now, on the pitching side, the positional player side,” Roberts told reporters at the MLB Winter Meetings on Monday. “Obviously, there are opportunities and potential opportunities to upgrade the roster and we’re always looking to do that. But there’s really no big splash that needs to be made, because this team is still focused, and there’s talk of a three-peat. So this is a focused team.”
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Roberts struck a different tone than many expected the Dodgers would take at the Winter Meetings after reports that the team could be looking to get aggressive in Orlando surfaced. At the end of the day, Roberts could have been playing his cards close to his chest as the team worked behind the scenes to acquire a big-name free agent or negotiate a trade.
Prior to the Diaz signing, the media speculated that the Dodgers could be acquiring a reliever capable of becoming the closer. After signing Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million deal before the 2025 season, he largely disappointed and didn’t make an appearance in the postseason.
“I still feel that last year was an outlier year for Tanner Scott. Not to say that he needs to be a dedicated closer, but I feel that he’s going to be much improved next year. There were some things physically that he was dealing with, some that were talked about some that weren’t. But yeah, I think getting a high leverage reliever is never a bad thing.”
Now the Dodgers have arguably the best closer in baseball in Diaz. If Scott can turn things around in 2026, Los Angeles will be a force to be reckoned with in the late innings.
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