5 Dodgers players who definitely won't be back for World Series repeat bid in 2025

Joe Kelly

Dodgers fans have a lot of sentimental fondness for Kelly, but shouldn't be disappointed to watch him walk. Kelly calling Carlos Correa a baby, making whiny faces at him — you know how it goes. But that's not enough for the team to keep him, given how he's pitched this season. His 2021 season was great, but that's old news by now.

He's currently dealing with a shoulder injury that left him disinvited from the NLDS, LCS, and World Series but he was vulnerable to being left off the roster regardless, given that he was one of the least dependable pieces of an otherwise solid bullpen during the regular season. The 4 1/3 innings he pitched in September were fine, but August's 9 1/3 were a different story; he gave up eight earned runs, including four homers, and walked six batters. That's not the Kelly fans remember, and that's not the Kelly who they should be mourning if he leaves in the offseason.

There are a couple other bullpen arms who will be hitting free agency — namely Blake Treinen — who the Dodgers should be more inclined to keep, but they'll be better off buying different contract-less relievers to fill space and letting Kelly go. And don't trade for him again this time, either.

Kevin Kiermaier

Kiermaier has felt like an interim Dodger ever since he came over from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. James Outman had been sent down, and Tommy Edman was still on the shelf for a few more weeks. While his addition seemed a little bit charitable and ring chase-y, Kiermaier does have a Platinum Glove to make up for his career-long ineffectiveness at the plate. Even given his 2024 regression (55 OPS+ in Toronto prior to the trade deadline after a 103 mark in 2023), it still seemed like he might bring value to the Dodgers' depth chart -- and who among us, at the time, foresaw Jason Heyward continuing to have such a positive impact in Houston? Luckily, that impact has ended well short of the World Series (phew, that would've been hard to take).

Like Kelly, he didn't make the NLDS roster due to injury, but he was also liable to be left off anyway. He played in four games during the LCS but was left off again for the World Series.

In any case, Kiermaier announced his intention to retire after the 2024 season just a few days before he was traded, so he's got one foot out the door already, and the Dodgers will probably want to keep Edman primarily at center field during his tenure in LA anyway. Kiermaier probably won't be remembered for his 34 games with the Dodgers in the second half this year, but he did show a couple of flashes of his old defensive greatness during his short stay.