Dodgers News Recap — November 10-11, 2026
Published: November 11, 2026 8:00 AM UTC
This article was generated by artificial intelligence and is automatically updated as news breaks. All credit belongs to the original reporters and their publications.
We hired Pedro Guerrero as our new hitting coach, finalized the rest of our coaching staff, and scheduled a face-to-face meeting with Tarik Skubal this week—all moves designed to address the organizational uncertainty that’s followed our NLCS collapse and Aaron Bates‘ departure. But even with mutual interest between us and Skubal confirmed, the deal remains unsigned. Andrew Friedman is in Las Vegas for GM Meetings operating under what Brandon Gomes called “business as usual,” but the compressed timeline before December 1 lockout complications demands more than methodology. It demands results.
Guerrero Hired as Hitting Coach
CONFIRMEDWe’ve brought Pedro Guerrero in from the Miami Marlins to replace Aaron Bates as co-hitting coach, per Fabian Ardaya at The New York Times. Guerrero signed a multi-year deal and will work alongside Robert Van Scoyoc in our established hitting coach structure. This hire directly answers the concern Max Muncy flagged when Bates departed—we weren’t going to leave our offensive infrastructure in limbo heading into 2027.
Guerrero brings two seasons of professional hitting coach experience and established credibility within baseball. His multi-year commitment signals we’re thinking long-term partnership rather than stopgap replacement. What matters now is whether he can establish the same player buy-in that Bates cultivated over 12 years. Muncy’s public disappointment over losing Bates wasn’t just sentiment—it was validation that Bates built legitimate relationships with our roster core. Guerrero walks in understanding that relationship-building with established contributors like Muncy isn’t optional if he wants our hitting framework to function at championship levels. Van Scoyoc’s continuity as hitting coach anchor provides stability, and Guerrero’s arrival should strengthen our offensive instruction without destabilizing it.
Source(s): Fabian Ardaya, The New York Times | First reported: November 10, 2026, 9:55 PM UTC
Muncy ‘Really Sad’ Over Bates Departure
CONFIRMEDMax Muncy publicly expressed disappointment over Aaron Bates not staying as co-hitting coach, per Dodger Blue. His reaction matters because it crystallizes exactly what the front office was worried about losing—not just a coach’s technical instruction, but the player relationships and organizational trust he’d built over more than a decade.
Muncy spent his entire Dodgers tenure under Bates’ hitting framework. His willingness to express sadness publicly signals that this wasn’t just front office disagreement disconnected from how our roster experienced Bates’ coaching. It was a real loss that our established contributors genuinely regret. That’s organizational disruption beyond optics. Friedman and the front office needed to move fast on finding a replacement who could establish similar credibility with our core players. Guerrero’s hiring directly addresses this concern, but whether he can replicate the buy-in Bates cultivated will only become clear once spring training starts and he’s actually integrated into our offensive instruction framework.
Source(s): Staff, Dodger Blue | First reported: November 10, 2026, 6:10 PM UTC
Skubal Meeting Scheduled; Mutual Interest Confirmed
CONFIRMEDWe’ve scheduled a face-to-face meeting with Tarik Skubal this week in Las Vegas, per Fabian Ardaya at The New York Times. The organization’s statement—”we know what kind of pitcher he is”—signals organizational confidence heading into the compressed negotiation window before December 1 CBA deadline. But here’s where it gets complicated: Bob Nightengale at USA Today is reporting that mutual interest exists between us and Skubal, yet the deal remains unsigned. So what’s preventing it?
Skubal is our rotation anchor. He delivered elite-level execution throughout our postseason run and commands historic pitcher contract resources. The fact that we’ve scheduled this meeting demonstrates we’re not leaving his decision-making to media speculation or waiting passively for competing organizations like the Padres, Mets, and Cubs to accelerate their own pitches. We’re engaging directly. But Nightengale’s framing that mutual desire exists yet the deal won’t happen raises a legitimate question: Is our financial authorization matching our rhetorical commitment? The compressed timeline before lockout complications demand decisive action. Andrew Friedman cannot afford to treat this meeting as procedural. Every conversation with Skubal at this stage of free agency carries weight, and our organizational resolve must be backed by financial commitment matching whatever price his elite execution commands.
Source(s): Fabian Ardaya, The New York Times; Bob Nightengale, USA Today | First reported: November 11, 2026, 1:53 AM UTC
Padres Join Skubal Pursuit; Competition Intensifies
CONFIRMEDThe San Diego Padres have joined the pursuit for Tarik Skubal, adding another heavyweight suitor to a competition that already included us, the Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets, per Dodger Blue. Skubal’s market is expanding. His negotiating leverage is increasing. Our front office faces intensifying competition to retain our rotation anchor at whatever historic contract his market eventually commands.
The Padres operate as a big-market franchise with demonstrated willingness to invest decisively in premium starting pitching. Their entry into the Skubal competition adds another layer of complexity to his decision-making process and positions our front office exactly where demonstrating genuine competitive alignment with him becomes increasingly essential. We cannot afford to lose Skubal to San Diego or any other organization if we genuinely view him as our rotation anchor. Mark Walter’s earlier confidence that we’d remain elite under a potential salary cap means nothing if we fail to secure Skubal’s retention when it represents our central 2027 competitive priority. Friedman must enter the GM meetings understanding that every competing organization in this pursuit operates from positions where they can credibly commit resources at historic levels. Our financial authorization needs to match our rhetoric, or we’re watching our rotation anchor sign elsewhere.
