The Dodgers are heading into an offseason with nine players set to reach free agency, and two familiar names stand out for very different reasons: left-hander Alex Vesia is the one they can’t really let walk, while utility man Kiké Hernandez is the one they can afford to lose.
Vesia has quietly become one of the most dependable arms in the Dodgers’ bullpen since arriving before the 2021 season. He logged 41 relief appearances that first year, then hasn’t dipped below 56 appearances in any season since. Over the past three years alone, he’s posted career highs in workload with 67, 68 and 72 games, and this season he turned in a 2.64 ERA with 74 strikeouts across 58 innings.
The overall body of work is even stronger. In six seasons with Los Angeles, Vesia owns a 2.87 ERA over 332.1 innings, and in the postseason he’s been even sharper, putting up a 1.59 ERA in 31 appearances covering 22.2 innings. He’s also evolved into a real late-inning piece, collecting one save in each season from 2021 through 2023 before adding 13 saves over the last three seasons.
He made $3.65 million in 2026, but a raise is coming. Spotrac projects him for a two-year, $14.1 million deal, though the final number could land higher. With several bullpen regulars leaving this winter, keeping Vesia makes a lot of sense, especially since he has also made it clear he’d like to stay.
Hernandez’s case looks very different. He’s never been an All-Star in 13 seasons and owns a career OPS of .706, but none of that has stopped him from carving out a huge place in Dodgers history. He’s been part of three World Series titles since 2020 and has spent portions of 10 seasons in Los Angeles, appearing in 97 postseason games - the most by any player in franchise history.
He’s also delivered the kind of October punch that can’t be ignored. Hernandez has 17 career postseason homers, 12 of them with the Dodgers, tying him for 18th all-time with David Ortiz, Jim Thome and Aaron Judge.
Still, the rest of the picture has changed. Hernandez was limited to 41 regular-season games this year and went just 1-for-14 in the postseason. At 35, he’s past his peak, and for a Dodgers roster that needs more youth among its position players, there may not be a spot for the longtime fan favorite.
Hernandez once said he would only play for the Dodgers, but this year he left the door open to sign with another team in free agency.
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