ESPN Analyst: Dodgers Still Only Second Best in National League
The Dodgers committed more than a billion dollars to free agents in the month of December, establishing themselves as Major League Baseball’s primary villains among many fans.
They did not establish themselves as the best team in the National League, at least in the eyes of at least one broadcaster.
Speaking on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, ESPN’s Eduardo Pérez professed his love for the Atlanta Braves as the class of the league:
The court of public opinion means little on Jan. 2, with more than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Still, it’s surprising to hear a respected broadcaster rate a Dodgers team that clearly improved its fortunes following a 100-win season in 2023 as being anything less than the best team in the National League, if not all of MLB.
The Braves won 104 games last season, only to be stunned by an earlier-than-expected postseason exit in October. Also like the Dodgers, they still have a pretty good team on paper led by reigning NL Most Valuable Player Ronald Acuña Jr.
Dan Szymborski recently projected the Braves to have a surprisingly strong 2024 regular season. In his article for FanGraphs explaining Atlanta’s ZiPS projections, Szymborski writes:
The depth chart suggests a >100 win projection, which is exceedingly rare in ZiPS (or any projection system).
Dan Szymborski via FanGraphs.com
That prognostication was offered before the Braves traded highly regarded shortstop prospect Vaughn Grissom to the Boston Red Sox for veteran pitcher Chris Sale, a move that might have pushed their projected win total even higher. Szymborski’s ZiPS system has yet to spit out the Dodgers’ 2024 individual or team projections.
Perhaps the Dodgers’ front office can use the remainder of the offseason to impress the projection systems — and make Pérez eat his words.
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
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Well, it seems pretty obvious that Eduardo Perez is biased since he probably played for the braves and he doesn’t like the Dodgers at all. I think there’s a bit of jealousy in his comments. ??
?!
Eduardo Perez never played for the Braves.
Sale had a 4.30 ERA in 2023. The Red Sox had to give the Braves $10 million to take Sale off their hands. Age 35. But yes, the Braves are a very strong team. The Dodgers need one more high-quality starter.
Word
I don’t think they need another high quality starter. It’d be nice but a reclamation project or innings water would be fine. Buehler, Yamamoto, glasnow, and miller is a better top 4 than most other teams if not better than all.
They do need 1 more Ace or a number 3 or 4 type starter, just in case of an injury. There are a still a few free agents left, and a few others left for potential trade targets. Get it done and we’re 99% World Series champions!
Add closer Josh Hader with another solid left handed starter and a solid outfielder, and there you have it!
I don’t think he’s wrong at the present time. I still think the Dodgers need another good starting pitcher and at least one more outfielder with a strong right handed bat. Teoscar Hernandez would be good. Matt Chapman would be a nice improvement at third base and Kike Hernandez would help the bench. While we’re at it Josh Hader would round out the bullpen. Jordan Montgomery or Imanaga would be the starter that would fit the rotation nicely. Well that’s my wish list.
2nd that my friend nicely said!!
Indeed, you are correct. You can never have enough pitching. Another starter would be wonderful, I know that they want closers by committee, but their pitching by commmittee killed them last year. I’d feel better if they acquired a first rate, slam the door, closer. I also agree that a good right handed outfielder with a decent average, and the ability to hit a boatload of homers. But no matter what the Dodgers do, I’ll be sticking with them like I have since 1970, at age fourteen.
Well we all have our opinion and certainly he says the Dodgers are not at the top yet.
I’m glad they still play the game on the field and the Braves and Dodgers did not finish the job on the field last year.
He’s right…for now. I’d agree that The Braves are more well rounded than the Dodger are…for now. The Dodgers are still going to add an outfield bat, another starter and MAYBE an elite bullpen arm. When they do that, they’ll be the best team in the sport on paper. But they have to make it work on the field in October. That’s all that matters for both franchises.
Amen, we’ll put..
My expectations that the Dodgers will be adding any more high priced players is low. They are at the tax right now where they pay a 100% tax on any added salaries. Do they really need Hader at 40M a year? Or Teoscar H at 30M+ a year? Not realistic. How much playing time is available for another OF with Taylor, Margot, Heyward and Outman already locked up. Taylor is not going to be benched and the infield is set with every day players and Rojas backing up Lux. I can see them trading for another starter, either a guy whose contract ends after 2024, or a younger 5th starter type. Vargas and Busch provide major league ready depth against injuries and they can be both hid in left field if necessary, its not going to kill them. Tyey are already 20 games better than anyone in the west, they don’t need to pay double for high salary depth pieces, and can always pick up needed help at the trade deadline with high quality prospect chips, they basically fixed their team without having to give up anything on the farm.
