MLB Winter Meetings: Big Moves by the Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are making moves this winter, coming off their second-straight World Series title.

The reigning champs have inked deals with a pitcher and a former big-league manager. They are also linked to multiple big-name players via free agency or trade.

The Dodgers’ spending habits are no surprise to those familiar with the landscape of the MLB over the past few years. Los Angeles led the league in total payroll in 2025 with a whopping $350 million total payroll allocation, according to Spotrac.

Some critics of the MLB’s payroll system criticize the Dodgers for heavily outspending other teams en route to championships. Manager Dave Roberts even poked fun at this notion during a postgame interview after their NLCS win over Milwaukee.

“Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball,” Roberts said to reporters, according to BRWalkoff on X.

Roberts, along with many others, doesn’t actually see it this way.

“Obviously, the Dodgers are not ruining baseball; it’s in a great state, and I was just taking a dig at these crazy people that say what we do,” Roberts said in an interview with FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd.

Dodgers Sign Edwin Diaz

The Dodgers clearly are not stopping their spending anytime soon. In a blockbuster decision, the Dodgers signed former Mets closer Edwin Diaz to a 3-year, $69 million contract on December 9, 2025, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. A deal that is a record high in terms of AAV (or average annual value), according to Passan. 

Diaz became a free agent this offseason after declining a $22.025 million qualifying offer from the New York Mets, according to Yahoo Sports. 

Because Diaz declined this qualifying offer and opted to sign with Los Angeles, the Mets will net a pick sometime after the 4th round in the upcoming MLB Draft, according to MLB Pipeline.

Diaz will likely slot into the closer’s role immediately for Los Angeles, whose bullpen was a notable weakness for the reigning champs. Due to injuries and poor performance from veterans like Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers relied heavily on their starting pitching rotation during their playoff run, even turning to rookie starter Roki Sasaki as a closer multiple times in big games.

Dodgers Front Office picks up Baldelli

Los Angeles also bolstered their front office, adding former Minnesota Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Baldelli was fired from his role as manager of the Twins in September, after a disappointing 70-92 season for Minnesota, according to MLB.com.

“This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set,” said a statement by the Minnesota Twins.

Baldelli will join the Dodgers in a front office special assistant role, according to Nightengale. The one-time manager of the year has ties to the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman. They both were on staff in Tampa Bay with the Rays, according to Nightengale.

It is not yet clear what the details of Baldelli’s contract are with Los Angeles.

Trade and Free Agency

While those are the only two major deals that the Dodgers have officially made so far this offseason, the MLB rumor mill has linked them to multiple big names, both in the trade and free agency markets.

According to David Pingalore of KTLA TV, the Dodgers have a tentative deal in place to trade for Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. This report comes from MLB’s winter meetings, which are being held this week in Orlando.

Rumors have been swirling for months about Detroit trading Skubal, who is coming off his second consecutive American League Cy Young Award.

Many have speculated about the Dodgers being the team to make the trade. They have both the money to sign Skubal to a long-term extension and enough value in their farm system, which was ranked first in the league by MLB.com, to give Detroit a hefty return for their star pitcher.

Not only have the Dodgers been linked to Skubal, but they are also speculated to be in the running for outfielders Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Harrison Bader, according to Sports Illustrated and Nightengale.