While some fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers held onto a shred of hope that their beloved team would advance deeply into the 2023 postseason, others knew that an exit without bringing home a championship was inevitable.
They just didn’t think it would happen so soon.
A lot of us hoped that an offense that was so impressive most of the year could balance out a pitching staff that was hammered by injuries and one disgraceful leave of absence. Unfortunately, those hopes never became a reality. The bats never really showed up, almost replicating the same performance against the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series nearly a year ago.
The group that became the first quartet in franchise history to register 100 RBI apiece — Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, J.D. Martinez and Max Muncy — were essentially shut down by an Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff that finished 20th in the majors in team ERA during the regular season.
Regardless, to answer the question, although overcoming tons of adversity to hit the century mark in regular season wins was quite impressive, losing to a division rival and heading home after three short games frustrating and disappointing to all those close to the organization.
The problem is that the script is becoming quite familiar for the franchise — a stellar regular season and an early playoff exit without meeting expectations.
The bigger question might surround whether ownership is happy with the way the team is performing, or if the organization will try to invest in the resources to put the club over the top. More specifically, does the franchise value a World Championship as much as a steady stream of revenue and profitability?
Although there’s a lot of youth beginning to emerge and plenty of talent returning next year, there are still a bunch of holes to fill over the winter.
The starting rotation is basically non-existent right now aside from Bobby Miller. Even if Clayton Kershaw comes back on another one-year deal, there’s no telling how much he’ll contribute. Walker Buehler should rejoin the club, but it’s tough to say if he’ll ever return to his 2021 form when he started 33 games and posted 16 wins with a 2.47 ERA and 200 punchouts.
Julio Urias is gone, and there’s a slim chance Lance Lynn will return. Tony Gonsolin will miss the entirety of 2024. With any luck, Dustin May could return sometime after the All-Star break.
While youngsters like Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone might end up being decent starting pitchers at some point, neither one is probably ready to shoulder a workload of 25 or more starts.
How the team looks in 2024 might be determined by how much the Dodgers are willing to spend. What we do know is that several additions are a must. Will the front office spend big on a free-agent top-tier starter like Blake Snell or Aaron Nola, or settle for something less like Kenta Maeda or Sonny Gray? Or will a blockbuster trade occur at this year’s Winter Meetings?
As far as position players go, there are several key decisions that will need to be made, primarily shortstop, third base, second base and designated hitter.
Martinez is a free agent, and the team must decide whether they want to honor Muncy’s $10 million club option. More importantly, will the team bank on Gavin Lux returning and contributing enough to be the everyday shortstop, or will they back him up with a legitimate insurance policy?
Rumors about signing Shohei Ohtani have been full steam for over a year, but it’s hard to imagine front-office boss Andrew Friedman investing a fortune in a player with so many question marks surrounding his health.
Whatever happens, the months and weeks leading up to spring training will certainly be interesting.
And we’ll all be along for the ride, despite all the disappointment we’re feeling right now.