How Dodgers considering 6-man rotation for 2026 impacts offseason plans

One of the great questions the Los Angeles Dodgers will face is how they will deploy all of their starters in 2026. While Clayton Kershaw is hanging it up, the gang is mostly back together, including some arms coming off the shelf like Gavin Stone and River Ryan.

With the bedrock of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers will also have Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki as rotation options. Then, of course, there's Shohei Ohtani, who might not be a full-time starting pitcher, but will get turns through the rotation.

We've seen when at full strength just how dominant the Dodgers' starters can be, and with so many worthy arms, a six-man rotation is not out of the question. In fact, Brandon Gomes told the OC Register's Jeff Fletcher that it's something the team is seriously weighing.

Even if a six-man rotation is in place, there's still a surplus of depth, which could allow for some interesting pathways to explore this offseason.

The Dodgers weighing a six-man rotation could have some serious impacts on the club's offseason plans

First, there's the boring route. Simply staying put. As stacked as the rotation options seem, we saw this year just how quickly the depth can thin out. Snell, Glasnow, and Sasaki all missed significant time, and the two veterans aren't known for their durability.

Ryan and Stone still have options, as does Sasaki, so the team could stash a few hurlers down in Oklahoma City in case disaster strikes. That might be overkill and not the best use of these assets, though.

Another potential option is to deal from a position of strength. Los Angeles has been sniffing around Cleveland Guardians star Steven Kwan for a while now, and with a hole in left field, a move for the two-time All-Star has never made more sense. Perhaps dangling a young, cost-controlled starter or two as part of a package heading back to Cleveland could get a deal done.

Then, there's the idea of taking a strength and making it stronger. Guys like Stone and especially Ryan don't have much of a big league track record, so upgrading to form their six-man unit might be the best way to dominate the competition. Tarik Skubal would be ideal, but that likely won't happen, so Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan would be the next best thing.

Of course, if Minnesota is truly rebuilding, prospects over players pitchers entering their late-20s like Stone and River Ryan would be needed to make a deal for Joe Ryan. Therefore, the starter logjam wouldn't be solved.

That leads us to door No. 3, go nuclear and do both. The Dodgers could ship off a package of prospects to acquire Joe Ryan and then leverage the starting pitching depth to get Kwan for left field. The rotation, featuring Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Joe Ryan, Sasaki, and Ohtani/Sheehan, would be otherworldly. The defense would be tightened up with the four-time Gold Glover Kwan being a massive improvement over Michael Conforto in left, and the lineup would be exceptional as always.

The options are seemingly endless, and the only limit is how big Gomes and Andrew Friedman can dream.