Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (93) after clinching the National League West by defeating the San Diego Padres 7-2 at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 26, 2024. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
The 2025 Dodgers came to be mentioned in the same breath as the phrase “future Hall of Famers” fairly early this season. Any batting order featuring Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman at the top makes a compelling argument for all three to be enshrined in Cooperstown some day.
Throw in a pitching staff that (after his May debut) included Clayton Kershaw, and any talk of the Dodgers’ future Hall of Famers typically centered around those four players.
Kershaw officially retired with three World Series rings and 79 career Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs — the most of any player in Dodgers franchise history. Ohtani (50 fWAR, two rings), Betts (63 fWAR, three rings) and Freeman (65 fWAR, three rings) have accomplished enough to merit enshrinement if they retired today.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith is a three-time All-Star and a three-time champion in seven seasons, all with Los Angeles. At 30 years old, Smith has 22 career WAR according to FanGraphs (which accounts for a catcher’s framing skill) and 23 according to Baseball Reference (which does not).
If Smith retired today, he would not make the Hall of Fame — either on merit, or on account of the fact that he’s three seasons shy of Cooperstown’s 10-year minimum. Smith is under contract to the Dodgers through 2033. Barring an injury, he’ll play 10 years.
At least one former Dodger, Kevin Kiermaier, believes Smith will give the 2025 Dodgers a fifth Hall of Famer some day.
“This guy, I think, is going to be a Hall of Famer,” Kiermaier said of Smith on the Deep Left Field podcast. “This guy is the most … he is one of the most poised I’ve ever been around, never seems like his heart is beating, a guy you always trust.”
The Dodgers acquired Kiermaier at the July 2024 trade deadline in a 1-for-1 swap with the Blue Jays for pitcher Ryan Yarbrough. Kiermaier played the final 38 games of his 12-year MLB career (including four in the National League Championship Series) with the Dodgers.
Upon retiring, Kiermaier accepted a special assistant role with the Blue Jays. He was watching from the other side as the Dodgers came from behind to defeat Toronto in the World Series — thanks in no small part to Smith.
Smith caught all 73 innings in the series, and hit the game-winning home run in the 11th inning of Game 7. That home run was the fifth-most impactful World Series play of all-time by cWPA.
With a few more seasons under his belt, Smith might count it as the highlight of a Hall of Fame career.
