The Los Angeles Dodgers have become the bullies of Major League Baseball free agency, and winning a World Series isn’t likely to slow them down one bit.
One year after landing Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Teoscar Hernández, it seems everyone is waiting to see what the Dodgers will do for an encore. Ohtani’s $68 million annual salary deferral allows them wiggle room in the budget, and the Dodgers can use that to their advantage.
How do you decide which players to bring back from a successful World Series run?
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the reigning champs, and by the end of the Fall Classic, they looked borderline unbeatable. With several starting pitchers returning to health by Opening Day, the Dodgers could run back the same roster and feel confident about their chances to repeat.
However, no two baseball seasons are alike, and bringing back every member of the World Series roster wouldn’t necessarily produce the same results. Plus, if one free-agent prediction holds true, the Atlanta Braves won’t give the Dodgers much choice in the matter.
Jack Flaherty, a midseason trade acquisition who ended up starting Game 1 of the World Series, will become a free agent for the second winter in a row. Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly recently predicted that Flaherty would shun his hometown Dodgers in favor of the Atlanta Braves.
“In a season he would ultimately split between the (Detroit) Tigers and Dodgers, Flaherty went 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA and nearly 200 strikeouts across 162 innings,” Kelly said. “He was very much a mixed bag in the postseason, with a disastrous start against the Mets in NLDS Game 5 inflating his ERA across five playoff starts to 7.36.”
“There’s the potential for signing Flaherty to blow up, but the ceiling is high enough that there will be plenty of teams willing to take that risk”
Kelly also projected that Flaherty would land a three-year, $60 million contract, a substantial improvement over the one-year deal Flaherty signed with the Tigers last winter. He proved his worth in a major way this year, and now, the Dodgers will face stiff competition if they want to keep him.
It’s easy to see how the Braves, one of the primary threats to dethrone the Dodgers in the NL next season, could be interested in Flaherty. It will be interesting to follow how seriously L.A. attempts to persuade him to come back.
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