Projected record: 104-58 (99% playoff odds | 26.5% World Series odds)
What has changed most since we saw them last? It's not often that a team coming off a 100-win season and a 10th division title in 11 years makes the biggest splashes (plural) the following offseason. But this wasn't your typical situation. The Dodgers, fresh off a stunning early postseason exit for the second straight year, had planned on pursuing
Shohei Ohtani for years, and, on their third attempt, they finally got him. The splurging didn't stop there thanks to Ohtani's shockingly club-friendly deal. With that, the Dodgers gave
Yoshinobu Yamamoto the richest contract for a pitcher in history. They traded for
Tyler Glasnow -- and signed him to a five-year, $135 million extension. They signed
Teoscar Hernandez and
Kiké Hernández to one-year deals. Oh, and the Dodgers still employ
Mookie Betts and
Freddie Freeman and
Will Smith and
Max Muncy. Plenty has changed since October, but expectations haven't.
-- Castillo
Most likely 2024 award winner: Strange as it is to say about a team with three perennial MVP candidates like Betts, Freeman and Ohtani, not to mention a three-time Cy Young winner in
Clayton Kershaw, but a rookie is their most likely honoree. In fact, Yamamoto may well be the most likely candidate of any player in baseball to win a major postseason award. The betting markets peg Yamamoto with a better than 1-in-3 shot of becoming the next NL Rookie of the Year. Is he *really* a rookie? Yes.
Should he be considered a rookie? Expect plenty of commentary around that question this summer about the $325 million debutant. --
Doolittle
How they can rule the sport: By doing the thing that has famously eluded them (outside of the COVID-shortened season): win the whole freakin' thing. There were business interests tied to the Dodgers' offseason splurge, sure, but the biggest motivation was winning titles. Yes, plural. And you need more than 40-man-roster depth to do it -- you need stars, the type who can transcend the randomness of small sample sizes in October. The Dodgers' brass has often talked about its desire to make this the greatest era in franchise history. It's a lofty goal, one that, they'll acknowledge, can't be reached without securing multiple championships. It's time to start.
-- Gonzalez
One (realistic) bold prediction: By the end of the season, the Dodgers have changed three-quarters of their Opening Day infield. Betts has moved back to second base, the team acquires
Willy Adames from the Brewers to play shortstop and
Isaac Paredes from the Rays to replace Muncy at third base.
-- Schoenfield