After a team wins a championship, focus tends to shift elsewhere in the league. Local fans obviously savor the moment, but the rest of the sports-watching world moves onto another subject. Engaging steady national interest is a demanding task for most franchises. The Los Angeles Dodgers are newsworthy year-round. Following their second straight World Series title win, they are retaining the spotlight heading into Hot Stove season. Their first notable move of what many expect to be an eventful LA winter is bringing back the club's all-time playoffs home run leader.

The organization picked up Max Muncy's $10 million team option on Thursday, ensuring that the slugging third baseman will wear Dodger Blue for at least one more year. Fans expect president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to make flashy additions during the offseason, regardless of how many stars or rings the squad currently boasts. However, what makes LA a truly compelling protagonist, or antagonist, depending on who you ask, are the relationships it builds.

Muncy will enter his ninth season with the Dodgers in 2026, strengthening the roots he has planted in Chavez Ravine. The two-time All-Star and three-time champ is incredibly grateful to move forward with the team that helped him develop from an Oakland Athletics castoff to a key component of baseball's newest dynasty.

“It means everything,” Muncy told reporters at a meet-and-greet, per the Dodgers Nation X account. “I wouldn’t still be in baseball if it wasn’t for the Dodgers. To get another year with them, hopefully I can get more in there, really means a lot to me.”

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The Dodgers-Max Muncy union stays strong

The 35-year-old sustained several fluky injuries and was not particularly sharp in the playoffs, but he still left his imprint on the 2025 campaign. Muncy batted .243 with 19 homers, 67 RBIs, a .376 on-base percentage, 470 slugging percentage and .846 OPS in 100 regular season games. He provides valuable power in the middle of the lineup. Furthermore, Muncy is living proof of the profound effect the Dodger Way can have on a ballplayer.

This polarizing franchise is not just throwing money around and taking full advantage of a system that many fans eagerly want to see end. Los Angeles also scoops up unwanted or unheralded talent who later become enduring members of a prestigious baseball institution. For Max Muncy, the front office's decision to exercise his option is about far more than extending his stay in this empire.

The Dodgers are family to him, and he will now get the chance to create additional memories with them and the city.