Dodgers focusing on their lengthy to-do list

(Dodgers, from B10]

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FROM bottom left, clockwise, the Dodgers have been linked to top free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker, Muncy's $10-million team option should be picked up and reliever Alex Vesia returns to a crowded bullpen.

(DAVID ZALUBOWSKI, Associated Press ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times ROBERT GAUTHIER, Los Angeles Times)

areas we want to really target and making sure we have the requisite depth.”

What is clear, however, is that if there is a big-name player the team wants to pursue this winter, they could do so without raising payroll from their already historic heights of last year. They have a lot of previously committed money, but plenty of wiggle room relative to their 2025 payroll, too.

One of the big decisions the Dodgers will have to make this offseason is how much of last year’s team they want to bring back.

The clock is already ticking on their $10-million team option for third baseman Max Muncy, which either has to be picked up or declined by Thursday (though, given that relatively affordable amount, it’d be a surprise if they didn’t bring him back).

Then there will be the matter of Kiké Hernandez and Miguel Rojas, free agents who have voiced their hopes of returning next year. Neither player flashed in the regular season. Rojas posted an exactly league-average OPS+ of 100, but saw his batting average decline from .283 in 2024 to .262 this past year. Hernandez hit just .203 while battling an elbow injury, his lowest mark since 2016.