3 other Dodgers who won't be back after Winter Meetings rumors, offseason moves so far

The Los Angeles Dodgers got most of their work done before or on the very first night of Winter Meetings, when they signed Blake Snell and Michael Conforto, and re-signed Blake Treinen.

They've been pretty quiet since then, with the roster full at 40 and most of the 2024 core retained, but Brandon Gomes has still indicated that there's more work to be done. However, the moves they've already made may indicate a pivot from a few departing Dodgers, some of whom have expressed clear interest in coming back or who fans want back desperately.

Even though there's at least a little sentimentality attached to all three of these players, there's a high likelihood we won't see them back in Dodger blue in 2025.

3 other Dodgers who won't be back after Winter Meetings rumors, offseason moves so far

Jack Flaherty

Flaherty always felt the most unlikely to return of any of the Dodgers' pending free agent starters. He made his (incredibly drunken) desire to stay in LA known during the team's World Series celebrations. However, he didn't make a great statement for himself as one of the Dodgers' only healthy starters during the postseason, when he pitched 22 innings across all rounds for a 7.36 ERA.

As a trade deadline acquisition, he also didn't have the same kind of pedigree as Walker Buehler, a former first-round draft pick and former Rookie of the Year candidate. Flaherty still had an admirable bounce back in the regular season and should find a decent contract elsewhere, but with the Dodgers' rotation looking completely stacked as it is, he probably won't be coming back to LA.

Walker Buehler

There's still a large swath of Dodgers fandom who would kill to see Buehler return to the team in 2025, but again, the Dodgers rotation might actually be too full. Snell's addition means the Dodgers may, at some point during the season, have seven pitchers who could act as starters — when Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, and Dustin May are good to go.

Buehler has already garnered interest from multiple teams including the Athletics (who he quickly shot down), Tigers, and even the Yankees; the latter two have far more room in their rotation to accommodate Buehler, who is a fixer-upper after the worst regular season of his career, but the Dodgers just don't have space for him anymore.

Joe Kelly

On the first night of Winter Meetings, the Dodgers re-signed Treinen for two years to keep most of their 2024 bullpen intact. Kelly is the only one not to return as of yet, and it's highly likely that he won't at all, and the Dodgers will be better off for it. He went on and off the IL a few times in 2024 and when he was healthy, he wasn't great. Although his velocity remained intact, his always-shaky grasp on his control devolved entirely at certain points in the season.

The Dodgers are showing strong interest in former Marlins closer/Padres reliever Tanner Scott, and he'll probably be their guy if they make any more additions to the bullpen at all. Kelly had his moments of brilliance in LA, but the Dodgers should let him stay gone this year.