The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the season as heavy favorites to capture a back-to-back World Series championship and the team made good on those expectations by returning to the Fall Classic.
But after a relatively easy path through the National League to get there, the Dodgers are suddenly facing a drought that threatens to derail their championship hopes.
They have been carried by strong starting pitching but their offense has been a different story. Superstar shortstop Mookie Betts has struggled at the plate, and the team has also seen pronounced offensive issues at the bottom of the batting order with outfielder Andy Pages mired in a brutal slump.
After slashing .272/.313/.461 during the regular season, Pages is batting just .067 in the World Series so far. And given the Dodgers’ expectations, that has been a large enough setback to motivate a winter trade, according to Major League Baseball analyst Jim Riley.
“Of the Dodgers players, he feels like the guy who’s probably the most tradeable piece and, on top of that, he’s now 8-for-74 in the postseason,” Riley said in a YouTube video. “He’s had a miserable 2025 postseason and this Dodgers team is all about the postseason, so that isn’t acceptable.”
The Dodgers are set to return next year with Teoscar Hernandez in the outfield, with a need to find room for top youngster Dalton Rushing and with potential interest in acquiring a star slugger like Kyle Tucker. All of that could mean the outfield is crowded even without Pages, and the Dodgers also have a clear need for some bullpen reinforcement.
“I think Pages could very well be on the move and be used to acquire a high leverage reliever with multiple years of control,” Riley added.
At certain points this season, Pages seemed as if he could be a future cornerstone of the Dodgers’ roster. But his playoff setback at the plate has been so harsh that the team might be drastically rethinking their plans for him.
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