Los Angeles Dodgers: 96.5 wins
- Baseball Prospectus: 97 wins
- FanGraphs: 94 wins
The Dodgers flirted with the single-season record for wins last year before a late skid put the mark set by the 2001 Seattle Mariners out of reach. Los Angeles will be without Yu Darvish, but only had him for two months last year.
Nearly everything that could have gone right for the Dodgers did go right last year. Alex Wood went 16-3, Clay Bellinger emerged from the minor leagues to hit 39 home runs in only 132 games, Chris Taylor came off the scrap heap to hit 21 home runs with 17 stolen bases from center field, Justin Turner continued his ascension to the upper echelon of MLB third basemen with a .945 OPS, while the unhittable Kenley Jansen actually got some help out in the bullpen for once.
Can everything go perfectly for the Dodgers again in 2018? Probably not. This is still a very complete roster, but 96.5 wins is a huge ask. Houston has the same over-under, but is just a shade better than the Dodgers, as we all found out in the World Series last year.
Conclusion: The Dodgers regress ever so slightly, win the NL West again, but fall just shy of 96 wins. There’s no shame in that.