The Los Angeles Dodgers fell one game short of their goal this season, losing to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the World Series. It was a disappointing finish to what was an extremely successful year for the Dodgers.
They won a Los Angeles franchise record 104 games, finished with the best record in baseball, and claimed an unprecedented fifth consecutive National League West title. While the Dodgers didn’t snap their World Series drought, the team remains in strong position moving forward.
“We’re fortunate to be in a position where a lot of the team is going to be coming back,” general manager Farhan Zaidi said.
“Every offseason you kind of take a look at your roster and find potential target areas. As we look at our roster, we don’t feel like we have any glaring needs.”
Unlike last winter, the Dodgers are returning the core of their roster. A few key contributors, namely, Yu Darvish and Brandon Morrow, are currently free agents.
While Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Zaidi are stereotyped as valuing advanced stats over other matters when determining player personnel, the duo sees value in retaining the club’s free agents. Particularly after nearly winning the World Series.
“I think it’s not just the personal connections that you have with players, which we do, but also your competitive side. If you’re on a pickup basketball court and you come up just short, you want to be able to run it back,” Zaidi said.
“You want to take the same group of guys and be able to go at it again. We all have that instinct a little bit. We really believe in this team, this was a championship-caliber team.”
Confident and comfortable as Zaidi may be in the Dodgers roster, it’s not to suggest potential signings or trades won’t be explored.
“We’re going to continue to be opportunistic,” he said. “Like we always are, for ways to improve the roster.”
