The Los Angeles Dodgers have won seven straight National League West titles, while at the same time consistently maintaining one of the best farm systems in all of baseball.
That is certainly not easy to do and should be applauded, but the Dodgers have not been able to win any championships over that span. They reached the World Series in 2017 and 2018 but lost both times.
The team then took a step back last year when they were defeated in the NL Division Series despite winning a franchise-record 106 games during the regular season.
Fans, who consistently contribute to the Dodgers leading the Majors in attendance, are as hungry as ever for a championship. The organization, on the other hand, hasn’t shown as much urgency this winter.
Their only Major League free agents they have signed this offseason are Blake Treinen and Jimmy Nelson. Additionally, Alex Wood reportedly agreed to a one-year deal.
The Dodgers have been linked to a number of big-name free agents over the years but have ultimately passed on all of them, remaining below the luxury tax threshold each of the past two seasons.
That may change in 2020 though as Dodgers president Stan Kasten recently predicted that they would go over the threshold despite currently being well below it. While that may be the case, Kasten does not feel that the organization needs to change its approach or philosophy, via Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times:
“We won 106 games and came a couple of outs away from beating the team that won the World Series, that doesn’t suggest to me a system that needs to be completely torn apart,” Kasten said. “What about the renewed pipeline, the old Dodger value of a player pipeline that I think we’ve had a reasonable amount of success at rebuilding? How about the kids that are homegrown Dodgers? We have a payroll of $200 million. How can you call us cheap? It blows my mind.”
There aren’t many options left on the free-agent market, so if the Dodgers want to improve their club before Opening Day, it may have to come via a trade.
Because of the pipeline that Kasten is referring to, L.A. has the ability to give up some of their top prospects to acquire an All-Star-caliber player.
They have been linked to Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor and others, now it is up to them to move forward with a trade and put the team in a better position to win a World Series in 2020 and beyond.
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