A historically dominant franchise since their days in Brooklyn, its always been a dangerous dynasty waiting for their time to rise in October. Through so many challenges and risky moves pay off huge dividends, everyone always believed the Dodgers will never find a struggle in their team. Whether it be calling up a prospect from their loaded farm system, or pulling out the checkbook to sign or extend all star players. They are loaded and ready for the success for the future. In April of 2012, the Dodgers were bought by ‘Patton’ a partner of Guggenheim Baseball Management and other leading investors they were built for longevity. Patton is the principal operator for oil and gas properties in Texas and Kansas. The financial insurance the Dodgers were provided with set them with endless longevity for the new ownership.

With new ownership and young talent coming up from the birth of the ‘Patton Dodgers’ brought a plethora of MLB Allstars, MVPs, CY Youngs, Triple Crown and ROY winners throughout the farm or trades. The Dodgers with years of excellence and trust in their farm system do not need to rely so much on their existing talent when the time comes for contract extensions. So many Dodger favorites come and go throughout the years. The Dodgers have cracked the code for winning and are going past loading up their payroll like other teams are doing because they have faith in their prospects and it has shown it worked very well in the past.

This brings us to 2022. The Dodgers just broke a franchise breaking record of 111 wins in a season. Outstanding, after a year when the crosstown Giants took the division with a leading 107 wins, the Dodgers came back stronger than ever reclaiming their stop at the top. They had a dangerous pack led by first time all stars- Tyler Anderson, a LHP in the starting five. Tony Gonsolin who led the MLB with an astounding 16-1 record and 2.14 ERA. A top 3 catcher in Will Smith, at just 27 years old he is a proven MLB talent for years to come. The dynamic offense became more electric with the offseason acquisition of MVP first base man Freddie Freeman to combine with future hall of famers right fielder Mookie Betts and speedy shortstop Trea Turner.

As said again the Dodgers are a winning powerhouse and do not need to revolve on the talent already present in their 40 man roster, they have a plethora of prospects waiting for the opportunity to arise. After the 2022 season the Dodgers departed with shortstop Trea Turner who turned his talent to the Phillies for $300,000,000 for 11 years til he is 40. Tyler Anderson went down south to Anaheim taking a 3 year deal worth $39,000,000. It didn’t really move the needle with these two leaving but when you add in veteran 3B Justin Turner whose been with the club almost a decade before being declined and taking a deal with the Red Sox. Washed up MVP phenom Cody Bellinger was cut from the team after spending 6 years in the Dodger and blue has made a home for himself at Wrigley. And LHP Andrew Heaney who finally found some control with himself and became a stable part of the rotation went down to the Texas Rangers.

It seemed the Dodgers were left to reign the NL west without these stars to anchor their lineup and rotation, but again the Dodgers fought to be resilient against challenges that may arise in the 2023 campaign. Flash forward 2023 and already a month has passed. The Dodgers are back in first, but without the comfortable lead they are used to. For the first time in a long time the Dodgers are not a winning machine. The Diamondbacks are tied with the Dodgers for first with a (12-11) record apiece. Take this hot take lightly since its only been a month, but the Dodgers may be going down a path of their first season of less than 100 wins since 2018. The Dodgers were projected for 89-94 wins this season and with the baseball they’ve played already they aren’t showing themselves worthy of an 100 win ball club.

I don’t think the Dodgers are going to struggle because they are a machine built for 162 game season, not so much with the playoffs. But still I feel there should not be much worry with how the team is progressing but there is definitely disconnect compared to previous seasons being on the top. The Dodgers rank 9th this year in ERA (4.37) for NL clubs. The Dodgers are down Walker Buehler, Miguel Rojas and Will Smith and are still managing to put up wins. Even if the Dodgers pull off a stellar 7 months of the season and are a 90+ win team, they still are not the sam ferocious Dodgers they used to be. It’s time baseball stops fantasizing so much about the endless talent the Dodgers has and start seeing them as another team in the way of being a champion. Whatever it may be gives more leeway for the other teams to fight and compete for a spot in the playoff. We’ve seen enough of the Dodgers destroy and take over baseball, now is the time for baseball to take back its glory and fight for the crown.