After examining each position, ESPN’s Buster Olney released his annual top 10 teams rankings, and he placed the Los Angeles Dodgers at No. 2 heading into the 2018 season, behind the Cleveland Indians.
Ranked behind the Dodgers, in order, were the World Series Champion Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Arizona Diamondbacks.
It comes as no surprise that the Dodgers were near the top as they won a Los Angeles franchise record 104 games last season, which also was the most in all of baseball.
They reached the World Series for the first time since 1988, where they fell just short to the Astros in what was an all-time classic seven-game series.
What’s more, the Dodgers return most of their core nucleus from a season ago, which includes Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, Chris Taylor and Yasiel Puig.
The Dodgers did lose a few key contributors in reliever Brandon Morrow, who signed a two-year deal with the Cubs, and starter Yu Darvish and reliever Tony Watson, who are both free agents and aren’t expected to return to Los Angeles.
While they haven’t made any big splashes yet this offseason, the Dodgers acquired left-handed reliever Scott Alexander in a three-way trade with the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox. Alexander was one of the most effective ground-ball pitchers last season, and he comes with multiple years of team control.
With so much young talent, Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi believes that the best way to improve on a 104-win team this season is players meeting expectations, which seemed to be the case in 2017.
There still may be some moves to be made this offseason, but even if the Dodgers don’t make any more additions, they will be considered the favorites to win the NL West for the sixth consecutive season.
