The Brewers didn’t just eliminate the Dodgers on Thursday night. They blew the whole thing open, sending the two-time champions home in a humiliating sweep and forcing Los Angeles into an offseason that starts with hard decisions.
Milwaukee’s run to its first World Series since 1982 leaves the Dodgers with a long list of questions, and the front office won’t get much time to sit with the shock. A roster built around several long-term pieces still has plenty of continuity, but there are also veterans, stopgaps and uncertain fits who look unlikely to be part of the next version of this team.
Blake Treinen is one of the clearest cases. He landed on the injured list on the final day of the regular season after his shoulder flared up during warmups on September 26, and the postseason return the Dodgers teased never materialized.
Treinen, 38, has not announced whether he intends to retire, but with just 29⅔ innings this season because of injuries, the end feels close. The Dodgers have been patient before.
This may be the point where they move on.
Evan Phillips is in a different spot, but the same general problem applies. Los Angeles brought him back on a one-year, $6.5 million deal after his Tommy John surgery in May 2025 and his non-tender at season’s end.
He did manage to get back on the mound by July 7, which says plenty about how quickly he recovered. Still, at 32, he no longer looks like the kind of younger, high-upside rescue project the Dodgers once found in him.
The roster needs a reset, and that works against him.
Miguel Rojas also appears to be at the finish line. He spent much of the season bouncing around retirement talk, and his last public stance was that he would only consider returning if the Dodgers offered him a contract, while ruling out any other team.
Then came his retirement after Game 4 on Thursday night, which made the whole situation pretty clear. Rojas will always have that home run in Game 7 of last year’s World Series, but the Dodgers now seem ready to turn the page.
The bullpen and staff contain more names in the same bucket. Kris Bubic was a deadline pickup from the Royals with the postseason in mind, but his October work didn’t help his case.
He allowed a go-ahead run on a wild pitch in Game 3 of the NLDS, the Dodgers’ only loss in that series, and then gave up William Contreras’ game-tying homer in Game 2 of the NLCS. Somebody else may see starter potential there.
For Los Angeles, he looks like an easy pass.
Eric Lauer fits the same “useful until he wasn’t” mold. The Dodgers turned him into a workable swingman after bringing in the former World Series foe, but elbow inflammation sent him to the IL in early September and kept him out of the postseason.
Andrew Friedman took the gamble. It didn’t pay off.
Brusdar Graterol has reached the point where the injury history is the headline. Since 2024, he’s thrown just 7⅓ innings, and the Dodgers have spent more than enough time waiting for better health to arrive. He made $2.8 million this season to avoid arbitration, but with this kind of track record, even that modest price tag feels like too much uncertainty.
Alex Call is a different kind of offseason question. He’s inexpensive and controllable, which makes him useful in theory, but the Dodgers left him off both the NLDS and NLCS rosters while giving Josue De Paula the runway.
That points toward a future where Call becomes trade bait rather than a long-term piece, especially if Teoscar Hernández is moved to create room for De Paula in left field. More likely, Call gets dealt so the club can ease its No. 1 prospect into a bigger role as a fourth outfielder.
Then there’s Tarik Skubal, the name that could define the season for reasons beyond the lockout. The expectation is that he and Scott Boras will try to move fast before the CBA expires, with the Dodgers widely viewed as the favorites to land him.
But the New York Mets are ready to challenge that. According to Chelsea Janes of SNY, the Mets plan to match any offer Skubal gets in free agency.
They may even have to go higher to pull him away from Los Angeles, and they may be willing to do it. Skubal has kept things quiet, saying only, "I've really enjoyed my time here."
The Dodgers still look like the frontrunner, but this one is far from settled.
In Other News...
Max Muncy's Dodgers Admission Will Hit Fans Hard
The Dodgers still stacked up as one of baseballs best teams this season, finishing with the second-best record in the sport even after the bumpy ride that came with high expectations and a long October pursuit. Los Angeles entered 2026 as a World Series favorite, and for much of the year it looked like the roster had the depth and talent to justify that status, even with some uneven stretches from new additions Edwin Daz and Kyle Tucker.
Max Muncys comments offered a sobering view of what it took to keep chasing that standard. He acknowledged the strain of multiple long seasons, a reminder that even a star-laden club can wear down over time. The Dodgers sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series made the disappointment impossible to ignore, and Muncys admission only sharpened the sense that the toll of the run is becoming part of the story in Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Collapse Just Got More Embarrassing After Brewers Manager's Jab
The Dodgers NLCS defeat already carried enough sting without the added humiliation of being swept by a Brewers club that never seemed to flinch under the moment. Milwaukee got the better of Los Angeles in the biggest spots, while the Dodgers were left to wonder about the same familiar issues that kept surfacing all series, from missed chances with runners in scoring position to a bullpen that couldnt stem the tide once the games tilted.
Pat Murphys postseries praise only sharpened the edge of it, the kind of victory-lap remark that lands harder when it comes after a mismatch instead of a slugfest. For a Dodgers team that entered October as the favorite and spent the season making major roster moves, the result leaves a winter of hard evaluation ahead and an especially uncomfortable reminder that talent on paper still has to show up when the bracket tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Kike Hernandez Just Put More Focus On A Tough Dodgers Decision
Kike Hernandez is back on the open market after the Dodgers season ended, and the veteran utility man made it clear he would like another run in Los Angeles. He said he wants to keep playing, but he also acknowledged there is uncertainty ahead, which is hardly a surprise at this stage of the offseason.
For the Dodgers, Hernandezs situation adds another layer to a decision they are already weighing as they look to get younger. His recent recovery from surgery will factor into the conversation, but so will everything else he brings to a clubhouse and roster that has long valued his experience, versatility and familiarity with the organization. [Read more 🡒]