Now that football is finally over following the conclusion of the Super Bowl, it’s time for baseball. For those who haven’t been paying attention during the offseason, it’s been rather weird. Some say it’s been eventful; others will point to the talent still left in free agency saying it’s been a slow grind, but the consensus amongst baseball fans is that the Los Angeles Dodgers have gone all in. L.A. went out and signed reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani, international star Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez and James Paxton. They also traded for Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot, extending Glasnow to a five-year deal soon after he was acquired. In total, the Dodgers have committed to over $1 billion in payroll with funky deferrals that set the baseball world on fire. Even as spring training starts this week, it’s not crazy to believe that they might not be done adding to their already talented roster.
With all this being said, many have dubbed the Dodgers as the next great “super team” in baseball. “Super team” is a term that has been really popular as of late, especially in other sports like the NBA. Golden State formed a super team when they added Kevin Durant to their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and went on to win a couple rings. In baseball, that term is usually linked to teams like the late-1920s Yankees, also known as Murder’s Row, with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig leading a hall of fame filled lineup. New York’s 1927 team is arguably the greatest team of all-time, outscoring opponents by 376 runs with a league-best ERA. The Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s, dubbed the Big Red Machine, also comes to mind, making four World Series in a 10-year span (1970, 1972, 1975 and 1976). These teams featured all-time greats such as Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose.
The commonality of these teams is the success that spans across multiple years and a consistent roster. Los Angeles has their core of Mookie Betts, Ohtani and Yamamoto locked in for the next nine seasons, they have plenty of time to find success, but achieving it has proven to be a difficult task. Before all these crazy moves, Los Angeles were finding themselves playing in late-October regularly too, making the World Series in 2017 and 2018 before getting over the hump with a win in 2020. They’ve been a staple in the postseason every year since 2013 but have one ring to show for it. As for their new additions, Ohtani, the best player in baseball, has never played in a postseason game in the entirety of his career. Yamamoto hasn’t even made a single pitch in the MLB yet and he got a $300 million deal. Glasnow hasn’t made over 22 starts in his eight-year career and has a 5.72 ERA in 10 postseason appearances. The talent is there for the Dodgers, but can they perform when the lights are bright determines if they truly are a super team.
Despite this, Los Angeles seems to be fully embracing the super team moniker they’ve garnered this offseason. Betts, recently moved to second base on the Dodgers, stirred up some controversy with his comments at Dodgers fanfest, saying, “Every game is gonna be the other team’s World Series. I mean it is what it is, it’s what we signed up for.” Betts’ comments split MLB fans across the globe, some agreeing with his statement while others believed they haven’t proven anything yet. It’s not just fans doubting the team either, even some publications are too. Fangraphs, a popular website among baseball fans, still has the Braves projected to have a better finish in the regular season, projecting Atlanta to finish with 97 wins to the Dodgers’ 92. To be fair too, Atlanta hasn’t slacked off this offseason either. The Braves went out and brought in Chris Sale and Jarred Kelenic to bolster their depth to an already talented roster featuring Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson just to name a few. Their 104 wins was the most in baseball, being just one of four teams with triple digit wins in front of the Orioles (101) and Dodgers (100).
As much as you can doubt the Dodgers, the absurdity is real. Ohtani won the AL MVP with a 184 OPS+, posting a 1.066 OPS in nearly 600 at-bats while throwing 132 innings with an ERA+ of 142. He already has a career WAR of 19.9 in his six seasons with the Angels. You’re adding him to a lineup that already has Betts and Freddie Freeman, who finished second and third respectively in the NL MVP voting a season ago. Starting pitching was the team’s weakness a season ago, so they added Glasnow, Yamamoto and Paxton into the fold, bringing back Clayton Kershaw who should return in the summer while Walker Buehler continues to heal. Los Angeles has been a powerhouse in the league for over a decade, and this is the strongest roster that they’ve ever boasted.
Talent doesn’t matter if you can’t win with it. The Dodgers’ crosstown rival Angels had Ohtani along with Mike Trout for six years and couldn’t piece together a single postseason appearance with the two. That’s where the Dodgers postseason streak and roster construction comes into play, because this team is built to go all the way and continue to do so. Anything but a World Series victory is a disappointment. This can be the beginning of an insane baseball dynasty.