So the Dodgers begin their title defense this week by flirting with baseballs hottest available star.
Heres hoping they get ghosted.
No Soto
So the Dodgers can strengthen baseballs best lineup, deepen their historic batting order, tighten their versatile defense, become even more exciting, more enchanting, more unbeatable.
Thanks, but no thanks.
No Soto.
Its not that Juan Soto would be a bad acquisition. Hes one of baseballs best young players, he raked the Dodgers for a 1.084 OPS in the World Series, he was everything Aaron Judge was not, and heaven knows the Dodgers can afford him.
But to sign the New York Yankee free agent outfielder, they would need to make him the highest-paid annual salaried player on the team, his no-deferred paycheck close to $50 million a year, and that just doesnt work in a clubhouse that doesnt need a new leader.
This is Shohei Ohtanis team, its Mookie Betts team, its Freddie Freemans team, and theres no way you can send the message that it will now also be Juan Sotos team.
Soto has never been a clubhouse problem, but his flamboyant aura while great for baseball wont so easily work in the Dodgers grind-it-out culture.
Ohtani is known for his professionalism, Betts is known for his unselfishness and Freeman is known for his guts. Soto? Hes known for his batters box shuffle.
Agreed, hes a 26-year-old superstar who would be worth every penny. He just needs to get paid somewhere else, anywhere else, while the Dodgers should focus their attention on the gleaming product directly in front of them.
Read more: Analysis: Dodgers to meet with Juan Soto, signaling more big spending is possible
You know, the 2024 World Series champions.
Keep them together. Strengthen that chemistry. Build on that bond.
Andrew Friedman did such a spectacular job in shaping such a special team, it would verge on heartbreaking if he allows some of their important free-agent pieces to go their separate ways.
Remember when the Lakers Rob Pelinka tore apart the 2020 championship team by ridding them of important role players so they could add Russell Westbrook? Heres hoping a similarly bad remodel job doesnt happen here.
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The Dodgers have shown they have the money, and the smarts, and everything else required to sign the cornerstones who can keep the championship foundation strong. Now they just need to fight the urge to turn everything upside down with a shiny new toy.
They have six free agents. They should maximize their efforts to bring back four of them.
Certainly, they will add another starting pitcher or two Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki is one leading candidate and they will probably add a bullpen arm and veteran journeyman outfielder.
But they should focus their attention on those four free agents.
Bring back Teoscar Hernández.
Hes 32, and bound to regress from last years 33-homer, 99-RBI numbers, but goodness, outside of Ohtani, did any other Dodger make a more consistent impact?
When the regular-season Dodgers needed a lift, he was there. When the postseason Dodgers needed a hero, he had big hits in the division series opener, the division series clincher, and the clinching World Series Game 5.
Hes more than just a shower of sunflower seeds. Hes a big part of this clubs soul.
Bring back Walker Buehler.
Yes, hes had two Tommy John surgeries and, yes, he made an awfully slow recovery from his most recent operation, going 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA in the regular season.
But perhaps no Dodger is more unhittable in October. He has an 0.47 ERA in four career World Series appearances and the steely nerve to take the mound on one days rest for the last three outs of this falls clinching Game 5.
The Dodgers value players who get stronger under the spotlight. Buehler has made a career out of being one of those players.
Bring back Kiké Hernández.
This one is simple. You endure a regular-season OPS of .654 for a postseason of two homers, eight RBIs, and a go-ahead dinger against the San Diego Padres in the deciding Game 5 of the division series.
Hernández has a career .874 OPS in 86 postseason games. He is Señor October. You keep Señor October.
Bring back Blake Treinen.
He has struggled through injuries and hell be 37 next October but he had a 1.93 ERA in 50 appearances during the regular season and when the Dodgers needed him for 2 innings in the World Series clincher, he shut down the Yankees.
It was one of the biggest moments of the postseason, one of the most strenuous moments of his career, yet he performed like a champion. The Dodgers should be in the business of retaining champions.
Theres at least one more member of the title team that has earned a new contract. Hes not a free agent, but hes on the verge of becoming a lame duck. Theres no doubt the Dodgers will take care of him before the final year of his contract, but it would be nice if it happened soon enough to have an impact with potential incoming free agents.
He is Dave Roberts, and theres very few managers walking this earth who could have matched his deft handling of all the October bullpen games and injuries and intrigue.
Tommy Edman and Freeman each received special trophies, but Roberts was the Dodgers overall postseason MVP.
Its time to pay him like it.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.