After 13 seasons, 2-time World Series champ Rojas calls it a career

LOS ANGELES -- When Miguel Rojas spoke to reporters Thursday night following the Dodgers’ season-ending loss, he was still in full uniform, right down to his cleats.

He was in no hurry to untie them. Once he did, a 13-year Major League career -- and a 21-year run in professional baseball -- was officially over.

Moments after the 6-4 loss to the Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, sealing a four-game sweep that halted their bid for a third consecutive World Series title, manager Dave Roberts held his postgame team meeting. Then, he handed the floor to his 37-year-old infielder.

Rojas told the room what he had weighed in private for months: Thursday was the final time he would step onto a big league diamond as an active player.

“This is it, guys. This is it,” Rojas said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m gonna move on and go to the next step of my life, in my career, and the baseball world. Today was the last time that I wore that uniform as a player and my cleats. It’s really hard to take them off right now.”

In a star-studded clubhouse shared with MVPs and future Hall of Famers, Rojas was the heartbeat. While the Dodgers fell four wins short of another pennant, the Venezuelan veteran departs with two World Series rings from his second stint in Los Angeles, leaving a footprint that extended far beyond his glovework or box scores.

When the Dodgers acquired Rojas from the Marlins ahead of the 2023 season, from the outside, he was viewed primarily as veteran infield depth. But inside, he quickly emerged as the room’s anchor and moral compass -- the player who called postgame meetings, demanded accountability on routine fundamentals, and gave the clubhouse its daily rhythm.

“He built a legacy that we’ll be talking about ... for a long time,” Freddie Freeman said. “He impacted so many people in this organization. I wish we could have gotten him a third one. But you have to realize -- this game is hard, sport is hard, life is hard. Sometimes you give it your all and still come up short. That’s what’s happening for us.”

For Mookie Betts, who moved between right field and shortstop over the past few seasons, Rojas was a daily mentor.

“I don't have words to really describe him, especially for me and all the growth that I've had from him,” Betts said. “It's kind of like that dad that sits over and watches and makes sure I'm good, making sure I'm learning everything. Even in this game, every game I took the field, he was always there watching and making sure I'm doing everything right. But that's just for me personally. For the boys, he's our leader. Our vocal guy. He gets on the mic, makes sure we're playing the game hard, holds everybody accountable. Not having him in a Dodgers uniform would be something completely different for all of us.”

Rojas’ Major League journey began in Los Angeles in 2014, when he debuted with the Dodgers as a light-hitting defensive specialist best remembered that summer for preserving Clayton Kershaw’s June no-hitter with an acrobatic backhand stab at third base.

After spending the next eight seasons in Miami as an everyday shortstop and team captain, Rojas returned to the Dodgers in 2023. Over the final four seasons of his career, he provided steady infield defense across 446 games while batting .260. His impact peaked on baseball’s biggest stages, helping Los Angeles secure the 2024 championship before delivering a legendary game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series against Toronto.

Even with his playing days finished, Rojas will not be straying far from Chavez Ravine. When he signed a one-year contract for the 2026 season, he agreed to transition into a player development role with the organization once his playing career concluded. The exact title remains to be finalized, but for Rojas, the details matter far less than simply getting to stay home.

“I told them that I’m gonna be loyal. I wanna stay here,” Rojas said. “I wanna wear this uniform or this logo in a different capacity, and continue to make the organization better.”

Before starting that next chapter, Rojas made sure his final moments in uniform weren't about his retirement or his stats. When Roberts gave him the floor on Thursday night, his focus was on the culture left behind, and thanking the room that shaped him.

“I just said ‘thank you,’ because they changed my life,” Rojas said. “I grew as a man, as a father, as a player, as a leader, as a teammate. I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to every person here in this organization for giving me the opportunity to be myself and to help change the culture of this club. Hopefully they keep that going. I hope it never changes.”