The “Dodgers are ruining baseball” discourse that dominated last winter included pleas for a salary cap from the owners of the Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Congratulations, gentlemen, your teams are in last place. For you, the Dodgers are a handy scapegoat.
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But the discourse also included this take from the owner of the New York Yankees: “It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they’re doing,” Hal Steinbrenner told the YES Network. “We’ll see if it pays off.”
So far, it has not paid off.
The Dodgers will make the playoffs, but the collection of players they bought to fortify their World Series title defense has fallen far short of expectations.
What happens in October could determine whether the spending spree that so annoyed rival owners might instead be remembered as Andrew Friedman’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad winter.
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Read more: Yoshinobu Yamamoto shines, but Dodgers’ offense goes missing in walk-off loss to Giants
Tanner Scott stood in front of his locker late Friday night, at the latest low point in a miserable season. He had just given up a game-winning grand slam to a good-fielding catcher who walked to the plate batting .217.
Scott, the Dodgers’ $72-million closer, has an earned-run average of 5.01. He has pitched half as many innings as Clayton Kershaw and given up four more home runs.
“It’s terrible,” Scott said. “I’m having the worst year of my life. I’ve got to be better.”
It’s not just him. As a whole, the Dodgers’ signing class of 2024-25 has to be better.
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After spending a billion dollars in the winter of 2023-24, the Dodgers dropped an encore worth half a billion on the rest of the league last winter.
Of 11 key players that signed new contracts to stay with the Dodgers or free-agent contracts to join them, none have a WAR of even 2, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The Angels last winter signed two free agents with a higher WAR than any of those Dodgers signees: starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi and closer Kenley Jansen.
Dodgers closer Tanner Scott, foreground, watches a game-wining grand slam hit by the Giants’ Patrick Bailey (background). (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, respectfully declined to review his offseason.
“We’ll wait until after the season,” he said. “All we’re focused on is these next few games and October.”
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The most valuable of the winter signees by WAR, according to Baseball-Reference.com: Hyeseong Kim, whom the Dodgers have bounced uneasily between the infield and the outfield, between the starting lineup and the bench, between the major leagues and minor leagues.
Then comes Kershaw, who should top 100 innings on Saturday. The only Dodgers pitcher to throw more innings: Yoshinobu Yamamato.
When Friedman said he believed in his players, it was not just an obligatory quote. He really did. He believed in them so much that the Dodgers’ only additions at the trade deadline were a backup outfielder and a setup man.
Beyond Kershaw, the Dodgers’ pitching signees last winter included Scott, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates. It is difficult to envision the Dodgers including them all on a postseason roster, and not just because Sasaki still is working his way back from injury.
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“From a pitching standpoint, we have a very realistic chance to have the most talented 13-man pitching staff we’ve ever had,” Friedman said. “We felt that way in July, coupled with that we were most likely — well, hopefully — going to be in position to have tough conversations with guys who have a legitimate chance to make it, but wouldn’t.”
Read more: Can the Dodgers fix their ailing offense? It starts with better health — and team at-bats
He wouldn’t say which 13 pitchers he had in mind, and in fairness that could change with the next injury.
“You could take any collection of them,” Friedman said. “I’m just saying that, when we submit our playoff roster, I think those 13 arms will be the most talented — stuff, execution, talent, differing looks, right-left. I just think it will be the deepest, best staff we’ve had.”
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Beyond Kim, the Dodgers’ position player signees last winter included infielder-outfielders Tommy Edman and Kike’ Hernandez and outfielders Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernandez.
Edman and Kike’ Hernandez spent much of the season on the injured list. Teoscar Hernandez fell from a 4 WAR player last year — when his one-year contract looked brilliant — to a 1 WAR player this year.
Conforto homered Friday for the Dodgers’ only run. However, of the 191 players with at least 400 plate appearances entering play Friday, he had the lowest WAR.
“On the position player side, our with and without [Max] Muncy numbers are crazy,” Friedman said. “He’s a huge part of our lineup. But, even with that, the level of our offensive performance for two months is something that I would have said would have been an impossibility, even with an injury here or an injury there. What I thought wasn’t possible has been very possible, and has played out.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy reacts after being hit by a pitch during the eighth inning Friday. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
“Looking back, it has contributed to the situation we’re in right now, and the difficulties. I still look ahead and see the names in the lineup, and the depth, and feel really good about it. So we’re going to find out if that’s right or not.”
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During Muncy’s first stint on the injured list this season, the Dodgers ranked last in the majors in runs. During his second stint, they ranked next-to-last in the National League.
It did not feel good for the Dodgers when Muncy was forced from Friday’s game after a pitch hit him on the forearm. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said X-rays were negative, and the team will see how he is Saturday.
Friedman assembled a championship roster last year, his second in five years, so maybe this past winter will count as an expensive blip.
Or, perhaps, not even that.
The Dodgers count October as part of their schedule. They have not missed the playoffs in 13 years. Under Friedman, they have advanced to the World Series with a 92-win team and failed to get out of the first round with a 111-win team.
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October is what matters, no matter how poorly a player might have performed in the regular season.
Of the Dodgers that threw at least 60 innings last season, the one with the highest earned-run average made the final pitch of the year. Of all the things that Los Angeles remembers about Walker Buehler last year, his 5.38 ERA is not one of them.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
