World Series or bankruptcy?
This has been the narrative surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers since they spent a lot of money this offseason, signing high-priced players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
National MLB reporter Bob Nightengale confirmed that this story is true for the Dodgers and that it would be a disaster if they did not make it to the World Series.
“I think there’s a lot of urgency in the sense that for the Dodgers, probably more than any other team in baseball, it’s a World Series or bust situation,” Nightengale told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain. “I mean, if they don’t make the World Series, the whole season in LA with all the talent would be considered a disaster. They’re still talking about not having won a World Series championship for a whole season since 1988…”
“Just with all the money invested, the attention, what Ohtani is getting … I think they have to make it to the World Series or it’s going to be a long, long winter,” Nightengale said. “I don’t think you can say that about any other team, even the Yankees or anyone else. But the Dodgers, I think they have to make it to the World Series or they’re going to have to say, ‘What went wrong here? Do we need to make changes, what are we going to do for 2025?'”
The Dodgers obviously have what it takes to win the World Series, but they must overcome their recent postseason losses to win the Cup. The Dodgers have made the playoffs each of the last 10 seasons, but have only one World Series trophy to their name. They have played in three World Series in total, losing two of them.
Most notably, the Dodgers have disappointingly been eliminated from the National League Division Series playoffs each of the past two seasons. They were defeated by division rivals they wanted to beat, the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, thus rendering their 100-win regular seasons for naught.
If the Dodgers were to be eliminated from the playoffs again – especially this early – it would be a huge disappointment with players like Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández on the team.
Photo credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
