D-backs Fans Should Stop Freaking Out About the Dodgers
In recent days the uproar over the Dodgers signing free agent Shohei Ohtani and the way his contract was structured has been the biggest news in major league baseball. There has been a lot of consternation over the perceived lack of fairness in the structure of the league as well. Subsequently the Dodgers have made a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for Tyler Glasnow, subject to an extension which is expected to be reached. On top of all that, the Dodgers are the potential favorites to land Japanese superstar pitcher and free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
There is no doubt the Dodgers being the behemoth they are has been an obstacle and an impediment to the Diamondbacks progress for more than a decade. The simple fact is the Dodgers came into this offseason at least $80 million or more under the luxury tax threshold of $237 million. They're not afraid to go over that threshold either, as they showed last year sporting a payroll over $270 million. With that much money to spend they were always bound to add players with tremendous impact. Mike Hazen addressed this on Tuesday when he said "With the way the season ended I'm not surprised by anything that they're going to do to go out and improve their club. That's what we expect them to do."
They're a large market team with virtually unlimited resources, and they're run as well as any organization in the league. Despite constantly having late round draft picks their system has churned out good players to augment the stars they sign and trade for. It's been that way for a very long time and will continue to be so.
The Diamondbacks have improved too however, having already plugged a hole at third base with Eugenio Suarez and in the rotation with Eduardo Rodriguez. They're still looking to add players and are not done improving the roster. At the same time they have an excellent young core led by Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno. Their rotation is led by Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly and they'll have the benefit of having a bonafide closer in Paul Sewald for the entire season.
This is a team that swept the Dodgers in three games in the NLDS and made it all the way to the World Series in 2023. And they're getting better. Does that mean they'll be favorites to win the NL West? No, that was never in the cards. But it does mean they'll be in a good position to make it back to the postseason, where, as we learned so emphatically, anything can happen. This was always the model for the D-backs. Try to build a team that could consistently win enough games to get to the dance and then see what happens.
One thing Dodger fans will never get to enjoy is the same sense of triumph and accomplishment an underdog feels when they upset Goliath. If the Dodgers do make it back to the World Series and win a title with this "mega team" they're putting together, all they will have accomplished is meeting everyone's expectation. Anything short of winning the World Series will be viewed as a failure. This is a sport that has a 162 game regular season and a month long playoff structure to win the ultimate prize. Mike Hazen said it best.
"This is one of the most competitive, toughest divisions in all of baseball. We're happy to compete in it. I think it makes us better frankly, that we have a division that for 162 days we get pushed. I think it helped us in the playoffs this year, frankly, that you get beat up in this division quite a bit. And then you walk into the playoffs and you're kind of used to it, so you can take some lumps, and you can lose 10-0 in a road game and then come back and win the next day. That's the way I look at it, and I think this division when it's all said and done is going to be again one of the toughest ones for us to compete in, and that's great. We're ready for that."
