LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 18: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers speaks with the media during a press conference announcing his retirement from the MLB at Dodger Stadium on September 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have some important roster decisions to make as they look to move on from their latest World Series championship celebrations and prepare to chase yet another title.
The team has been outspoken about its interest in achieving a “three-peat,” but it could lose several veteran players who were critical to the latest championship. Miguel Rojas, who hit a clutch homer in World Series Game 7, and Kike Hernandez, who has been a staple of their recent playoff runs, are both free agents.
And the decision to bring them back might not be an easy one. The Dodgers should be looking to reload their roster with some younger impact talent, and both Rojas and Hernandez could be seen as the kinds of diminishing veterans who take up roster spots and salary that might otherwise be allocated toward reinforcements with higher ceilings.
No matter what, though, the Dodgers will be moving on from iconic starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. He announced his decision to retire just before the team’s latest playoff run ensued.
“The farewell season of Kershaw’s 18-year career had played out like a dream, from recording his 3,000th strikeout on the final pitch of his outing on July 3 to winning his last home start on Sept. 19 to being crowned champion — for a third time in six years — on Nov. 2,” Alden Gonzalez wrote for ESPN. “For years, Kershaw seemed to put an entire organization on his back.”
After earning three Cy Young Awards, a Most Valuable Player Award and 11 All-Star appearances in his time with the Dodgers, Kershaw acquired indispensable wisdom and clubhouse presence. That is something the Dodgers were hoping to continue to benefit from, as the team offered Kershaw a new job in the baseball operations department.
The organization, his former teammates and fans have been hoping that Kershaw will take some kind of role that keeps him as a near-daily presence with the team for next season. But he has decided to turn down the offer, suggesting it’s a decision that he’ll stick with for life.
“I don’t think I have any full-time jobs in my future,” Kershaw said, according to Andy McCullough of The Athletic. “Except full-time dad.”
With a fifth child on the way, Kershaw’s role at home could keep his hands pretty full for the foreseeable future. And while he’s likely to stop by Dodger Stadium from time to time, it seems he has decided that a return to baseball in a new full-time role is not in his future.