The Dodgers Got Ohtani, But They Still Aren't The Best Team In Baseball

For all the hype that the Shohei Ohtani free agency sweepstakes got, he ultimately went to the place that most people predicted he would go. He stayed in Los Angeles but switched uniforms and leagues to go to the Dodgers. It was the ultimate flex by a Dodgers organization that has spent more money than anyone over the last decade. The middle of their lineup is now composed of three future first-ballot Hall of Famers, with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman being the other two. I haven't checked the gambling odds, but I would assume that the Los Angeles Dodgers are probably the odds-on favorite to win the World Series. Let's stop putting the cart before the horse. The Dodgers will be a dominant team next year with this roster, but they aren't the best team in baseball.

Baseball is a team game. Shohei Ohtani knows that better than anyone. If he could control the outcome, the Angels would not been awful every year that he played there. The Dodgers are a very top-heavy team. There is not a team in baseball that will have three Hall of Famers hitting back to back to back the way that they will. They will roll through the regular season, but they kind of always do. Last year's Dodgers team was one of the weakest they've had in a minute, and they still won 100 games. 

If the Dodgers were signing a fully operational Ohtani, who could both pitch and hit, I would consider them the best roster in baseball, but Ohtani blew his arm out. The Dodgers rotation is going to be a massive question mark next year. The Dodgers will go into 2024 with a rotation that isn't even the best in their own division. The Arizona Diamondbacks, the team that popped the Dodgers out of the playoffs last year, have a better, more stable rotation than LA does. The offense can get you through the regular season, but pitching gets you through October. It's a big reason why the Dodgers got exposed as quickly as they did last season.  

This blog could become dated very quickly. With Ohtani having so much of his contract being deferred payments, the Dodgers are not done yet. Rumor is they might be in on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell. If they get one of those guys that changes how I feel about them. If they get both, then we're talking about one of the most talented rosters in recent memory. But as of now, even if Walker Buehler returns to Cy Young form coming off of Tommy John surgery, this is still a depleted rotation. Maybe they re-sign Clayton Kershaw to another one-year deal, but you know that he's going to get injured at some point, and even if he is healthy going into October, we've seen what happens when Kershaw gets to the postseason. 

As a Los Angeles Dodger, Ohtani will be a phenomenon next season. It'll probably be that way for the remainder of his contract. It also adds a lot of pressure to the organization. The Los Angeles Dodgers have not won a championship in a full season since 1988. They've had all these great players and all these great teams, but they have not been able to get over the hump through a 162-game campaign plus playoffs. If they can't do it with possibly the most talented baseball player ever, I don't think they ever will. I ultimately think they'll win a championship, but right now, I'm a bit skeptical about next year being their year.