The Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned National League West champions for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons behind another 100-win campaign, but suffered an early playoff exit at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It marked a second consecutive year the Dodgers were eliminated in the first round of the postseason by an NL West opponent, and the third straight postseason elimination.
Despite the disappointing outcome, the team is well-positioned to return to the playoffs next season as the majority of their core will likely return. The Dodgers are also expected to make significant upgrades to their roster via free agency and trades.
“Obviously we’re extremely angry and disappointed with how these last two seasons have gone, and we’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in position for it not to happen again next year,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.
“What that means exactly, I’m not sure. But I do feel very confident that when we show up in Arizona in February, we’re going to have a team that has very, very legit championship aspirations.
“Then it’s about going out and taking care of that first part of the goal in the regular season and then doing whatever we can to make sure we’re not sitting here in this exact setting a year from now.”
Since taking over as president of baseball operations before the 2015 season, Friedman has led the Dodgers to nine consecutive playoff appearances. During that span the team has won one World Series title and three NL pennants while being eliminated in the first round four times.
While the last two postseason exits have been especially deflating, there is some renewed optimism surrounding the Dodgers. The team has indicated they will be aggressive this offseason, which could amount to multiple splashy acquisitions.
L.A. is said to be motivated to sign Shohei Ohtani and additionally could add two more starting pitchers, including a top-tier option such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Andrew Friedman: Dodgers focused on reacting to ‘important’ things
As the Dodgers reflect on their latest postseason heartbreak, Friedman said the team will only react to only what is important. “We have talked about this a lot. I think it’s incumbent upon us at the end of each season to look back,” Friedman said of how the club can find more success in October.
“It’s the most helpful for us in terms of informing future decisions. When we look back at the regular season, obviously there’s a lot to be proud of. Overcame a lot of adversity, it was fun watching those guys go out and compete on an everyday basis and see what they did.
“And obviously with our ultimate goal, came up incredibly short. It was painful and we’ve begun the process of doing everything we can to wrap our arms around it, understand it as best we can, react to the things are important to react to, not react to the things that aren’t.
“And do everything we can to put ourselves back in the position we were in a week and a half ago and have the October process play out way differently.”
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