Just what is the Dodger way? Lately it seems to be signing the best free agent’s available, trade some kids for help if needed, and steam roll the West. Well, it did not quite happen that way.
LA had to fight tooth and nail for this one. After the Padre series, they did not really play from behind the rest of the way. They were up 3-1 on the Mets before you knew it, and they went up 3-0 on the Yankees before ending it in five games.
Freddie became only the second Dodger in team history to hit four homers in a World Series. Duke Snider did it twice. He joined Johnny Podres, the first ever WS MVP, Larry Sherry, Koufax twice, Cey, Pedro and Boomer, the only co-MVPs in a series, Orel, and Seager as a World Series MVP. Tommy Edman stunned everyone with his MVP performance in the LCS.
The pitching was in a shambles for most of the year, but the bullpen and the trade acquisition of Jack Flaherty helped a lot, but they still went into the playoffs short-handed in the rotation. The amazing thing about this post season was they won their two elimination games against the Padres by shutouts. Then in the LCS, they shut out the Mets in games 1 and 3. Game four of the LDS and game 3 of the LCS were bullpen games. That in and of itself is amazing.
Since 2013, the Dodgers have also counted on an offense that scores runs in bunches. 3 times since 2014, the team scored under 700 runs, once was 2020, so that does not really count. They have scored over 800 the last 5 years in a row. In 23, they scored 906 runs. In 2024, they scored 842 runs, and that was with Betts and Muncy out for extended periods of time, and Will Smith fading like a 8-year-old nag the second half.
This winter they loaded up on pitching, re-tooled the starting lineup, and said goodbye to an old friend. Snell and Sasaki being the new starters, Yates and Scott bolstering the bullpen along with re-signing Blake Treinen. Michael Conforto basically replaces Heyward and Kiermaier. Teo being re-signed was huge. And then the last couple of days, they brought back Kike and Kersh. They traded Lux for a minor leaguer and some pool money, they traded Brasier to make room for Yates.
Some familiar names will be back in the mix, Dustn May and Tony Gonsolin. Five pitchers will end up on the 60-day IL, Stone, Ryan, Graterol, Hurt and Sheehan. The way it looks, they could be joined by Kopech and Phillips. Kershaw most likely will be out until mid-season. A lot is riding on the returning arms of May and Gonsolin, and the hopeful return of Bobby Miller to being the kind of pitcher he was his first season.
Hudson and Kiermaier retired. They allowed Walker Buehler, whose 9th inning performance in game five of the World Series will long be remembered, to leave via free agency and sign with the Red Sox for the same amount as the QO. Which they could have used to bring Walker back. But I think their minds were already made up to go in a different direction. Sasaki may have always been the way they wanted to go.
The out of nowhere signing, and the signing that led to trading Lux, was Haesong Kim. There was no chatter at all about Kim. And the next thing we knew, the kid had a 3-year deal. Now no one, not even the Dodgers, know how Kim will perform at the MLB level. But the team felt strongly enough to sign him. Now with spring training in full bloom, we will get to see how this all comes together. The new Dodgers will all get plenty of opportunities to show their wares. How well the team comes together will determine if they can become the first team in MLB to repeat as champions since the Yankees of 98-2000.
There is a huge target on their backs. How they respond to the challenge, remains to be seen. I remember as a kid having Al Campanis’s book, ” The Dodger Way to Play Baseball.” That book stressed fundamentals. I believe the 25 Dodgers will more than be up to the challenge. But of course, that is just a guess.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Getting better every day. Just coming home is the best medicine.
Did the last part of your article get cutoff?
Someone do a wellness check.
Looks like it was. Thanks Dave.
Winning the Dodger way?
$$$$$$$$$
Ohtani’s 2 mil/yr deferred contract.
Not much home grown talent.
Looking at the roster in the beginning of 2024 to now is stunning. We’ve added Conforto(my pick as biggest surprise), Kim, Edman, Kopech, Scott, Yates, Sasaki, Snell, May, Gonsolin and Ohtani(pitching). And the 24 beginning club was pretty darn good. Wow!!!!!!
There was a time when the Dodgers took great pride in developing their young players rookies of the year were almost common. Perhaps the name should be changed to the L A hired guns the new Dodger Way
Cool name, but these days, to stay ahead of the game, they have changed philosophy. The Dodgers still lead the ROY race by plenty.
Every player at every moment of baseball history is and has been a hired gun. They just used to have no freedom to earn what they deserve/deserved.
Exactly. Free agency changed everything.
Sasaki, Miller, and Kershaw will be at least part time starters as well.
May I add this thought…..I really don’t know how to feel about Ohtani resuming his SP role. If he reinjures his arm, can’t that possibly affect his hitting? Do we want to take that chance? Is there another viable option that makes more sense besides him being a full time SP?
No reason for slow-play Sasaki, especially since a strong performance can win the Dodgers another high-ish draft pick.
JT now drawing interest from several teams, but not the Dodgers.
Love the Bregman signing for the BoSox, exciting times with a strong (top heavy, but what a top) farm and interesting diverse line up
Roman Anthony (CF), Kristian Campbell (2B), are Marcelo Mayer (SS) are consensus top prospects with Roman Anthony #1 or #2 (behind Sasaki). Campbell is in top 10 in 4 of 5, while Mayer is top 15 in 3 of 5. They are all scheduled to begin their seasons in AAA, and all are considered MLB ready at the least and elite potential All Star prospects.
very interesting team…. i am amazed that bregman got such a big bag
Yeah, I’m not as high on Mayer as the other two.
