The Los Angeles Dodgers' 2026 season — and quest to make history — is officially over.
On Thursday, the Dodgers lost Game 4 of the National League Championship Series to the Milwaukee Brewers, who completed the sweep over the reigning two-time defending champions in dominant fashion.
After being swept by the Dodgers in last year's NLCS, the Brewers returned the favor this year, and sent LA into the offseason much earlier than anyone anticipated.
The Brewers dominated the series from Game 1, holding the Dodgers' high-octane offense to just 11 runs.
While the Dodgers' pitching was fine, the Brewers' was dominant.
The Dodgers went just 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position throughout the series. Their superstar-laden offense was kept at bay by the NL's best bullpen.
“It’s a pretty simple answer,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said after Game 3. “We’re playing like s—, and they’re playing great.”
Now, the Dodgers are in unchartered waters, entering an offseason earlier than they have since 2023.
This offseason will be crucial for a Dodgers team with an aging, injury-prone roster that showed its weaknesses all year, and especially in October.
The Dodgers will have plenty of questions to answer about the makeup of this roster. In the midst of all of that, there will almost certainly be a lockout that could span well into the 2027 calendar.
Here are four big questions suddenly facing the Dodgers dynasty.
How Do the Dodgers Improve an Aging Core of Position Players?
Freddie Freeman is 36. Max Muncy is 35. Mookie Betts is 33. Shohei Ohtani is 31. Will Smith is 31.
The core players that made up this Dodgers dynasty are all in the back-half of their careers. The stars who led the Dodgers to two straight World Series titles went quiet at the plate when it mattered most.
The Dodgers clearly need to get younger in 2027. At the same time, it's impossible to do unless they move on from some of their core players.
Freeman, Betts, Muncy and Smith aren't going anywhere (nor should they). Tommy Edman, 31, has struggled mightily over the last two years, but has three years and nearly $40 million left on his deal.
Kyle Tucker, 29, has three years and $180 million left on his deal. Andy Pages is 25 and the center fielder of the future.
That leaves Teoscar Hernandez, who's 31 and entering the final year of his deal.
Left field stands to be the only clear area in which the Dodgers could get younger. That would likely mean making Josue De Paula the everyday left fielder, and the team then looking to trade Hernandez.
Of course, the Dodgers have made it clear they don't trust De Paula's defense right now. The fact that they won't have a full offseason to work with him due to the lockout will only make things more difficult.
Have We Seen the Last of Shohei Ohtani the Pitcher?
Then there's Ohtani, the greatest player in baseball who looked nothing like it for the last few months of the season.
Ohtani played through injuries for a majority of the year. A full two-way season — which only lasted half a season — clearly took a toll on his 31-year-old body.
So now what?
The Dodgers learned the hard way what happens when Ohtani is compromised as a hitter. They can't afford to not have him at his peak — or close to it — in the postseason.
So what does that mean?
Will they end Ohtani's two-way duties for good? Will they limit how much he can pitch? Will they try again in 2027, but this time asking Ohtani to be more honest about his injuries?
There's no right or wrong answer at this point in time. But over the next few months — and potentially longer — the Dodgers will have to find one that makes sense.
What to Do With the Injury-Prone Starting Rotation?
The Dodgers, when healthy, have what looks like the greatest starting rotation ever assembled in Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
Only problem? Those five were never healthy together.
Ohtani last pitched in early July. Skubal didn't join the team until August (more on him in a bit). Snell made just nine starts this regular season. Glasnow made 13.
The Dodgers have received a total of just 20 regular-season starts (104 innings) from Snell since signing him to a five-year, $182 million deal before 2025. In that same span, Glasnow has given them 164.1 regular-season innings.
For reference, Yamamoto pitched 185 regular-season innings just this year.
The Dodgers can't keep relying on pitchers who are unreliable. Snell's contract isn't going anywhere. Glasnow, who's entering the final year of his deal, is another story.
Will Tarik Skubal Be Back?
When the Dodgers traded three top prospects for Skubal on Aug. 1, they were expecting him to play a critical role in their eventual third consecutive World Series title.
That didn't happen, and Skubal is now set to enter free agency where he's expected to earn more than $400 million.
The Dodgers can theoretically afford Skubal (although it's unclear what payroll restrictions will come after the lockout, and if Skubal will sign before then).
However, does it make sense to allocate $400 million or more to a soon-to-be 30-year-old pitcher who's undergone three elbow surgeries in his career?
And that doesn't even answer the other side of the question: Does Skubal want to come back?
As a free agent, Skubal will have all the power. It's clear he's loved his time in Los Angeles. It's also clear he loved his time in Detroit (although who knows if they'll offer him anywhere close to what he's worth).
The Dodgers need Skubal. Other teams need him more. What that means for his free agency is anyone's best guess.
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