The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series for the first time since the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020. Now in the offseason, other teams are looking to close the gap in talent and depth.
In the offseason, the Dodgers will first need to build on their strengths. While the bullpen and defense made the difference in the World Series, their offense is extremely potent with the first three batters being potential first-ballot Hall of Famers: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. With Shohei only taking up 2 million in cap space because of his contract, the Dodgers have room to work with in signing some elite talent to help them on the road to a repeat.
Position players
The most covered story right now is the Juan Soto sweepstakes. However, the Dodgers are risking losing a key piece to their championship season which is Teoscar Hernández. To start with Soto, the most fearsome hitter for the Yankees during their World Series run. He has a great eye and plate discipline. Shown by his higher walk rate than strikeout rate, as well as being a clear Triple Crown threat.
However, Juan Soto is expected to have an extremely lucrative salary, around 600 million dollars for 10 years. While this contract is expensive, if the Dodgers find a way to manage a great deal for both sides where it does not stunt the growth of their farm system, LA will have no problem signing him on.
However, this leads us to Teoscar. A fan-favorite Dodger who performed exceptionally well the whole season. He would also be more affordable so they can make moves on other weaknesses such as signing another rotation piece.
The Dodgers should re-sign Teoscar, easier than matching Juan Soto’s exorbitant contract ask of 600 million dollars in 10 years. This will leave them with enough cap room to go after another starter.
The Dodgers should steer clear of signing shortstop Willy Adames, another rumored target of theirs. Their position players last year were great, and they had a deep lineup that was ready for any situation they could find themselves in. The Dodgers do not need another bat that can hit more home runs. The Dodgers were fourth in hits and batting average, second in runs scored, third in home runs, and first in OPS. Comparatively speaking their pitching was 13th in earned run average and 18th in total earned runs.
The Pitching
Reportedly, Ohtani may not return to pitch at the beginning of next season. The Dodgers need to look to bolster their rotation, and improve on an inconsistent season from starters Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler.
They should instead use that money to sign Roki Sasaki and Max Fried. This would give them two great pitchers, Roki is a flamethrowing, right-handed pitcher and Max is a veteran left-handed ace and would balance out a very right-handed dominant starting rotation.
Roki Sasaki is the best pitcher the Dodgers could sign here. His arm talent is legitimate, with his 4-seam fastball averaging around 99 mph.
While Roki would be a slam dunk signing for the Dodgers, they should bulk up their rotation more by signing Max Fried.
Max Fried is no joke, boasting a 3.07 era. Their bullpen is extremely deep so just focusing on keeping that group together is the best route the Dodgers can take. This would mean resigning Blake Trienen and keeping Alex Vesia happy.
Closing Statements
The Dodgers, coming off the highs of winning the World Series, are the best free agent destination in the sport currently. It would not be too far to say the league is leaning on the Dodgers because of their star talent and dramatic postseason victory.
However, this season is a huge awakening for the league with a clear message: spend big to win big. The names are out there for the taking, and teams like the Dodgers still have cap space because of Shohei’s one-of-a-kind contract. This leaves questions over the league as to how other teams plan to adjust and adapt to the ever-changing environment of Major League Baseball.
