Dodger Notes Going Into February

Shohei Ohtani will absolutely not be pitching in the WBC.  His choice.  However there seems to be a huge issue with players not being cleared for insurance purposes.  Ohtani would not have been cleared to pitch, but he can DH.  Francisco Lindor and a slew of Puerto Rican players are currently not covered by insurance, but their cases are under review.  Puerto Rico is sufficiently concerned that they are considering withdrawing from the WBC.  This could turn out to be more of a problem than just Puerto Rico withdrawing as a team, because Puerto Rico is hosting one of the WBC Pools.

Miggy Ro was also advised that he will not have insurance due to his age.  Players lose insurance for the WBC once they turn 37.  Seems arbitrary.  Miggy Ro turns 37 on February 24, nine days before the WBC exhibition games are due to begin (March 3).

Technically, the Dodgers could allow Miggy to play without insurance, as long as they were willing to deal with the consequences of him getting injured.  The same thing happened to fellow Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera who was not insured in the last WBC but Detroit allowed him to play knowing that it was his last year, and he was not expected to have a big role.  Cabrera was 40 at the time.

This is an evolving story.

Freddie Freeman says he wants to play 4 more years, presumably as a Dodger.  I fully expect the Dodgers to extend Freddie for 2028 and 2029, the year he turns 40 (September 12, 2029).  This will give Freddie 20 years in MLB, 12 with Atlanta and 8 with LAD.  I do not presume to know what Freddie thinks, so I have no idea which hat he will don going into Cooperstown.  It is not unprecedented that he could go in without a hat.

• He has 2,431 hits. He should reach 3,000 in 2029.
• He has 367 HR. He should eclipse 400 in 2027.
• He has 547 doubles. He could approach Albert Pujols’ 686 (5^th career).  Freddie is currently the active leader in doubles, and is currently tied for 34^th All-Time with Manny Ramirez, one ahead of Derek Jeter.  Freddie is one double behind ARod and 2 behind Chipper Jones.  Paul Goldschmidt is closest active pursuer with 477.
• He has 1,322 career RBI. He is currently 103^rd on All-Time Career RBI list.  He should approach top 35. Paul Goldschmidt is closest active pursuer with 1,232.
• His career bWAR is 64.2. He should surpass 75.

Freddie will join the LAD front office in some capacity once his playing days are through.

Hyeseong Kim is entering what could be a very pivotal year for him.  Is he the regular 2B or platoon/utility player?  He is gifted defensively, and as talented as he is, I am not sure he makes the plays that Tommy Edman made last year in the WS on a bad ankle.

Edman says he is working towards being ready for opening day, but does not know if he will get there.  He says he will not start the year at 90%, so he will undoubtedly be slow to ramp up to game speed and take the necessary time to get to 100%.

Tommy Edman said his offseason surgery addressed ligament damage in that right ankle as well as some bone spurs.

Will be a more gradual build-up this spring. Edman said Opening Day remains a possibility.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) January 31, 2026

Tommy explained that his return will follow a carefully managed progression rather than an accelerated push back to full baseball activity. Ligament repairs typically require measured workload increases, and the Dodgers have shown no interest in rushing the process as camp approaches.

Like with Blake Snell, who says he could be ready for opening day but management is not going to rush it, it sure looks like AF/BG is taking the decision out of the players hands.  Will Freddie also get a slower than normal roll-out?

Thus, Kim should have a clear runway to impress enough to get the 2B job out of ST.  HOWEVER, Kim will be playing for Team Korea in the WBC and not with the Dodgers for much of ST.  The Japan Pool teams will undoubtedly have a similar exhibition schedule with NPB teams as do the other Pool teams have with MLB teams.  Those games start March 3.  Will Kim be with the Dodgers at all prior to WBC?  Or return just a week before the regular season starts?

Alex Freeland and Andy Ibáñez will get extended opportunities to showcase their talents and make an impression.  If Edman starts the season on the IL (likely), Kim and Freeland will be fighting for that last roster spot.  Ibáñez does not have any options, and it is unlikely that the Dodgers will DFA him. He comes with a $1.2MM contract. One thing I do not know is whether Ibáñez has ever been outrighted before. If not, it is possible that Ibáñez could be outrighted.  If he has been outrighted he could refuse to go to MiLB, but that would require him to become a free agent, and forfeit his MLB contract.  That is a lot of $$$ to lose.  I also believe that the Dodgers gave him some assurance that he will break with the team.

It behooves Freeland to get out to a hot start and stay hot, offensively and defensively.  Freeland will be getting a more than fair look at both 2B and 3B, as will Ibáñez.  Meanwhile, Kim will be in Tokyo playing in the WBC for Team Korea.

Gavin Stone and River Ryan should get extended opportunities in ST, even with their innings monitored.  But, neither are expected to crack the rotation out of ST.  They are currently #7 and #8 on the rotation list for LAD.  Even with Blake Snell not expected to be ready to start on opening day, he could be the #6 starter, and possibly not be needed until the Dodgers 13 game stretch beginning April 17.

The season starts with 3 games, open date, 3 games, open date, 6 games, open date, 6 games, open date, 13 games.

I fully expect that Snell will be on the IL to start the season and stay there until he is ready to start.  Justin Wrobleski could fill in on one of the days, with Ben Casparius as a piggyback option.

The OKC season starts March 27, and that is when I expect to see Ryan and Stone pitching. Landon Knack should be the #3 starter with Wrobo to be potentially optioned once Snell is activated, depending as to how the LAD bullpen fills out.

Will Jackson Ferris be assigned to OKC or Tulsa.

Not that it has been announced, but Bobby Miller seems assured to start the season in the bullpen giving Ferris and Chris Campos a shot at starting at AAA.  Fangraphs has Miller listed as a reliever and Kyle Hurt as a starter. I am not sure how that designation is made, but it is obviously open to change, and undoubtedly will.

The MiLB season has 6 game series with an open date on Monday.  Thus, MiLB needs 6 starters.  There are a lot of questions as to how the OKC rotation and bullpen will be filled, and much will have to do as to how they pitch in ST.