The Los Angeles Dodgers roster has experienced significant turnover this offseason, with Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Trea Turner, among others, no longer part of the organization.
While most of the attention has centered on those subtractions, the club was able to re-sign Clayton Kershaw at the start of free agency. L.A. has also made several modest additions, including J.D. Martinez, Noah Syndergaard and Shelby Miller.
The Dodgers were linked to many of the top free agents but missed out on all of them and appear content with staying under the luxury tax threshold to reset penalties ahead of a potential pursuit of Shohei Ohtani next year.
During an interview with Alanna Rizzo on MLB Network’s “High Heat,” Kershaw reiterated his confidence in president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to build a winning team:
“I want Andrew to get every single good player there is out there, obviously, but that’s just not how it works. I think if I’ve learned anything in my time with Andrew, it’s you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing. It seems like we always have a team out there that is in a pretty good chance to go to the postseason. Getting 111 wins is great and all, but it obviously doesn’t guarantee you anything in the postseason. I don’t know what that looks like going forward. I don’t know what their plans are for the rest of the offseason, but I do know we have a good chance to make the postseason, and then all bets are off.”
Since joining the Dodgers front office at the end of the 2014 season, Friedman has guided the team to eight consecutive postseason appearances, seven National League West titles, three pennants and one World Series championship.
The Dodgers are coming off a historic season that saw them set a franchise record with 111 wins before suffering an early postseason exit at the hands of the San Diego Padres.
Despite not making any big moves to this point, initial 2023 ZiPS projections have the Dodgers finishing with the second-best record in all of baseball.
Clayton Kershaw praises Justin Turner for contributions to Dodgers
In addition to discussing the Dodgers’ moves this offseason, Kershaw talked about his experience being teammates with Turner, his impact in the community and the confidence he instilled.
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