The Dodgers’ All-MLB haul came up empty on the position-player side this year, but two arms still found their way onto the second team.
Left-hander Tarik Skubal and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto were both named to the All-MLB Second Team, according to Sonja Chen of MLB.com. It’s the first time since the All-MLB teams debuted in 2019 that Los Angeles does not have a single player on the First Team.
Skubal’s season was shaped by elbow surgery, which limited him to 26 starts. Even so, he put together a strong year between the Detroit Tigers and Dodgers, going 12-7 with a 2.72 ERA and 186 strikeouts over 158 2/3 innings.
Yamamoto, meanwhile, completed his second fully healthy big league season and again finished in the top five in National League Cy Young voting. He went 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA and struck out 182 batters across 185 innings.
The Dodgers also saw Shohei Ohtani miss out on the NL MVP award for the first time since 2022. He finished second behind Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in the 2026 race.
Ohtani was trying to win a third straight NL MVP, but injuries to his knee and biceps left him behind Crow-Armstrong, who became the first Cub in team history to post a 40-40 season. Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times outlined what Ohtani will need to do to get back on top and noted that an impending lockout could actually give him more time to get fully healthy on both sides of the ball.
That same lockout timeline could affect how the Dodgers handle Ohtani’s pitching buildup. In that scenario, Lee wrote, it might make sense for him to delay a ramp-up until the lockout is over and the season schedule is settled. The two sides have a little more than two weeks to sort through those decisions, since once the lockout starts, teams can’t communicate with players on their 40-man rosters.
Elsewhere, former Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech isn’t done yet. He didn’t throw a pitch during the 2026 season, but Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon, and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that he is aiming for a comeback in 2027 and is set to throw for teams on Saturday.
In Other News...
Dodgers Face A Costly Infield Decision After Key Departures
The Dodgers are already looking ahead to how they patch up the infield after a pair of familiar faces moved on, and the early free-agent market has given them a couple of practical options. According to The Athletic, Los Angeles has shown interest in Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Mauricio Dubon as it weighs how to replace the departures of Miguel Rojas, who retired, and Kike Hernandez, who is now a free agent.
Both players bring the kind of flexibility the Dodgers tend to value, with the club evaluating not just defense but whether either can add enough offense to make the fit worthwhile. It is the sort of decision that can quietly shape a roster for months, especially for a team that likes to keep its bench and infield mix adaptable, and the next move will say plenty about how aggressively the Dodgers want to address that opening. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers May Be Letting A Rival Steal A Major Rotation Prize
Tarik Skubal has quickly become one of the most closely watched names on the market, with the Dodgers among the clubs circling as they weigh how far to go for a frontline arm. Los Angeles has been tied to a short-term, high-value approach, which fits the way the club often balances urgency with long-term flexibility, but it is not the only contender in the mix. The Mets, Padres and Blue Jays are also involved, turning this into the kind of bidding situation that can move fast once one team decides to push harder.
The Blue Jays, in particular, appear capable of changing the conversation if they decide to lean into a longer-term proposal, the sort of structure they reportedly explored with Kyle Tucker. That leaves the Dodgers in an interesting spot, interested but maybe not yet as aggressive as some of the other suitors. With talks still ongoing, the question is whether Los Angeles is waiting for the market to come to it or whether a rival is about to set the pace on one of the winters biggest rotation prizes. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Face One Contract Problem In Tarik Skubal Pursuit
Tarik Skubals arrival last season gave the Dodgers exactly what they hoped for when they swung the trade, and he backed it up with strong work in both the regular season and the postseason. So it is no surprise that Los Angeles is expected to stay in the mix if the left-hander reaches free agency, especially for a club that has never shied away from chasing elite talent when it believes the fit is right.
The complication is the kind that can shape an entire winter: money. The Dodgers have to weigh the expected cost of a long-term Skubal deal against broader financial concerns, including the possibility of a future MLB salary cap, and that could make them more cautious than usual about how far they go. Even with their track record of landing top free agents, this is the sort of contract decision that can force a team to choose between staying aggressive and protecting its long-term flexibility. [Read more 🡒]