Almost the entirety of this past offseason was spent debating whether or not the Los Angeles Dodgers were ruining Major League Baseball with all of their superstar signings and deferred contracts. The Dodgers were the clear-cut favorites to win the NL West and had overwhelmingly favorable odds to win the World Series.
Obviously, it is still too early in the season to determine the fate of any team in MLB but the Dodgers may have a little more competition within their division than they expected. Not only from the division leading San Diego Padres but also the San Francisco Giants.
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San Francisco Giants should be taken seriously by Dodgers
Believe it or not, entering Thursday the Los Angeles Dodgers were actually in third place in the NL West. The Padres sit at the top of the division with a 17-8 record and the Giants right on their heels at 17-9. The Dodgers are only on game back of first place at 16-9 but this early cluster is shaping up to make this an interesting division race throughout the season.
While the Padres' 2025 success is somewhat of a surprise, seeing the Giants in the mix is quite shocking. On paper, it does not appear that San Fransisco has anything to offer that could help them compete with their division rivals. In fact, remain a threat even with their highest-paid player severely underperforming.
The Giants inked shortstop Willy Adames to a $182 million contract this past offseason expecting him to provide some pop in the middle of their order. After all, Adames did launch 32 homers last season and has hit at least 20 in his last five seasons.
How can Willy Adames turn his season around for Giants?
So far this year, Adames his hitting just .198 with one home run and 11 RBIs. In 25 games, Adames has struck out a mind-blowing 28 times. Given his contract details, the Giants are going to give Adames every opportunity to turn things around before considering going another direction. As good of a player as Adames is, it is hard to imagine that these struggles will continue.
This is not to say that a switch will flip and we will see Adames taking the field at the mid-summer classic. But if he could start providing just a little of what he was expected to bring to San Fransisco, he could add a real spark to this already dangerous team. The Giants feel a lot like the 2024 Detroit Tigers. They have low expectations, nothing to lose and are riding momentum. This is a recipe for a team the Dodgers and Padres should genuinely view as a threat to steal away the division title.