The Dodgers might’ve pulled off back-to-back World Series titles, but that doesn’t mean everything’s been smooth sailing. If you look back at how their starting rotation was supposed to look in 2025, and how it actually played out, you realize they were way closer to disaster than the trophy case suggests.

Remember the hype before the season? That projected five-man rotation was being called the best in baseball: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki. In reality, it barely held together. Of those five, only Yamamoto managed to make 30-plus starts all year. And at one point in April, the Dodgers had a staggering 12 pitchers on the injured list!

So yes, the championships are real, but so is the wake-up call. The Dodgers are still shopping for big-name arms in free agency, but 2025 showed that star power alone doesn’t protect you from serious cracks under the surface.

“But if the Dodgers are truly concerned, they have external avenues to explore — likely via trade… When it comes to starting pitching, it’s best to refer to a long-time saying uttered frequently by executives: You can never have too much of it.” The Athletic’s Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya said.

After barely dodging a bullet last season, the big question is what the Dodgers are actually planning to do in 2026. As per Dave Roberts, a six-man rotation is on the table, mainly to keep pitchers healthy.

Internally, Emmet Sheehan is expected to be part of that mix, with River Ryan, Gavin Stone, Ben Casparius, and Justin Wrobleski also in line to get looks once spring training rolls around.

But is that really enough? Probably not. As the Dodgers themselves seem to believe, you can never have too much pitching, and relying only on internal options still leaves some gaps. And that’s where a trade could come into play.

That idea lines up with reports that the Dodgers are showing interest in Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. He’s been one of the NL’s most reliable starters for years and just turned in the best season of his career. Peralta went 17–6 with a 2.70 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP, and 10.4 SOs per nine innings over 176.2 innings in 33 starts. So, a good filler for the Dodgers!

Milwaukee won’t be short on suitors, but the Dodgers stand out. MLB ranked them as having the best farm system in baseball during the 2025 season, and the combination of big-league talent and high-end prospects makes them especially appealing to a team like the Brewers that’s hunting for maximum return. Whether that’s major-league-ready players, prospects, or a mix of both, the Dodgers can offer it.

Still, in the short term, there’s plenty of uncertainty. We know the Dodgers are exploring options, but exactly how aggressive they’ll be and what their final plan will look like remain up in the air.

The bullpen is another concern for the Dodgers

When it comes to pitching problems, the Dodgers’ starting rotation wasn’t the only thing hanging by a thread last year. The bullpen had its own share of close calls. And at times, it nearly unraveled. Over the 2025 season, Dodgers relievers posted a 4.27 ERA and racked up 27 blown saves, a clear sign of how shaky things got late in games.

Moreover, injuries and uneven performances from veterans like Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates left the team without a dependable right-handed arm they could trust on a nightly basis. That inconsistency forced the Dodgers to scramble far more often than they’d like.

They did make a big move by bringing in Edwin Díaz, and there’s no denying the impact he can have. Díaz re-established himself as one of baseball’s elite closers, piling up 28 saves for the Mets with a dominant 1.63 ERA and 98 SOs in 2025.

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Still, expecting him to singlehandedly fix a bullpen that had major issues feels unrealistic.

Because of that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Dodgers make a few more bullpen moves before everything’s said and done.