The Los Angeles Dodgers in some ways exceeded expectations during the 2023 season as they won 100 games en route to another National League West title despite losing several key players in free agency and dealing with a plethora of injuries throughout the year.
But all of that success was followed with the Dodgers getting swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Division Series. It marked a second consecutive early postseason exit at the hands of an NL West opponent.
The Dodgers opted not to make major changes to the coaching staff, but figure to shake up their roster this offseason as they look to go deeper in the postseason next year.
“We have talked about this a lot. I think it’s incumbent upon us at the end of each season to look back,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman answered when recently asked how the team 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.”
In their 11 straight playoff appearances since 2013, the Dodgers have won the World Series only once and three NL pennants while being eliminated in the first round five times.
The team is set up nicely to return to the postseason in 2024 as the majority of their core will likely return. L.A. is expected to be aggressive in free agency as they look to address some of their weaker areas, such as the starting rotation.
Andrew Friedman prioritizing Dodgers winning NL West
The Dodgers were one of three division winners this past season to be eliminated in the Division Series. Many attributed that to the long layoff that comes with securing a first-round bye as part of the current postseason format.
Friedman doesn’t see that as a disadvantage and hopes the Dodgers win another NL West title next season.
“For us, I certainly would not use that as an excuse,” he said. “Our goal next year is to win the division and have those five days off again. It’s two years into this format, we don’t concern ourselves too much with what’s optimal or ideal. It doesn’t really matter. It is what it is. For us, it’s about how to operate the best we can within it.
“We tried to simulate a lot of at-bats Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, because there’s no question that five days off affects hitters’ timing. There’s no question. Now, if getting enough at-bats leading up to that, keeps that timing in place, obviously we didn’t do a good enough job.
“So our goal is to win the division next year. And once we do that and hopefully put ourselves in position to have those five days off, we need to really think long and hard about the best way to set up those five days and do everything we can to get our guys ready to play in Game 1.”
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