The Los Angeles Dodgers have a three-peat on their minds, and the most obvious way to accomplish that is to sign reinforcements to further widen the gap between them and the rest of Major League Baseball.
With Mark Walter’s endless spending power, which could benefit from the Los Angeles Lakers soon moving on from LeBron James and Austin Reaves next year, the front office could continue building a superteam around Shohei Ohtani.
FanSided’s Mark Powell believes the best thing LAD could do for Ohtani is to preserve him for the long haul. His spending spree idea would bring a star outfielder, a potential bargain veteran right-hander, and a definitive closer option in Edwin Diaz.
“In the interest of preserving Ohtani, having a top-flight bullpen is paramount, as well as a deep starting rotation and a lineup that can provide for him when on the mound. For the sake of this exercise, let’s say LA is genuine about acquiring Kyle Tucker. The Dodgers would have to pay $400 million, or perhaps hope Tucker is open to a deferred contract similar to Ohtani,” Powell wrote.
“For rotation help, the Dodgers need a mid-tier starter. Yamamoto and Snell have the top of the rotation covered, but the latter is also subject to injury, much like Glasnow. Someone like Chris Bassitt, the 36-year-old starting pitcher formerly of the Toronto Blue Jays who started 31 games last year for the AL pennant winners makes a lot of sense.
“The Dodgers bullpen was suspect to say the least in the postseason, even when Sasaki moved into the closer role. If LA is able to save money on a mid-tier starter like Bassitt, don’t be surprised if they spend bigger in the bullpen. Edwin Diaz, who the Mets could come to regret letting leave in the first place, would thrive saving games for Ohtani.”
With the Dodgers out of the hunt for Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami, it’s clear this year’s crop of Japanese phenoms won’t be joining Los Angeles, which has Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki.
The domestic free agent crop has plenty of options that the Dodgers can, and probably will, scoop up this offseason.
