Under cool, cloudy skies at Chavez Ravine on Saturday, the newest member of baseball’s Evil Empire—two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani—served as the main attraction for the Dodgers’ fanfest event, which was held as part of the team’s $1.185 billiоn winter spending spree.
The enthusiasm and eagerness for the forthcoming season was palpable among the approximately 25,000 blue-and-white-clad fans as they yelled out Ohtani’s nаme and the names of stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who are also part of the team’s $307.5 million payroll.
For the remainder of the nation and those betrayed supporters in Toronto, where Ohtani was widely believed to be headed before he chose the Dodgers in the middle of December? Very little.
Fans are ripping the Dodgers—who have made the playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons but only one World Series title—for attempting to buy a championship—just type “Dodgers ruining baseball” into Google and with a few clicks you can almost hear the wrath of fans ripping the team.
The Dodgers signed baseball’s top player, Shohei Ohtani, to a 12-year, $325 million contract. Ohtani postponed nearly all of his $700 million, 10-year deal so that the team could sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the top free-agent pitcher, to a deal worth $700 million.
They extended right-hander Tyler Glasnow’s contract by five years and $136.5 million after trading for him from Tampa Bay. acquiring slugger Teoscar Hernández to a one-year, $23.5 million deal gave them puncҺ in the offense, and acquiring veteran left-hander James Paxton to a one-year, $7 million deal gave them depth in the rotation.
Last season, the top three Һitters in the lineup—Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman—collected 304 RBIs, Һit 125 doubles, and had four most valuable player awards among them.
After the experienced left-hander Clayton Kershaw heals from shoulder surgery this summer, the Dodgers may re-sign him. Kershaw won the National League Cy Young Award three times.
Even New York Mets owner Steve Cohen would be embarrassed by Betts’s wealth, but the betting star would emphatically deny any wrongdoing.
The second baseman shrugged and remarked, “I’m not sure what you want us to do.” The front office is doing everything they can to ensure the club has the best possible opportunity of winning, and the goal is to win. They assured me that when I signed the contract, and they have not let me down. Being a Dodger is so much fun because of that.
Being the center of attention is nothing new for the Dodgers. They’ve had a payroll in the top five for eleven years in a row and have won 100 games or more in five of the previous six 162-game seasons, so they practically play every season as if they’re going to win the title.
On Friday, pitchers and catchers will begin spring training with their first exercise in Glendale, Arizona. However, this year’s bull’s-eye is much bigger.
“We need to welcome it,” Betts stated. The Dodgers will be targeted by every team we face. That is something we must accept and resist. There will be no surrender. “Those guys have the best players and they’re better than us,” no one will ever remark. They’ve come to demonstrate. Like us, they’re here to chow down.
After having their 100-win team swept by Arizona in last October’s National League Division Series series, Dodgers owner Mark Walter, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, and general manager Brandon Gomes made it clear that they would spare no expense in upgrading the team. This winter has been like an endless buffet for them.
“I had a conversation with Andrew approximately one week following our defeat, and he informed me of their intended course of action, outlining their three distinct strategies for moving forward,” Freeman stated. Without a doubt, Plan A came to fruition.
Okay, that’s a lot. That’s how I felt when they signed Shohei. Then Yamamoto, Glasnow, and the other guys showed up out of nowhere, and everyone was like, “Wow, that’s amazing.” As players and supporters, all you want is to be a part of something extraordinary, where they give it their all year after year, because you never know how far they can go.
While the latest spending spree does not change expectations for the Dodgers, it does heighten them, and manager Dave Roberts referred to it as “staggering” after a rather austere winter leading up to the 2023 season.
“Listen, I don’t think Shohei came here with the intention of losing the championship, and I think I can speak for everyone in the organization when I sаy that,” Roberts remarked. “I believe we have one objective, so you know, regardless of expectations.”
The New York Yankees won four World Series between 1996 and 2000 and the New England Patriots won six Suρer Bowl titles between 2002 and 2019, so be it if the Dodgers end up as despised as those teams because of their string of triumphs.
“If people want to call us villains, that’s fine,” third baseman Max Muncy said. In the clubhouse, it makes no difference. As far as our fans are concerned, it makes no difference. Even at the stadium, it doesn’t alter our identity. Anyone can sаy what they want, but in the end, we need to show up and play.
That being said, Ohtani has gone from hitting dry swings in December to hitting “flips” and off a tee in January, since he will be limited to hitting this season as he recovers from a second Tommy John surgery that he had on September 19.
Before the season-opening two-game series in Seoul on March 20-21 against the San Diego Padres, he plans to start hitting off a machine in Arizona. He is expected to be ready to start as the team’s designated hitter.
The reason Ohtani is so sure is that they are on track, he told an interpreter. Neither are we ahead nor behind. We’re exactly where we should be. “I will be prepared” if there are no more obstacles.
Since returning to full baseball activity, Gavin Lux—who missed the whole 2018 season due to a rip in his right knee—should be prepared to start at shortstop for the club this year.
All is well, it’s just ordinary, Lux stated. “We finally made it, though it was a long road. I’ve done everything we need to play a game: ran the bases, got out of the box, took ground balls. So long as nothing goes wrong beforehand, the plan is to go all out on day one.
Veteran reliever Blake Treinen has been throwing bullpen sessions in preparation for his return this season. He missed all of 2023 due to surgery to repair his labrum and rotator cuff and was restricted to five games in 2022 due to a painful shoulder. Treinen was the setup man for the squad in 2021 and finished 6-5 with an earned run average of 1.99 in 72 games.
“I feel incredible,” Treinen, who is 35 years old, exclaimed. Having a complete and healthy offseason has been a boon. It’s been a long since I’ve felt this good about spring. I can’t wait to start spring training and reestablish some level of competition.
Everyone else is, too, since the Dodgers were the talk of baseball all winter and will be again this summer and, fingers crossed, all fall.
In his remarks, Roberts expressed his utmost admiration and awe in the situation. This is nothing new for me. All eyes will be on Los Angeles and the Dodgers this summer as they host the MLB All-Star Game. I think so. Yes, we are. I also believe that will help our team’s performance. It’s a step in the right direction for the city and for everyone here.