With departures, Los Angeles Dodgers must retool for 2023

Die-hard fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers may need to have a copy of the team’s 40-man roster in hand for reference when the 2023 MLB season commences in late March.

After MLB’s Winter Meetings in San Diego ended this week, Los Angeles will need to retool its lineup next season with at least four key roster spots that will need to be filled if the Dodgers hope to keep their stranglehold on the National League West Division — a division the team has won nine of the past 10 seasons.

The four open roster spots for the Los Angeles Dodgers include a pair of position players and a duo of pitchers.

So, who will not be back in 2023 for Big Blue, who will be seeking a third consecutive 100-win regular season after winning the World Series in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign?

Shortstop Trea Turner and first baseman-outfielder Cody Bellinger in the field and pitchers Andrew Heaney and Tommy Kahnle will not return for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

Turner, a two-time All-Star and the NL batting champion in 2021, is off to Philadelphia to join former Washington Nationals teammate Bryce Harper with the Phillies after Turner inked a reported $300-million, 11-year contract.

Bellinger was released by the Dodgers last month after hitting just .210 with 19 homers this past season. In being named the NL’s MVP in 2019, he amassed career highs in homers (47), batting average (.305) and RBIs (115). He will be taking his skill set to Chicago to play with the Cubs in 2023.

Meanwhile, Heaney, who battled injuries this past season, was primarily a starter for the Dodgers in 2022 when healthy. The left-hander fashioned a 4-4 record and 3.06 earned run average in 14 starts. Heaney will join a Texas Rangers starting rotation that was bolstered significantly with the off-season acquisition of Jacob deGrom from the New York Mets.

Kahnle, who notched a 2.84 ERA in 13 outings for Los Angeles a year ago, will be rejoining the New York Yankees for the second time in the last five seasons.

With these four roster spots available, who might the Dodgers call on to fill these slots in 2023?

Barring any trades or free agent acquisitions, Los Angeles could well dip into its deep pool of minor league talent to fill these voids.

With Turner gone up the middle defensively in the infield, Miguel Vargas and Michael Busch, ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, among top Dodgers prospects by MLB.com could be part of the lineup for 2023.

Vargas, primarily a third baseman, batted .304 in 113 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City last season before being called up by the Dodgers. In a utility role, he hit .170  in 47 at-bats with the parent club.

Busch, a second baseman, started 2022 at Double-A Tulsa where he hit .306 in 31 games with 11 home runs and 29 RBI. After being promoted to Oklahoma City, Busch batted at a .266 clip in 111 games. He tallied 21 homers and 79 RBI in 444 at-bats.

In addition, Gavin Lux, who hit .276 in 129 games while starting at second base for the Dodgers last season, could move to shortstop — a position he played in the Minor Leagues. Lux was Baseball America’s 2019 Minor League Player of the Year.

In the outfield, James Outman — L.A.’s No. 13 prospect according to MLB.com — could see more playing time this season. After batting .295 in Double-A and .292 in Triple-A in 200-plus at-bats at each level last year, Outman collected six hits in 13 at-bats (.462 average) in four games with Big Blue in 2022. In his first Major League plate appearance July 31, he slugged a two-run homer as part of a three-hit, three-RBI day against Colorado.

On the mound to replace Heaney and Kahnle, the Dodgers could call on highly touted right-hander Bobby Miller, ranked No. 2 among Dodgers prospects by MLB.com.

Like Busch and Outman, Miller started last season in Tulsa, recording a 6-6 mark and 4.45 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 91.0 innings. He allowed just 71 hits. He finished the season with a short stint in Oklahoma City, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts. He fanned 28 in 21.1 innings.

Another pitcher to watch is righthander Ryan Pepiot, ranked No. 6 among Dodgers prospects by MLB.com. After compiling a 9-1 record and 2.56 ERA in 19 games at Oklahoma City last season, he was first called up by the Dodgers in September and ended the 2022 campaign with a 3-0 record and 3.47 ERA in nine games (seven starts).

Even with the departures of Turner, Bellinger, Heaney and Kahnle, the offseason news for the Dodgers is not all bad. Staff ace and three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw did sign a $20-million, one-year contract to return in 2023.

Kershaw, a nine-time All-Star, who started on the mound for the NL in last summer’s All-Star Game held at Dodgers Stadium, went 12-3 last season with a nifty 2.28 ERA in 22 starts spanning 126.1 innings.