The Dodgers were swept by the Brewers in the NLCS and instead of vying for their third straight World Series, they'll be watching from home
Oct 16, 2026 at 9:02 am ET • 7 min read
The Los Angeles Dodgers dynasty is over, or has at least hit a major bump in the road. Thursday's Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers completed the four-game sweep and sent the two-time defending World Series champions home for the winter. Los Angeles' season is over, as is its stretch of eight consecutive postseason series wins dating back to 2024.
There is no getting around it: The Dodgers looked old in the NLCS. They are old too. Weighed by playing time, they had baseball's oldest collection of position players this season. Will Smith is 31. Shohei Ohtani is 32. Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández are 34. Freddie Freeman is 37. The team's core hitters are getting long in the tooth. It was obvious in the NLCS.
That said, the Dodgers remain extremely talented and have the resources (money and tradeable prospects) to improve their roster in the offseason, and again contend in 2027. As bad as they looked in the NLCS, there is no reason to think the Dodgers won't be among baseball's best teams next year -- and on the short list of legitimate World Series contenders.
Here now are three questions facing the Dodgers following their unceremonious NLCS sweep.
1. What is Shohei Ohtani's future?
The two-way star was hindered by health for a large chunk of 2026
In fact, let's talk about his future both short- and long-term. Ohtani was clearly diminished late in the regular season and into the postseason. He played through knee and biceps injuries and simply did not look like himself at the plate. His swing was all arms and there was little hard contact. Before his second-inning home run in Game 4 on Thursday, Ohtani hadn't gone deep since Aug. 18. His power vanished.
Here is Ohtani's expected slugging percentage, which is based on contact quality (exit velocity, launch angle, etc.), throughout this season. It slipped significantly late in the year:
Ohtani did not pitch after July 3 and had a start-and-stop in late August. He rehabbed his injuries, threw bullpen sessions and live batting practice, then had to shut it down before getting back on a mound in a game. Ohtani was playing like his usual MVP self until his injuries popped up in the second half. Once that happened, his season began to circle the drain.
The Dodgers now face two questions with Ohtani. One, does he need offseason surgery on the knee and/or biceps? And if he does need surgery, will the recovery cut into his 2027? Keep in mind that it is a near certainty there will be a lockout this offseason once the CBA expires on Dec. 1, and teams will be banned from communicating with their players. Ohtani would have to rehab on his own, without the team's input.
"It's hard to tell" if he'll require surgery, Ohtani said through an interpreter after Thursday's loss. He does, however, plan to pitch next season, he said.
Offseason surgery is the short-term question. Long-term, regardless of what he said in the shadow of the NLCS sweep, are Ohtani's days as a pitcher numbered? This has been a question since Day 1 of Ohtani's MLB career. His ability to be and remain a two-way player has long been doubted, but he has kept doing it, even if there have been some speed bumps along the way. Ohtani has made a career of doing what people said he couldn't.
The man is 32 now, though. He'll turn 33 next summer and the physical ailments (the knee, the biceps, two UCL surgeries, etc.) are beginning to add up. At some point, Ohtani won't be able to continue as a two-way player, and with each passing season, that point draws closer. Are we there now? Is this it? Is this the end of Ohtani's time as a pitcher? It could be, sure.
My guess is that Ohtani will continue to pitch next season and the Dodgers will happily let him because there is so much value to be gained even if he throws only 75 innings a year. You can't be as good as Ohtani without being stubborn. He's been stubborn in that he insists on playing both ways, and he has continued to do it well. I don't see him dropping it this winter.
It should surprise no one if Ohtani comes out next year, hits 40 home runs, makes 15 ace-caliber starts and wins his fifth MVP unanimously. Do not forget that he was playing at that level as recently as July. The recovery times for the knee and biceps injuries are an offseason question, for sure, and the bottom line is the "will he continue to pitch?" questions will always exist.
2. Will they move on from some longtime stalwarts?
Could the Dodgers say goodbye to Teoscar Hernández or some other familiar names?
The Dodgers are locked into so much of their core: Betts, Freeman, Ohtani, Smith, Kyle Tucker, etc. They aren't going anywhere. That said, there are a few members of the supporting cast, players who have been around for all three recent World Series wins, who might have to be shown the door this offseason for the sake of diversifying the lineup and getting younger and more athletic.
Finding a taker for the final season of Teoscar Hernández's contract and then plugging the precocious Josue De Paula into left field next season is a worthwhile move. It's difficult because Hernández is popular in the clubhouse, but, on the field, De Paula figures to give the Dodgers a better chance to win ballgames moving forward. (De Paula is a poor defender, but so is Hernández.)
The Enrique Hernández era has run its course. He hasn't been even an average regular-season player since 2022, and, for all his postseason heroics, he's barely scraping a .600 OPS in the last two Octobers. Tommy Edman is a better version of the same player. There's no need to carry both on the roster, plus Edman's injuries suggest a smaller role is needed. Less could be more.
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Max Muncy stayed healthy this season, hit 29 homers and posted 4.1 WAR, and is owed an affordable $10 million in 2027. Plus, it's a bad offseason to need an infielder. The free-agent market is very thin and you're not likely to find better than Muncy on the trade market. Still, he is 36. Keeping Muncy is justifiable, but it also makes sense to explore alternatives. It never hurts to look.
Blake Treinen has not been healthy and effective at the same time in two years. Alex Vesia's fastball sat 91-92 mph over these last few weeks. Both are free agents and the Dodgers have so many young hard-throwers in Triple-A that I think it's worth turning the page and injecting some younger arms into the bullpen. Evan Phillips may be in this camp, too.
Then again, who am I to doubt the Dodgers and their process? Disappointing NLCS aside, they have been baseball's most successful team of the 2020s, and if they want to remain in the Hernández and Muncy and Treinen business, I won't say they're wrong. It does appear that things are getting a bit stale, though. Incorporating youth would be sensible, and it isn't difficult to find ways to do it.
3. Will they retain Tarik Skubal?
It will cost a lot to keep the trade deadline addition atop the rotation
There's no sense in asking if the Dodgers can retain Tarik Skubal. Of course they can. They are baseball's biggest spenders and he is a Scott Boras client. Typically, all you need to do to get a Boras client is make the biggest offer, which the Dodgers can do. Maybe there's a salary cap that changes the equation. Based on what we know right now, yes, the Dodgers can, of course, re-sign Skubal.
Will they is a different matter. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will return next season. Ohtani could be back on the mound as well, as he indicated is the plan. Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski both pitched well for long stretches this year and are among the very best No. 5 starter options in the game. Gavin Stone, the team's 2024 innings leader, should return from shoulder surgery as well.
There is never a bad time to sign a pitcher like Skubal, and the Dodgers, with their World Series window still open, are well-positioned to bring him back. They have the money, they can easily clear rotation space, and all indications are that Skubal enjoyed his time with the team after coming over the trade deadline. This feels like a match made in free-agent heaven.
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Now it's just a matter of whether the Dodgers can get it done. Perhaps a salary cap or increased competitive balance tax penalties limit their spending; maybe they opt to spread their money around to multiple players; maybe another team just won't be denied. The Dodgers don't absolutely need Skubal. Re-signing him would up their odds of returning to the World Series, though, and help ensure their dynasty didn't end on Thursday night.
For his part, Skubal declined to comment on his impending decision after Game 4.
"I'm not going to comment on my future really at all," Skubal said, via MLB.com. "Today sucks, you know, and that's kind of where my head's at."