Source(s): Staff, Dodger Blue | First reported: November 9, 2026, 4:15 PM UTC
Friedman Pushes Back on ‘Lazy Narratives’ About Brewers Sweep
CONFIRMEDAndrew Friedman publicly disagreed with what he calls “lazy narratives” that emerged after Milwaukee swept us in the NLCS, per Dodger Blue. His pushback against simplified explanations validates that our front office is resisting easy scapegoating and conducting serious organizational evaluation about what structural vulnerabilities the Brewers exposed.
The Brewers outplayed us across multiple competitive dimensions. That’s documented fact. But Friedman’s insistence that simplified narratives miss the point signals that our front office isn’t retreating into defensive posturing. It’s conducting deeper analysis about what specifically went wrong and what structural changes are necessary to position ourselves where championship contention becomes realistic in 2027. His disagreement with lazy narratives suggests he’s identified specific organizational vulnerabilities requiring targeted correction rather than wholesale overhaul. That strategic thinking should inform why Tarik Skubal retention anchors our offseason and why we’re pursuing multiple star-level acquisitions alongside that retention. Our acquisition priorities aren’t generic “add stars” philosophy. They’re specifically targeted at addressing structural vulnerabilities Milwaukee exposed. We cannot afford to accept simplified explanations for why we failed to three-peat, and Friedman’s public disagreement validates that our front office is committed to the kind of rigorous organizational evaluation that positions us exactly where meaningful improvement is possible.
Source(s): Staff, Dodger Blue | First reported: November 10, 2026, 8:10 PM UTC
Gomes: ‘Business as Usual’ Offseason Approach at GM Meetings
CONFIRMEDBrandon Gomes addressed our organizational approach to the offseason during the MLB GM Meetings in Las Vegas, describing our strategy as “business as usual” despite the compressed timeline created by potential lockout complications, per LA Times coverage. Gomes’s framing validates that our front office isn’t panicking into reactive decision-making despite our NLCS collapse and the compressed negotiation window before December 1.
Gomes carries credibility as an established front office voice communicating organizational strategy. His “business as usual” framing suggests Friedman’s negotiation approach to Skubal retention and other offseason priorities is being constructed around sustainable organizational strategy rather than desperate deadline-driven capitulation to competing organizations. Whether our business-as-usual methodology represents genuine organizational confidence about Skubal retention or organizational posturing designed to signal negotiation strength remains unclear. But we cannot afford to allow compressed timelines to force panic-driven resource authorization that exceeds reasonable bounds, nor can we afford to let business-as-usual methodology prevent us from authorizing resources matching whatever price Skubal’s market demands if genuine retention opportunity exists and deal completion is possible before lockout complications disrupt normal business operations.
Source(s): LA Times Staff | First reported: November 11, 2026, 3:32 AM UTC
Front Office Still Figuring Out Plan for Ohtani
CONFIRMEDWe’re still working through our organizational approach to Shohei Ohtani heading into 2027, per Fabian Ardaya at The New York Times. Despite Ohtani’s established presence within our organizational infrastructure and his demonstrated ability to execute at elite levels, our front office hasn’t finalized exactly how we’ll deploy him competitively or what role configuration best positions him for both individual success and team-level contribution.
Ohtani’s contractual commitment to us is settled. His elite-level skill set across multiple offensive dimensions isn’t in question. What’s evolving is strategic deployment. Our front office’s willingness to evaluate multiple pathway options rather than defaulting to established role patterns validates that we’re thinking strategically about exactly how his skill set optimizes our organizational competitive positioning. Ohtani’s versatility creates multiple deployment possibilities, and our deliberation about which pathway best serves both his individual performance ceiling and our team-level competitive needs represents exactly the kind of sophisticated organizational thinking championship-caliber front offices conduct. Whether we settle on a specific deployment approach before spring training or maintain flexibility depends on how our roster construction evolves around Skubal retention and whatever additional star-level acquisitions we pursue. But active deliberation about Ohtani’s optimal role validates that we’re thinking comprehensively across multiple organizational layers—executing major retention negotiations while conducting strategic evaluation about how our established elite contributors maximize our 2027 competitive ceiling.
Source(s): Fabian Ardaya, The New York Times | First reported: November 11, 2026, 4:10 AM UTC
Four Dodgers Story Lines to Track at GM Meetings
CONFIRMEDThe LA Times identified four Dodgers-related story lines worth monitoring at the MLB GM Meetings in Las Vegas this week, per LA Times staff. The GM meetings serve as a precursor to the December winter meetings, though this year’s winter meetings are expected to be canceled in the face of a potential lockout tied to the December 1 CBA deadline.
This reporting frames our offseason landscape exactly where organizational priorities need to be executed decisively during a compressed timeframe before labor complications potentially disrupt normal business operations and force front offices to operate under heightened uncertainty about when formal negotiations will resume. The GM meetings represent one of the final opportunities for Friedman and our front office to conduct business face-to-face with competing organizations before December 1 creates organizational paralysis if a lockout materializes. Our priorities remain crystal clear: Tarik Skubal retention anchors our offseason strategy, but we’re also monitoring trade market opportunities, evaluating free agent positioning, and managing minor league roster decisions across multiple organizational levels. The compressed timeline created by potential lockout complications means Friedman needs to operate decisively during the GM meetings window and leverage face-to-face contact with competing organizations to accelerate negotiations on our central priorities.
Source(s): LA Times Staff | First reported: November 10, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC
Transactions
- Hired: Pedro Guerrero as co-hitting coach (multi-year deal) from Miami Marlins
God Bless and Go Dodgers
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