Projecting Dodgers' star-studded Opening Day rotation after blockbuster Blake Snell contract

If you thought that the Los Angeles Dodgers were going to have a quiet offseason after taking home a 2024 World Series title, think again.

The reigning champs agreed to a five-year, $182 deal with two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell Tuesday, suddenly making their starting rotation even more formidable than it was as recently as last month.

Here's how Snell fits into Los Angeles' rotation in 2025. The exact order might not be set, but that's the price the Dodgers will have to pay for having four starters who could be considered legitimate staff aces on other teams:

1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
2. Tyler Glasnow
3. Blake Snell
4. Shohei Ohtani
5. Tony Gonsolin

That doesn't even take into account future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who said he wants to pitch again next year (presumably, for the Dodgers) or the young Bobby Miller, who will be looking to bounce back after a rocky 2024 campaign. Either of them could replace Gonsolin at the No. 5 spot.

Oh, and don't forget about amateur free agent Roki Sasaki; the Dodgers are still in on him, too. The Japanese phenom may not love the idea of being Los Angeles' No. 5 starter, but the opportunity to pitch in the same rotation as Yamamoto and Ohtani might be too good to pass up.

What Blake Snell brings to the Dodgers' projected Opening Day starting rotation

The Dodgers entered the 2024 campaign with one of the league's deepest, most talented starting rotations, but a slew of season-ending injuries to Glasnow, Kershaw, Gonsolin and Dustin May – plus Ohtani, who wasn't cleared to pitch at all last season – left them with just Yamamoto and current free agents Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty by the time they reached the playoffs.

With a healthy starting pitching staff heading into 2025, the Dodgers appear to have an embarrassment of riches on the mound. However, as last season taught us, injuries can quickly derail a team's best-laid plans. Snell has suffered a handful of injuries over his eight MLB seasons, but has managed to avoid anything incredibly serious that would sideline him for extended periods of time.

The Dodgers will certainly rely on Snell's durability to help stabilize their rotation in case the injury bug strikes again. Coming off a season in which he went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 145 strikeouts over 104 innings in 20 starts for the San Francisco Giants, he brings ace-level stuff that will play anywhere in the Dodgers' rotation.

More Dodgers content from Dodgers Way