Los Angeles Dodgers: A high-priced youth movement
When in doubt- throw money at it. And even if not in doubt, still throw money at it.
That has become the Dodger way over the past couple of seasons and it’s yielded less than stellar results. Despite a payroll easily exceeding $200 million, Los Angeles hasn’t advanced past the Division Series in either of the last two seasons. This year, they’ll be relying less on the guys they’re giving all the money to, and more on their young, talented core.
With the departure of Zack Greinke, the Dodgers pitching staff will surely regress. But with a slew of young talent, they should have no problem picking up that slack with their offense. This starts with Yasiel Puig. Puig, off-field stories aside, is an undeniable talent- the type of talent that when he puts it all together will be in the MVP discussion. Corey Seager will also have to provide a spark offensively. He was excellent in limited time last season and will get a full slate of at-bats to prove worthy of his status as one of the league’s top prospects. The final piece of this three-headed monster is Joc Pederson. Pederson set the world on fire in the first half of last season, but then extinguished the entire fire in his second half. When he extrapolates last year’s first half over an entire 162 game slate, the Dodgers offense will soar.
Of course Clayton Kershaw will lead the way for the pitching staff, and Adrian Gonzalez is still one of the premier first basemen in the league. Those guys have been productive in the past though and it hasn’t been enough. The old mainstays continuing their production is a given, but that group of young players will be the catalyst for the Dodgers getting to the top of the Major League Mountaintop.
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