Eduardo is just.being rhetorical; building up the drama. So that he can later narrate the. brilliance of the Dodgers Organization.
It’s time to move on from Muncy and Taylor. Muncy provides little at 3rd and is too streaky a hitter. Taylor is just exhausting to watch. Resign Kike and trade Chris T for a bag of balls
I completely understand that thought but am going to have to disagree here. I get Muncy can be streaky and his average sucks, but in the end he still had over 30 homeruns and more than 100 rbis, so he’s still getting the job done. I would prefer an Arenado at third.
Chris, it’s a love – hate. If he could just cut down on those dam strikeouts, he’d be solid. He’s a solid fielder wherever you put him, he has speed and a little pop, but the thing I like most about him is he leaves it all out on the field everyday. Always gives 100%. His Big Achilles heel is those strikeouts. He has a giant swing, which I can live with until there are two strikes or there is someone on base he might need to move over. Other than that, I love the guy.
As a fan of the Dodgers, lifelong if you consider the first Dodger game I ever attended was on my dad’s birthday in 1958, as a surprise gift to him and my 2 siblings from my mom, and at age 8. I was hooked for life, Dodgers-Cubs, LA Coliseum, Sunday July 6, we sat behind 1st base. For years I kept my ticket stub and the 10 cent program. But i do not begrudge Eduardo Perez one bit. He too is a great fan of his team, and there is no shame for him to essentially challenge the Dodgers in 2024 to 0
prove we’re better by going all the way. That’s the good of what he said for all Dodgers fans, and We Are Legion. I travel the world and note well that people in every country I’ve visited, who may not even know the history of the team, are second only to the Yankees in the number of baseball caps I see people wearing, and there IS no 3rd place in that esteem, globally. What Perez did was build a fire under Dodgers fans. I believe to Prove Him Wrong in ’24, as if we needed an extra spark to what are 2 very underachieving teams, we are poised once again to win the ring. But in the case of the Dodgers, with a very underachieving manager who routinely chokes and blows the season with his insane handling every October of the pitching staff, going back to the ’17 World Series when he chokingly kept pulling the starters in the 3rd and 4th innings to put in a very overworked bullpen. Roberts should have been fired after 2018 when he took out Rich Hill throwing a one-hitter with one out in the 7th and put in a reliever who promptly blew the game wide open and ended the Series as if he was on the staff of the Red Sox: Mission Accomplished, Dave! He did it again in the 3-game sweep in ’23 by a hot D-Bax team with an excellent manager, and our deaf dumb and blind front office rewarded him an extension. With management like that, the Braves are poised to beat LA in the playoffs this year, wasting another great year for the Dodgers due to Roberts’ mind-numbing October moves. I’ve been saying for 5 years LA would never win a WS with him, but he surprised me in ‘ 20 by winning it all in the very short
covid season, miraculously by not losing his mind—to no avail, when Roberts would not wait till the WS to blow it each of the following 3 HUGE regular seasons, all in the 1st round. The truth is he is a recidivist choker under October pressure, obliviously so to the front office. The Braves are not the greatest foe of the team, that villainy goes to Dave Roberts.
But thanks anyway, Eduardo, watch us beat the ’24 Braves in the regular season, before Capt Choke sends us down the toilet, I am CONVINCED. What does the front office want of us fans, to root on the field when he does it again this year??
Both teams look poised to win 100+ games and division. Who is best for playoffs is about health and what team looks like after trade deadline. Best opening day means very little.
I’ve been a Dodger fan all my life, now on paper I believe they are the best team in the majors, but you don’t win world series on paper.
So who wins the MVP with Ohtani in the National League? Acuña? Doubt it.
The Dodgers have the opportunity to be the “best team” in baseball in 2024 if they finish what they have started. Get that missing starting pitcher, find that starting corner outfielder (not another reclamation/platoon Tommy Phan level player) and sign the stud closer. Sign Chapman for third base and move Muncy back to second or trade him.
I don’t understand how Dodger’s need another outfielder but nobody talks about Bellinger who is still out there. What am I missing? Is it because the possible salary or that he is a left-handed bat? He’s one of the best outfielders in baseball. Looks like I’m the odd man out.