The rumor of the Los Angeles Dodgers placing superstars Blake Snell, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, and Will Smith on the trade market in a bid to cut payroll and rebuild is NOT substantiated by current reports or financial reality.
In fact, all evidence suggests the Dodgers are committed to their core and are strategically focused on building a “three-peat” dynasty for 2026. This rumor appears to be a reaction to the team’s massive long-term financial commitments and aggressive tax situation, but trading their core players would contradict every known move made by the front office.
🚫 Why the Purge Rumor Is Unfounded
The idea of trading this specific core is highly improbable for several major reasons:
- Long-Term Contracts & Deferred Money: The contracts for Betts, Freeman, Ohtani, and Smith are all heavily structured with massive amounts of deferred salary (reaching nearly a billion dollars combined). These deals were specifically engineered to reduce the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) hit now while securing the core for a decade (Source 1.2, 2.3). Trading these players would be an admission of complete failure of this groundbreaking financial strategy.
- Performance: These five players were the foundation of the Dodgers’ back-to-back World Series triumphs. Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman all finished high in the MVP voting, and Snell and Smith were foundational pieces of the pitching and catching corps, respectively (Source 1.4). Trading them after consecutive championships makes zero strategic sense.
- The CBT Reality: While the Dodgers are deep into the luxury tax (projected to be over the threshold by nearly $\text{\$58}$ million in 2026), they are an organization built to absorb those costs. Their strategy involves maximizing talent, not slashing payroll mid-dynasty (Source 2.3).
✅ The True Dodgers Offseason Strategy
The Dodgers are indeed making strategic, controversial moves, but they are focused on rotation depth and bullpen stability around their superstar core:
- Evan Phillips Non-Tender: The team did non-tender veteran reliever Evan Phillips (who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and projected to earn over $\text{\$6}$ million), but reports immediately indicated they wish to re-sign him to a reduced, multi-year deal (Source 2.2). This was a calculated roster management move, not a purge.
- The Quest for Youth: As pitcher Clayton Kershaw playfully noted, the team is becoming “so old” (Source 1.1). President Andrew Friedman is constantly looking for ways to inject youth and cost-controlled talent around the core (Source 1.1, 3.5), but this means trading prospects for established talent (like in the Hyeseong Kim or Tyler Glasnow trades), not trading their perennial All-Stars for prospects.
- Snell and Smith Are Safe: Will Smith is under a long-term contract through 2033, and Blake Snell signed a deal in late 2024 structured to keep him in Los Angeles through 2029 (Source 2.5).
The current moves are not the beginning of a fracture, but the highly calculated process of optimizing a roster that aims for an unprecedented run of championships.
