Dodgers Fans Remain Optimistic About NL West Chances Despite Big Moves By Rivals
The Dodgers not-so exciting offseason took a very exciting turn on Wednesday when the team announced they were adding RHP Noah Syndergaard to a one-year deal. With Syndergaard in the mix, the Dodgers could have one of the best rotations in all of baseball next season, especially afters he enters the Mark Prior pitching lab.
However, up until the Syndergaard move — and even after it — there has still been a lack of moves from LA, while their NL West counterparts have spent hundreds of millions of dollars improving their teams The Dodgers have definitely taken the more analytical approach this offseason, looking for low-cost, low-risk moves. Because of the drastic differences in the spending patterns of the NL West teams, the gap between the Dodgers and the teams they’ve dominated over the last decade feels a lot closer.
The Syndergaard move definitely helps. And now that we know Andrew Friedman is awake, maybe another move is on the way. But even before that move came to fruition, Dodger fans were showing a ton of optimism about their team this offseason.
What place will the Dodgers finish in the NL West?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) December 14, 2022
Of the over 5,000 people who voted in this poll ran on the Dodgers Nation Twitter account (starting before the Syndergaard move happened), over 51% think the Dodgers are still going to win the crowded NL West next season. The remaining 49% of fans think they’ll finish outside of first, with 28% saying they’ll finish in second place, 14% saying they’ll finish in third and a very pessimistic 7% saying they’ll finish in either fourth or fifth — any biases aside, this team is not worse than the Diamondbacks or Rockies.
Some may call it blind optimism, but it’s nice seeing Dodger fans feel confident about their team, despite the noisy offseasons of their NL West foes. This team is just a few months removed from winning 111 games after all, and there’s still a ton of talent across the board. And who knows, maybe one or two of their young prospects will truly have a breakout year next season.
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San Diego has a better team. I hate saying this but look at their lineup and their bullpen. They have more depth than we have. Tatis is back. They have Bogarts and Machado. And we have no pure closer in the bullpen. We lost Trea Turner, one of our best offensive players. We are going to have multiple rookies on the team. Saying our pitching staff is best in the majors is simply not true. I believe we make the playoffs, but as a wildcard. We had a record number of wins last season, and were knocked out of the playoffs in our first series against SD. I am not seeing it or feeling it. You can spin it anyway you like, but the arrow is pointing down after last season.
At this rate, 3rd.
It is sad to see a Team like LA with one of the best attendance in baseball has going back to the O’Malley days by not spending money while their contenders like San Francisco as well as San Diego made their teams more competitive.