The Los Angeles Dodgers have committed a lot of money to their team’s stars. Last offseason, they donated $700 million to Shohei Ohtani and well over $300 million to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They’ve donated over $30 million a year to both Mookie Betts and Tyler Glasnow, while also handing out a fair amount of change to other top stars.

This is the main reason the Dodgers have come this far this season. Their payroll is incredible and the revenue they make is equally incredible. But when you pay so much money to the team’s stars, sometimes the role players can get forgotten and overlooked.

The Dodgers have several upcoming free agents who have played well above their pay grade this year. As these players enter free agency in the coming months, they could say goodbye to Los Angeles.

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The Dodgers have utility man Kike Hernandez under contract through the 2024 season for just $4 million. In this year’s postseason alone, he has played well above that pay grade. During the regular season, Hernandez wasn’t particularly good offensively, but his defensive versatility and excellence still managed to keep his WAR above 1.0. Still, the utility man slashed .229/.281/.373 with an OPS+ of 85 in the regular season.

However, his postseason performance was anything but subpar.

While Hernandez’s bat offers the same defensive versatility and excellence, it’s also come alive. In 11 postseason games, Hernandez is hitting .282/.349/.487 with two home runs, five RBIs and a triple.

His defensive abilities alone are worth well over $4 million. Combine that with his excellent play in the postseason, and you have a player who can hope for some serious improvement this winter.

The Dodgers will look to sign a franchise shortstop this offseason. Combine that with Hernandez’s price tag increasing by the day, and it seems like he’s booted himself out of Los Angeles. This is especially true if the Dodgers aggressively try to sign shortstop Willy Adames from the Milwaukee Brewers.

If you had to name a standout player in the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen, it would be right-handed pitcher Blake Treinen, who looked almost untouchable at times. Treinen wasn’t a closer for the club in the regular season, but he stepped up that role in the postseason and it was excellent. He certainly played significantly more than the million dollars stipulated in his contract.

During the regular season, Treinen pitched 46.2 innings with an ERA of under 2.00 and a WHIP of under 1.00. As one of the Dodgers’ best performing relievers, his performance was outstanding all season long. But when the postseason came, Treinen didn’t give in to the pressure. Instead, he rose to the occasion and took on the role of closer. In eight postseason games, Treinen went scoreless in five of them, without allowing more than one earned run in a single appearance. He was given the task of throwing more than just three outs and he excelled.

Based on his play this year, Treinen should be a real asset this offseason. Given the way the Dodgers have paid their stars and traded them for bullpen weapons, it’s hard to imagine that Los Angeles will be willing to give Treinen the closer money he’ll get from another team. His production this year could effectively drive him out of Los Angeles this winter.

The most obvious player on this list will be the rental starting pitcher the Dodgers acquired at the trade deadline: Jack Flaherty. Flaherty is tied to a one-year, $14 million contract he signed with the Detroit Tigers last offseason. Flaherty has played so well this season that he is seeking a three- or four-year deal worth well over $17 million AAV.

This season, Flaherty pitched 162 innings with a 3.17 ERA, 3.48 FIP and 1.07 WHIP. He struck out well per inning while walking just 2.1 batters per nine innings. While the Dodgers rotation has been injured and weakened all season, Flaherty has filled in for Dave Roberts and Co. This is no more true than in the postseason, when Flaherty defeated Gerrit Cole and the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series.

He has seen mixed results in the postseason. He has given up 12 earned runs in two of his starts. But he also has 5.1 innings of two earned baseball runs in the World Series. Aside from the disastrous start against the Mets, Flaherty has been outstanding. It will be difficult for the Dodgers to re-sign him. Considering how many pitchers they’ll be bringing back in 2025, I’d bet the Dodgers could be okay with losing Flaherty in free agency.