3 roster issues Dodgers, Andrew Friedman failed to fix at the 2025 trade deadline

The 2025 trade deadline has come and gone, and the Los Angeles Dodgers roster doesn’t look much different than how it did before the deadline. While they made some moves on the margins, the crux of the roster went largely unchanged. 

That's created a bit of frustration among the fanbase. Usually, Andrew Friedman does everything he can to fix problem areas of the roster. He's never afraid to shake things up and get aggressive, but this time around he took the opposite approach.

Though that could mean he's confident in the Dodgers' capabilities as they get closer to full strength, it could present some issues later down the road.

3 roster issues Dodgers, Andrew Friedman failed to fix at the 2025 trade deadline

Left field 

This is perhaps the most glaring hole on the Dodgers’ roster, especially considering the fact the Dodgers reportedly had a chance to get All-Star left fielder Steven Kwan at this year’s deadline. 

The Dodgers signed Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million deal in the hopes that he’d be able to build on his solid two-year tenure with the Giants, but he enters play on Wednesday with the lowest batting average in baseball among qualified hitters (.192) while also being worth -6 Outs Above Average in the field. Yikes. 

Kwan would have been the perfect fit in the Dodgers’ short- and long-term plans, but they didn’t want to meet Cleveland’s asking price for the young All-Star. While they were still able to net a solid player in Alex Call, he projects to be more of a fourth outfielder/platoon type as opposed to an everyday answer in left field.

There’ll be a point this year where a postseason game will come down to a Conforto at-bat. And that will be Andrew Friedman’s fault. 

Bullpen depth

While the Dodgers technically addressed this by nabbing Brock Stewart from the Twins, it’s also clear that they could have done more. There were plenty of big names available, but, like in left field, Friedman and Co. elected to make an addition on the margins instead of paying the cost for a proven name. It was the wrong move. 

As of now, the Dodgers bullpen currently consists of Alex Vesia, Blake Trenien and a bunch of guys who are better suited as swingmen, which isn’t a recipe for success. Even if Tanner Scott, Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates return at some point this season, the Dodgers are still going to have to rely on guys like Justin Wrobleski and Ben Casparius to get outs in key spots. 

It could end up being this team’s downfall. 

A reliable back-end starter

On paper, the Dodgers have more than enough starting pitching between Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But games aren’t played on paper. Every player on that list outside of Yamamoto has spent time on the injured list this year, and Sasaki is currently on the shelf with right shoulder impingement.

The Dodgers have already proven they have no problem using pitchers in a variety of roles, and they should have gone and grabbed at least one more veteran arm who could have served as a reliable “break glass in case of emergency” option. 

That thinking likely would have eliminated them from the running for Shane Bieber (who is returning from Tommy John surgery), but there were plenty of other established options they could have gone for. The Detroit Tigers nabbed Charlie Morton from the Baltimore Orioles and Chris Paddack from the Twins, while the Rangers were able to acquire Merrill Kelly from the Diamondbacks. 

And maybe the Dodgers’ pitchers are able to stay healthy in October and this becomes a moot point. But it seems like there’s just as much of a chance that a lack of pitching depth rears its ugly head at the worst time.