James Tibbs III has clear path to Dodgers' 2027 roster (if they do the right thing with Freddie Freeman)

The Los Angeles Dodgers' biggest priority of the offseason, apart from perhaps re-signing Tarik Skubal, is figuring out how to make their roster younger. That's no small task for a Dodgers team whose mean age (30.8) led baseball in 2026, and has contracts spanning into some players' age 40 season and beyond.

The face of a potential Dodgers youth movement is Josue De Paula, who LA is evidently over the moon about already. One or even both of Alex Call or Teoscar Hernández could be traded this winter to give De Paula real runway in left field next year.

But the Dodgers aren't hurting for options. Four position players in their prospect top-10 could plausibly be ready for major league action sometime during 2027, if not by Opening Day. Outfielder Mike Sirota and first baseman/outfielder James Tibbs III are prime candidates.

Sirota has an uphill battle to climb if the Dodgers are going to prioritize De Paula for the time being, but Tibbs still has a way in. He's spent the vast majority of his minor league innings in right field, but the Dodgers had him spend a lot more time at first in 2026.

Of course, first base belongs to Freddie Freeman until his contract expires at the end of the year, but the Dodgers could and probably should be considering a timeshare with Tibbs there in 2027.

Dodgers should consider reducing Freddie Freeman's playing time in 2027 to make way for James Tibbs III

Tibbs finished out his 2026 season in Triple-A Oklahoma City batting .287 with a .941 OPS in 141 games — by far the best year of his career. His power dipped a bit in June and July but returned in the last two months of the season.

He struck out a lot (150 times) but made up for it in walks (108). His 30 homers, 107 RBI, and OPS led all Comets batters. Those RBI put him just three behind leader Joey Meneses in the Pacific Coast League.

Freeman is beloved in LA, but the Dodgers have to start planning for life without him. It's also clear that his age is starting to catch up to him; although he still managed to play in 153 games and hit .184 with a .483 OPS in September.

No one is advocating for the Dodgers to dump Freeman outright. He deserves to finish out his last season in LA — maybe the last of his career — doing as much as he can to help get the Dodgers back to the World Series. But LA also needs to face reality and start prepping the younger generation, even if it means we see less of a few beloved players.

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