LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 03: A detail shot of the Los Angeles Dodgers logo on the pitcher’s mound with confetti during the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship celebration at Dodger Stadium on Monday, November 3, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jessie Alcheh/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Los Angeles Dodgers will be looking for a “three-peat” in World Series championships next season, but they won’t be doing it with the same group that earned them their latest trophy.
After a consecutive championship earned with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the team will welcome back cornerstone pieces like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. But several other players who played key roles in earning that championship could be moving on to new teams.
Miguel Rojas, who hit a critical home run in Game 7 of the Fall Classic, is a free agent. And Kike Hernandez, who made important plays on defense along with some clutch hitting, is one as well. Meanwhile, franchise icon Clayton Kershaw has retired after pitching some important bullpen innings in the playoffs.
Rojas and Hernandez might be back. But the team has already moved on from catcher Ben Rortvedt, who served as a key substitute for the injured Will Smith during the Dodgers’ postseason journey.
“Backup catcher Ben Rortvedt was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, days after winning the World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” according to the Associated Press. “Rortvedt was valued by the Dodgers for his pitch framing and game-calling skills while filling in for injured starter Will Smith.”
Alongside Ohtani, Smith was the Dodgers’ best hitter for much of the season. But when an injury forced him out of the lineup for the postseason, the Dodgers turned to Rortvedt. During the National League Wild Card series against the Reds, Rortvedt posted a 1.167 OPS by logging three hits and two runs in six at-bats.
The Reds apparently liked what they saw during that series, as they stepped up to add Rortvedt after the Dodgers placed him on waivers shortly after their season concluded. Now the Dodgers seem likely to anoint Dalton Rushing as the primary backup for Smith next season.
“Dalton Rushing will be the Dodgers’ primary backup catcher,” Fabian Ardaya reported for The Athletic. “The Dodgers are still trying to sort out how to get him more consistent playing time behind Will Smith.”
Meanwhile, Rortvedt might see himself become a third option at catcher for the Reds, behind Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino.
But with the Reds ascending into a National League contender and the Dodgers looking to defend their title once again after another long season, the two teams could be on a collision course for another playoff matchup. And if that’s the case, Rortvedt would see his former World Series championship teammates in a very different setting.