3 Dodgers players who have one last chance to make impact in 2025

1. Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas is heading into his final year of team control - and a recent contract extension could push him out

As already mentioned, Miguel Rojas could eat into Gavin Lux's playing time if he struggles in 2025. The 35-year-old veteran played a key utilityman role for the Dodgers during the 2024 season, piling up 3.5 bWAR in just 103 games and 337 plate appearances.

Defensively, Rojas played every infield position - with the bulk of his reps coming at shortstop, where he filled in when Betts went down with a left hand fracture that put him on the shelf for months. Managing his workload is consistently top-of-mind for the organization, and his saw his season cut short by injuries again in 2024.

He returned and saw very limited action in the NLDS and World Series and was left off the NLCS roster entirely. Still, one of the Dodgers' first moves of the winter? Picking up the infielder's $5 million team option for 2025 - keeping him in the fold for at least one more season.

What made Los Angeles' World Series run so impressive was their ability to weather a large number of huge injuries. Having experienced guys like Rojas in the fold, ready and capable of stepping up, separates the Dodgers from most of the other contenders across the league - and that will be a difference-maker again next season.

Rojas is heading into his 12th MLB season. He made his big-league debut with the Dodgers as a 25-year-old in 2014, and played a key role in the team's rise, getting traded along with Dee Gordon to the Miami Marlins that December in exchange for Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, Andrew Heaney and Enrique Hernández.

He spent eight years in Florida before returning to the Dodgers via trade in Jan. 2023. Since returning to where it all started, Rojas has proven himself as a versatile defender and reliable insurance policy for manager Dave Roberts. The fact his bat took a major step forward this year is just the cherry on top of what he brings to the table.

Given he turns 36 in February, and he's heading into his final year of team control, as well as the reality that the Dodgers locked up another utilityman, Tommy Edman, with a five-year extension earlier this offseason, this has all the makings of the end of the line for Rojas. But if this is, indeed, the end, it's been quite the ride.