The Dodgers have won the offseason, spending north of a billion dollars in free agency, acquiring the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and more. It’s a plethora of impressive additions to a baseball club that was already one of the best in baseball last season, and it’s led to many already pegging them as MLB’s next super-team.
I have the utmost respect for the Dodgers organization. Outside of the fact that they usually fall short in the postseason, they have been the most well-ran club over the last two decades. Not only do they have the ability to spend money, but when they do, they usually hit home runs with their signings. They also draft and develop players as well as any organization, leading to 11 straight postseason appearances. Over that stretch, the Dodgers have made it to three World Series, winning one in 2020.
Much like the Braves, the Dodgers are a well-oiled machine from top to bottom, but as we see every season, spending sprees don’t always work out the way clubs anticipate.
“Money doesn’t buy wins,” A.J. Minter said on Foul Territory. “Obviously, the Dodgers are a great team. They expect to be right there in the postseason this year, and they went out and got some really good players. But we’ve seen it before, not to pick on the Mets, but money is not going to buy you a World Series.”
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The Mets are the easiest example to use when talking about spending and failing. Two years ago, after their first spending spree, they were chased down by the Braves from 10.5 games ahead and ended up losing in the Wild Card round. Then they spent even more the following offseason and blew up their team before the trade deadline. However, they are far from the only example.
The Yankees have spent and failed on numerous occasions recently, and the Padres followed the same path as the Mets last offseason only to miss the playoffs as well. I would put the Dodgers in a different category. They were already a borderline 90-win team without all of these additions, but it doesn’t mean the end result will be any different.
Braves fans know all too well how difficult it is to win a World Series. It takes that perfect combination of talent, clubhouse rapport, and a little bit of luck at the end of the season. The World Series is the most difficult trophy to win in sports, and money alone will not result in a championship. It doesn’t matter how much a club is willing to spend.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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