But it’s a good time to be a BoSox fan.
Details on Clayton Kershaw contract:
$16MM for Kershaw for 16 starts and being on the active roster for at least half the season seems to be a very fair deal for the Dodgers. A guarantee of $7.5MM, regardless as to how many starts or for Kersh seems fair for him as well.
Last year, there was a tale of two Kershaws – one pre bone spur, ruptured plantar plate, and arthritis in his left foot (5 games), and two post injury (2 games).
1st five games – 24.0 IP, 2.63 ERA, 3.00 FIP, and .651 OPS against.
Last two games – 6.0 IP, 12.00 ERA, 5.67 FIP, and 1.231 OPS against.
I think we see more of the former than the latter.
I would love to see Kershaw riding in to save the season…. but I don’t think the season will really need saving.
Looks like the Dodgers will have 9 or 10 pitchers shuffling through that six-man rotation. How many will top 100 innings?
Wonder how many of those pitchers be healthy come October. That’s the big question these days. I just hope we have at least three of the best
“13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th start”
How many starts and how many innings do we expect out Kershaw this year? And how good will he be in those starts? His projections are mixed. Hard to know what to expect.
My guess, which nobody will remember: 13 starts. 71 innings. 4.0 ERA. 1.1 WAR.
And who will lead the staff in innings pitched? My guess – Blake Snell, 148 innings. Also hard to know what to expect with this stat as everyone on the list has history and none of them are younger this year.
The depth on this team appears to be that which will carry it to November. And $380 million payroll is what the Dodgers believe it takes to do that. It’s good to be rich.
Will there be another move to improve this roster? I think so. I believe the Dodgers will be moving to improve the daily 26 all year.
Oh my gosh,’’ Dodgers veteran catcher Austin Barnes said after catching his bullpen session.(Sasaki) “The fastball is a big fastball, it has a lot of carry and ride to it… And the split-finger is different. I’ve never seen a pitch like that before… A crazy talent. It’s exciting to see what he’s going to do.’’
I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about the start of a season than this one. It just has to be the best pitching staff, both starting and relieving, in baseball history. The quality and depth are staggering!
https://www.fangraphs.com/players/roki-sasaki/sa3025686/stats?position=P
An 80 splitter? Don’t believe I’ve ever seen that before.
Will Murakami be our third baseman in 26? Our best pipeline is in Japan, not OKC.
Take a deep breath, Grasshopper. Let’s see who is healthy in September …..then we can get crazy excited if we have at least 4 of them.
Oh please let me be excited about April-August!
The Dodgers have signed veteran reliever, Luis Garcia, to a minor league contract which includes an invite to spring training. Garcia has pitched for the Phillies, Angels, Rangers, Cardinals, Padres and Red Sox. He was 5-1 with a 3.71 ERA for the Angels last year with 4 saves before he was traded to the Sox. He was ineffective with the Sox posting a 0-0 record and a bloated 8.22 ERA in 15.1 innings. Career wise he is 26-28 with a 4.14 ERA, 107 holds, 15 career saves in 545 games. He is 38 years old and adds another veteran arm to the mix.
Everybody’s ineffective with the Sox. Those numbers don’t count.
More depth.
Per Josh Thomas:
The Luis Garcia signing by the Dodgers has one interesting thing going on – he added a cutter last year that he only threw 15 times, but in that limited sample its Stuff+ was 130 🧐
I, like some, are curious about how good the Dodger season will be next year. There are a couple of players that for me are less predictable that most other players.
Ohtani: A DH doesn’t have to stand on a hot and humid field nor have to concentrate defensively on every pitch. He is resting mentally and physically most of the game. I would keep him out of the batters box on days he pitches. The Dodgers will gain a good pitcher and lose a little offense from Othani next year IMHO.
Betts: I think he will do well at short and will hit better but I am curious how this move will work out.
Muncy: Muncy has become a good defensive player for balls he can get to but he doesn’t have much range going to his right. That is my assessment so maybe that isn’t accurate. He is capable of OPSing .850 and he is also capable of hitting .210. He didn’t have to swing in last years NLCS and therefore didn’t make outs but the opposite was true for the WS where he didn’t get on base and was mostly an out. More and more he was in the lineup only against righties. I can see him platooning with Kike’ all year. I am curious which Max will play most of the season next year.
Roki: I am mostly curious about the health of his arm otherwise he should be awesome.
Glasnow / May: I am curious if their arms will stay attached.
Gonsolin: I am not all that curious with Gonsolin. I think he will do well.
Miller: He might be a shrink away from having a great season. I’m curious if he will be able to keep his composure.
Outman: My main curiosity is whether Roberts will give him a chance more than I am curious about his ability. I am curious what he can do if given a chance.
The Dodger season will be insanely good. We’ve stress-tested the results and almost guaranteed success. Like always, the postseason will be subject to extreme variance, but getting last year’s championship out of the way should relax the ones who have been there before and motivated the ones who are trying to get their first.
Well he was given a chance last year
Some believe Roberts has been given numerous chances before he settled in.
Per Plunkett:
Brusdar Graterol said he feels like he has “a new arm” this spring after shoulder surgery last year. Labrum and ligament repaired. “Thank God it was not rotator cuff.”
Won’t begin throwing program for another month or so but vows to pitch in 2025.
The Dodgers have signed former Red Sox infielder Michael Chavis to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.