What a whirlwind of a winter it’s been for the landscape that is baseball. There has been plenty of movement and certain teams have improved their ball clubs, such as the Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Yankees to name a few. However, nobody has made a bigger surplus of additions than the defending Champions Los Angeles Dodgers.

There’s been quite the gripe in the baseball world. You know the scene from Breaking Bad where he says, “He can’t keep getting away with this”? Yeah, that’s how every fan of baseball feels unless you are the Dodgers. This is a team that won the World Series AND has made their roster that much better than the year prior.

They added 2x CY Young winner Blake Snell, won the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes, brought in both Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, and also signed KBO star Hyeseong Kim. That’s also not including bringing back Teoscar Hernandez.

That’s some tidy work by the Dodgers front office. As a fan of another sports team I am completely jealous. I would LOVE for some of those guys to be on my team. But the truth of the matter is, the Dodgers aren’t doing anything wrong. It is completely within the rules.

They have a goal in mind and they are going to set out to do it.

Dodgers Want to Win

Feels like a lifetime ago, but the Dodgers were on the wrong end of the Astros cheating scandal. Yes they felt they were done dirty, which proved to be correct. At the end of the day the Astros were champions even with the stain on it. They returned in 2018, to only get crushed by the Red Sox convincingly in five games. This is a ball club that had the tools to win championships, so they’ve set out to doing so.

With the moronic move by the Boston Red Sox, they gift wrapped Mookie Betts and sent him to the Dodgers. Betts is an MVP caliber talent and his play in the field is as valuable as his play at the plate. This was the beginning of the flurry of moves.

After Freddie Freeman won the World Series with the Braves in 2021, he landed with the Dodgers and has been a huge part of the top of their lineup. Now the Dodgers are cooking with gas.

The biggest prize of them all was landing Shohei Ohtani, who is arguably the best player in the sport given what he can do. The deal is extremely unique and with the amount of deferred money the Dodgers are able to land the players they have landed this winter. Aside from that, what he’s able to bring is huge for a team that wants to win. And they did that.

The Dodgers already won the World Series in 2020, which people have doubted because of the shortened season. Welp, they silenced that crowd and won a Championship playing the full 162. How they did it was remarkable, given the injuries.

The vibes were immaculate. The team sees it and feels it. They won but they want more and this front office has ensured that they will continue to do so.

Other Owners Can Be This Active

Free agency is a gamble. Every player has their preference on where they want to go. Take Corbin Burnes for example, he could’ve taken more money, but instead wanted to be home with his family. Blake Snell prefers the west coast. But it’s not just the signings that make the Dodgers special. Cubs President Jed Hoyer touched on the Dodgers and what they are doing and admiring how they are doing it.

“People focus on the size of their payroll and the deferments, and stuff like that, but it’s just a great organization that’s kind of running on all the cylinders. They do well in the draft. They do well internationally. They make smart trades. They do a good job finding value on the margins. And they also can go sign major free agents. So, I just think that focusing on the amount of money they spend does a disservice to an organization that’s running at a really high level.’’

The Dodgers do in fact draft well and even develop well. But looking at their moves above, they do make smart trades. People forget, Tyler Glasnow was also a trade acquisition. This all really boils down to the front office being active and wanting to win.

You mean to tell me that no other owner could’ve signed 37 year old Kirby Yates? Or the teams that were in the mix for relief pitching couldn’t have landed Tanner Scott this entire time? I don’t buy that.

Can everyone do what the Dodgers are doing? In hindsight sure. Be more active and spend the money. The Dodgers do not care about the luxury threshold penalties. They want to win and they want to win now and keep that window open. Do teams also not have the Ohtani factor? Very true.

But the truth to the matter is that the Dodgers have built a team that plans on winning multiple championships. They’ve established themselves as a prime destination spot and a place where players want to play.

Any team and organization can build a winning environment. You don’t have to spend an absurd amount of money. But nobody should blame the Dodgers entirely for what they are doing. Blame all the other owners who are not being nearly active enough to help add to their respective clubs.