Dodgers Team News

2023 Roster Update: Who Have the Dodgers Added This Offseason?

The Dodgers didn’t have themselves a usual offseason this winter. While teams spent big bucks throwing money around to the market’s top players, the Dodgers took a step back. They lowered their payroll by a pretty significant margin, and saw a ton of their top contributors find new homes.

However, even though their offseason was much quieter than usual, they still did make some new additions. And being in the clubhouse during spring training, the team looked and felt very different.



So, if you, like many Dodger fans, are struggling to remember all the team’s new additions, and want to find one central place with all that information, you’re in the right place. Here’s all the major (and some minor) additions the Dodgers made this offseason, breaking them up by positional categories. Let’s start with the hurlers:

Pitchers:

Noah Syndergaard: The former All-Star was one of the biggest additions the Dodgers made this offseason, paying him $13 million to come to LA. In his introductory press conference, Syndergaard noted a big reason for him wanting to come here is “everything they touch turns to gold.” Syndergaard saw what Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney were able to do with LA’s pitching coaches, and wanted to have a similar revitalization of his career. And for what it’s worth, I was talking about the Dodgers signing Syndergaard all offseason long, and see him turning into one of the steals of the offseason — or in his words, gold.

Shelby Miller: Another former All-Star, Miller has slowly transitioned into being a full-time reliever. The Dodgers added him on a one-year, $1.5 million deal, and like Syndergaard, hope they can help him revitalize his career. He’ll likely make the Opening Day roster, but there’s no guarantee he makes a season-long impact on this team. It’ll be up to him to earn his role.

Alex Reyes: Here’s a third former All-Star the Dodgers added to their pitching staff this offseason. Reyes was an All-Star most recently from this list, making the team in 2021 as a closer. However, Reyes missed the entire 2022 season with an injury, and won’t return until mid-June to July, according to an interview he did with our very own Doug McKain. However, he has a chance to make a big impact on this team, especially down the stretch and into the postseason. He’s on an even better one-year, $1.1 million deal.

Jimmy Nelson: It’s difficult to call this one an addition, as he was non-tendered and then magically just reappeared in the clubhouse at spring training. However, he didn’t pitch for the team last year due to injury, so we’ll call him an addition. We haven’t seen Nelson since 2021, when he had an impressive 1.86 ERA in 28 appearances for the Dodgers. If he can regain that form, this will be another great under-the-radar move.

Other Pitchers:

Adam Kolarek: The 2020 World Series champion with the Dodgers flamed out in the league after the three-batter minimum rule took out his niche against lefties. However, LA brought him back as a non-roster invitee, hoping they can find a role for him at some point in 2023.

Wander Suero: The 2019 World Series champion with the Nationals has a 4.61 ERA across 185.1 innings pitched in his MLB career. He was also a non-roster invitee, who will hope to carve out a role at some point in the season if injuries start piling up.

Jordan Yamamoto: Another guy with MLB experience, he has a 6.05 ERA in 96.2 career innings at the MLB level. He agreed to a minor league deal with the team, and will likely provide depth at the Triple-A level.

Position Players:

J.D. Martinez: The Dodgers’ biggest offensive addition of the offseason, the five-time All-Star will bring a ton of slug to LA’s lineup at $10 million this season. Martinez is going to be the team’s full-time designated hitter, and will probably play around 140 of the games at the position. He will have one job with this team, and that’s to drive in runs. Over the last two seasons, Martinez has 44 home runs, 161 RBIs, 85 doubles, 309 hits and an impressive OPS of .829. The Dodgers will hope to see a lot of that in 2023.

David Peralta: This was one of the later offseason additions the Dodgers made, adding Peralta just before spring training. Peralta was added as some depth in the outfield, but his role will be much larger now that Gavin Lux is out for the season and Chris Taylor will play more infield. Peralta spent a lot of his career killing the Dodgers as a member of the Diamondbacks — so now, he’ll try to bring that success to Los Angeles.

Miguel Rojas: The Dodgers traded for the longtime shortstop to add some additional depth in the infield. However, with Lux gone, his role is now enormous. Rojas is going to be the team’s starting shortstop, playing around 75 to 80 percent of the games at the position, according to manager Dave Roberts. He’s an incredible defender and a below-average hitter, but Roberts thinks the Dodgers will be able to unlock something to improve his bat. Either way, his role is suddenly going to be huge. Also, the Dodgers already extended him through 2024, with a club option for 2025.

Jason Heyward: The Dodgers added the longtime veteran outfielder on a minor league deal, and he immediately showed up to Dodger Stadium to start putting in the work. While at first there seemed to be no reason for him to be on the Opening Day roster, the more he impressed at camp — and the more Freddie Freeman talked about their friendship — the more it became clear that he’ll likely have a real role with the team this season. Heyward reportedly fixed something with his swing, so he may be in for a bounce back season. And at the very least, he can’t do much worse than Cody Bellinger’s 2022 season, and he’s getting a fraction of what Bellinger is getting to play in Chicago.

Yonny Hernandez: This was definitely one of the more under-the-radar moves of the offseason, and rightfully so. Hernandez has just 194 plate appearances at the big league level, and is hitting .198 with five doubles and six RBIs. However, Hernandez can play all over the infield, and has looked really good early in spring. No one knew who Chris Taylor was when the Dodgers acquired him from the Mariners for Zach Lee — so you never know what could happen with Hernandez in 2023.

Other Hitters:

Luke Williams: The Dodgers claimed Williams, then designated him for assignment and then brought him back as a non-roster invitee for spring training. He’s impressed early in camp, and could contribute at some point in 2023, especially with the lack of infield depth only being worsened with the Lux injury.

Steven Duggar: The first of two random outfield signings, the Dodgers added the five-year veteran on a minor league deal. He’ll provide depth in Triple-A, and could make an impact at some point in 2023 if there are injuries or if the young guys struggle.

Bradley Zimmer: The second of two random outfield signings, the Dodgers added the six-year veteran on a minor league deal. He’ll also provide depth in Triple-A, and could also make an impact at some point in 2023, for the same reasons that Duggar might.

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Noah Camras

Noah is an Editor for Dodgers Nation. He graduated from USC in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and minor in Sports Media Studies. He's been a Dodger fan his whole life, and his all-time favorite Dodgers are Matt Kemp and Russell Martin.

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