UTK Special 12/23/23
Yes, More Dodgers
No, this isn’t turning into a Dodgers newsletter, but find me something more interesting in baseball in the last two weeks.
The Dodgers conundrum is interesting. It’s approaching some textbook problem, like “Given infinite money but finite talent, how does one best construct a baseball team?” The Yankees kind of did this, but very differently and in a different age and play style. There’s no “core four” Dodgers and my early attempts to come up with some sort of marketing slogan for what they have fails, largely because I don’t know Japanese.
I’ve focused more on the pitching recently, but the lineup has its own issues. Bullpen? Never worry about the pen. Collect arms, adjust as needed, and never overspend. The biggest issue the Dodgers have with their pen is that Triple-A is two time zones away. The lineup has some now and then issues and the real boogey man of the Dodgers hopes, depth issues.
(An interesting side note: The Oklahoma City Dodgers are no more. While the affiliation is in place for several more years, the team is taking ‘Dodgers’ off and going to “Oklahoma City Baseball Club”. I liked when Washington went generic and OKC can do some historical stuff, but something tells me when minor league affiliations come up, Walter and Boehly will have bought a team and moved them closer. A scout asked me if teams could trade affiliations and I frankly don’t know.)
Dave Roberts has been given a team that’s largely a multitool. There’s a lot of good players that can play multiple positions in multiple configurations and be good enough. While the pitching has been overhauled with additions - and needs one more - the offense really only added Ohtani. Wait, “only” added one of the top offensive performers in baseball history. That should be enough.
The Dodgers have plus players at four positions - Freddie Freeman at 1B, Mookie Betts now shifting to 2B, Will Smith at C, and Ohtani at DH. Locking Ohtani at DH cuts some of Roberts’ flexibility, but not much. We’ll discuss this more in a bit.