The ending to the 2019 season was a disappointing one for the Los Angeles Dodgers as despite winning a franchise-record 106 regular-season games, they were defeated by the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals in five games in the National League Division Series.
Knowing that the organization and its fans were increasingly antsy for a World Series of their own, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman went out and made a big splash this past offseason by acquiring Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox.
The trade was completed just before the start of Spring Training, leading to a ton of excitement surrounding the Dodgers as they got set to embark on the long journey that hopefully would lead back to the Fall Classic.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers have yet to see any of that come to fruition as the 2020 season has been put on hold due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
While Major League Baseball and the Players Association are currently in discussions about restarting the season and seem optimistic that it will happen, there still is a chance that the season is cancelled altogether or potentially started and then eventually shut down again if a number of players were to contract the virus.
That would be a disaster for the Dodgers, in particular, not only because of their World Series aspirations but also because Betts is entering the final year of his contract before becoming a free agent this winter.
Clayton Kershaw recently discussed the possibility of the season being cancelled and how frustrated he and his teammates would be if it were to happen, via Arash Markazi of the L.A. Times:
“That’s the most frustrating thing,” Kershaw said. “We brought in Mookie and David and traded some really good talent to get them, so to not have a season would be hard.
“The Dodgers have been built to win a World Series every year that I’ve been here, but to not get that chance this year with the talent that we have would be frustrating. So I’m hopeful we can get something started because we had a lot of optimism.”
The latest reports indicated MLB is sending an economic proposal to the Players Association this week, so an agreement could potentially come shortly after, paving the way for the season to begin as soon as the beginning of July.
Even if the season doesn’t take place though, the Dodgers have suggested they would like to sign Betts to a long-term contract this winter. If they are able to get that done, L.A. could be hosting many more World Series in the coming years.
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