DIVISION FIRESTORM: Dodgers are projected to swoop in for a Padres All-Star on an $80 million deal, a ruthless power grab that could flip the entire division on its head and ignite a new wave of bad blood. The looming question—is this a genius heist or a ticking time bomb..ll

Dodgers Predicted to Sign Padres All-Star to $80 Million Contract

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San Diego Padres pitcher Robert Suarez.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have won back-to-back championships, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll stay content with what they currently have. The team has so much talent on the roster, but is lacking in certain key areas.

The bullpen was a major problem for the Dodgers last season. The team likely doesn’t win the World Series if it weren’t for starters stepping up and playing long games, or coming out of the bullpen.

Closer was a question mark coming into the playoffs until Roki Sasaki stepped up and played well to close out games. However, he’s a starting pitcher. Blake Treinen is still under contract for another season, but he played really poorly in 2025.

If the Dodgers are going to spend on a pitcher, it’s most likely that they will go after a closer. San Diego Padres pitcher Robert Suarez has been named to back-to-back All-Star teams and led the NL in saves last season. He’s a free agent, so the Dodgers could sign him without having to make a trade. Los Angeles has been heavily linked to Suarez, and The Athletic’s Jim Bowden predicts them to sign the pitcher to a five-year, $80 million contract.

“Suarez stays in the NL West and becomes the Dodgers’ closer with Roki Sasaki moving to the rotation,” Bowden wrote.

Could Dodgers Trade Teoscar Hernandez?

There’s been a lot of focus on the players the Dodgers could add this offseason, but there isn’t much talk of players they could want to move on from. Teoscar Hernandez was excellent for the Dodgers during their 2024 World Series run, but he wasn’t as effective in 2025.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney discussed the possibility of Hernandez getting traded.

“An interesting possibility has surfaced for the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers: A trade of right fielder Teoscar Hernández,” Rosenthal and Mooney wrote.

“Hernández’s name is coming up in trade conversations, according to league sources. The Dodgers view a deal as unlikely, but the idea of it, at least, is not without logic.”

How Would Dodgers Replace Hernandez?

The Dodgers already have a need in the outfield, so trading Hernandez would only make that need bigger. That said, the teams do have ways they can shake things up to make it work.

“If the Dodgers trade Hernández, they could move Andy Pages to right, where he could be elite, and try to acquire a center fielder,” Rosenthal and Mooney wrote. “Tommy Edman underwent surgery on his right ankle last month, so asking him to play center could be too much. Moving Edman off second base might also thrust two largely unproven players, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland, into more prominent roles.

“Hernández ranked 33rd of 36 players last season in Outs Above Average (minus-9) among right fielders. The trade and free-agent markets, however, are short on right-handed hitting outfielders, and Hernández’s contract, while complex, is not prohibitively expensive.”

Hernandez has been a key player for the Dodgers, but they’re always trying to get better. If they think trading him makes them better, then they’ll do it.

Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd