With the 2020 MLB season being so unusual due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic limiting it to 60 games, there has been plenty of discussion as to whether this year’s eventual World Series champion will be legitimate or not.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are once again one of the favorites to win it all after a successful offseason in which they added a former MVP in Mookie Betts, among others. On the eve of Opening Day they then signed Betts to a record-setting 12-year contract extension.
L.A. has yet to get over the hump since 1988, so the pressure on the organization is as great as ever. Clayton Kershaw is no stranger to feeling that and chasing a championship ring, so it’s no surprise that he believes whoever wins the 2020 World Series will be worthy of being called a champion.
“I think sitting on the outside and just listening about a 60-game season and how different that is, how this season won’t have fans and all this stuff so it’s going to look different, it’s really true,” he acknowledged.
“It’s not going to be like anything else we’ve done, but at the same time we’re all going through it on a level playing field and we’re all going through the exact same postseason. So whoever does win after this, it’s going to be a different champion but you’ll still be a champion.
“To say there’s an asterisk on it or something like that, I don’t think is fair. I think there needs to be a whole different category for what this season is. I think if you win this season it’s going to feel pretty good no matter what.”
Justin Turner echoed Kershaw’s thought and made it clear the organization’s lone goal outside of health and safety is to go out and win it all this season.
“I think if there’s a championship to be won, we’re going to do everything in our power to win that championship,” Turner said. “People are going to say whatever they say, but if there’s an opportunity to win a championship, we’re going to show up every day and work toward that goal and do everything we can to win it. We don’t want to let anyone else have that trophy.”
While Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had yet to specifically hear what his players said on the matter, he essentially made it clear the organization is on the same page.
“For us, I think the only way to look at it is it’s a championship potentially to be had and we have to prepare the same as we’ve always prepared. I’m not going to say one is more difficult than the other in light of the circumstances,” Roberts said.
“I think in our clubhouse, our guys feel this is what’s in front of us, it’s a level playing field and we’re going to play to win a championship.”
Part of what will make the 2020 season so unusual is the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus and how much time players will miss because of it. Because of that, Roberts and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently stated they believe the organization’s depth will be equally as important in 2020 even if the season is only 60 games.
Walker Buehler agreed with that sentiment as well as what both Kershaw and Turner had to say. “There’s only going to be one 2020 World Series winner and one team getting the trophy,” he said. “To me it doesn’t change a whole lot. In the NBA some of the players are talking about this year being one of the hardest championships to win, and I think it is true.
“You’re probably going to have guys in and out, probably going to have guys that have to play every day if somebody gets sick. I think having a lot of depth is a huge advantage in a situation like this and it’s going to take depth like that to get to the end and hold up the trophy. I feel like we have that and are moving toward that goal.”
Dodgers in agreement
To no surprise, Corey Seager and Kiké Hernandez both agreed with the idea of this season, even while being shortened, will produce a legitimate World Series champion.
“Everybody is going through the same thing, everybody is playing the same amount of games, everybody has the same issues as everybody else. To be the last team standing is to be the last team standing. There would be no difference to me,” Seager said.
Hernandez added: “You’ve got to take what’s given to you and 60 games is what we have. … So I think we’ve just got to look at 60 games and do whatever it takes to reach the playoffs and then once we reach the playoffs it’s just look back and say we played 162 games and we’re here in October, we’re ready to do what we want to do which is get to the World Series again and win it this time.”
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