A very early look at the 2027 Dodgers

The Dodgers have three months to prepare for spring training 2027, while also figuring out what they need to do before the impending lockout begins.

Nine players from the 2026 team have now reached free agency, and Tarik Skubal is the prized possession that every team will have their eyes on this offseason. Even with Skubal's indefinite future with the team, the Dodgers still possess one of the strongest teams not just in the National League, but in all of baseball. The triumvirate of MVPs at the top of the lineup remains a constant, and the team still has a four-headed monster in the rotation once Shohei Ohtani returns to his two-way status.

Sonja Chen of MLB.com analyzes how the Dodgers may shape up for the 2027 season— regardless of Skubal's landing spot— signifying a potential youth movement that can help energize an aging core.

The Dodgers never shy away from bringing in free agents or swinging trades, but they should be able to upgrade some areas of their roster internally. Let's take a stab at making a way-too-early Opening Day roster projection, exclusively with players who are already in the organization.

Stephen J. Nesbitt, Chad Jennings and Tim Britton of The Athletic have already created a way-too-early power rankings for the 2027 season. The obvious top spot goes to the now-reigning World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers, but the Dodgers are right behind them at the no. 2 spot.

The point is, even after their flaws were exposed in the National League Championship Series, these are still the Dodgers. Fourteen straight playoff appearances. Three championships in the past seven years. Five pennants in the past 10. So, yeah, whatever the new collective bargaining agreement brings, we're guessing they'll find a way to be pretty good next year, too.

The Dodgers are no strangers to having an exorbitant offseason, as they have shown over the last three years. The team will once again be frontrunners for high-end talent, but they might also be in the market to either acquire or send away start talent, notes Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times .

If the solution involves personnel changes, however, a trade might be necessary to shake up the Dodgers' veteran position-player group. Whether the Dodgers would want to part with one of their clubhouse leaders, and whether another team would be interested in taking on (or the Dodgers would pay down) any of those contracts, remains to be seen.