GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman has seen his employers produce perhaps the best trade deadline ever (2021, before he arrived) and the best offseason ever (2023-24).
The Dodgers are perpetually considered the Braves’ greatest roadblock in the National League, even though the clubs haven’t faced off in a postseason series since 2021 (and the Phillies have been the more recent postseason problem). But the Braves-Dodgers connection is only natural, given how each has dominated their respective divisions.
The Braves have won the NL East six consecutive years, facing the Dodgers three times in October. The Dodgers have won the NL West every year since 2013 except in 2021, when they finished a game back with 106 wins. The teams are two of only three that have participated in every postseason since 2018 (the other is Astros). Both have suffered disappointing exits in the NL Division Series the past couple of years to division rivals (the Dodgers lost to the Padres and Diamondbacks in respective seasons).
October is a long way away, but in the coming months, the Braves and Dodgers will battle for the NL’s No. 1 seed as the perceived favorites. The Braves had a mostly quiet but solid winter, adding starting pitcher Chris Sale, outfielder Jared Kelenic and some bullpen pieces. That’s expected when so much of their roster was set.
The Dodgers, though, were responsible for over half of MLB’s total spending (roughly $1.1 billion of the $2 billion spent). It was an all-time splurge; one the franchise had been gearing toward for some time.
“When you have free agents like the ones who were out there in this class, and you have ownership who goes, ‘Let’s just take them all’, it’s kind of awesome,” Freeman said.
Two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, the sport’s best player and an international superstar, now dons Dodger blue. He’s making $700 million – notably with $680 million deferred – to do so. His countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, considered the market’s best free-agent starter thanks to his stuff and youth (25), likewise joined the Dodgers for 12 years, $325 million. Ohtani, Freeman, catcher Will Smith and starter Bobby Miller were part of the team’s recruiting pitch at Dodger Stadium.
Then there’s Tyler Glasnow, the towering, hard-throwing, hair-blessed righty from the Rays who was shipped to his native Southern California as part of the Dodgers’ rotation makeover. They promptly extended him for $136.5 million.
“There are a few teams now that are going for it,” Freeman said. “I wish all 30 teams were doing the same thing, you know? But that’s just not how it is. But to be part of one of those teams that goes for it every single year, it’s fun.”
The Dodgers wanted another bat; they signed slugger Teoscar Hernandez to a pricey one-year deal. They wanted another rotation piece, enter veteran James Paxton. Oh, and iconic lefty Clayton Kershaw re-signed, though he won’t debut until later this summer because of injury.
Add Ryan Brasier and re-sign Joe Kelly for the bullpen. Re-sign outfielder Jason Heyward, who revived his career last season, and utilityman Kiké Hernández. The Dodgers’ minor-league depth remains the envy of other franchises, too.
“A few days after we lost (to the Diamondbacks), I talked with (president of baseball operations) Andrew Friedman, and he told me the plan,” Freeman said. “’This is what we want (Friedman said).’ I said, ‘That’s a big plan.’ I was like, ‘Is (chairman and controlling owner) Mark (Walter) going to be on board with that?’ He goes, ‘He’s onboard.’
“Then you have to have the player wanting to come. There’s a whole lot that goes into it. When we got Shohei, I talked with Andrew and asked if Yamamoto was still (possible). He said, ‘Yeah, we’re still in on him.’ I was like, ‘Oh my word, OK. Here we go.’ Then obviously it’s Glasnow. …”
Of course, Freeman and Heyward have been best friends going back to their early Braves days. So when Friedman laid out the grand plan, Freeman’s first question: “Are we going to get Jason back?”
“(Friedman) said, ‘Yes, we want Jason back,’” Freeman said. “Awesome, that’s all I wanted to know.”
Friedman’s magnum opus has the Dodgers at MLB’s forefront more than ever. Infielder Mookie Betts summed it up during an interview on SportsNet LA at the team’s fan fest: “Every game is going to be the other team’s World Series.”
The “super team” moniker that’s become popular in other sports seems applicable here.
“It’s really cool to sit back and watch it,” Freeman said. “You just become a fan of it. Like, ‘Wow, we’re really getting all these guys.’ Obviously, I wish that what it looks like on paper always translates to the field. It’s not going to be like that. But to go out there and get guys who they think are going to help us achieve World Series, it was a pretty cool offseason to be part of.”
This wasn’t like a drunken idiot’s spending spree, either. This was well calculated, a team with essentially unlimited resources flexing its muscles in a league where too many owners are playing turtle. The Dodgers have been eliminated in embarrassing fashion the past two postseasons. During this splendid run, they have one title – in 2020, won in the Texas bubble.
Now, the expectation remains the same, but the pressure has increased even more. They want multiple titles during Ohtani’s deal. They’re labeled with a villainous role as the big, bad Dodgers, whether they lean into it or not.
All this is to say: The Braves’ and Dodgers’ sustainability means another postseason duel feels inevitable. The stars, the stats, the storylines, the cities, the fans, the history; there’s no doubt it’d be more compelling than ever.
What better year for another Braves-Dodgers NL Championship Series than 2024?
