The Los Angeles Dodgers are entering the 2023 season with plenty of question marks surrounding them.
One of the biggest issues is the fact that shortstop Gavin Lux is now out for the season due to a torn ACL.
Los Angeles was a little quiet this offseason, while their NL West rivals, the San Diego Padres added some big pieces.
After beating the Dodgers in the NLDS, the Padres are now favored to win the NL West.
However, that doesn’t bother President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, who actually thinks it’s a good thing that people are writing off the team heading into the season.
Dodgers are well run and still have a fine team but they now have 2 big issues. Baseball president Andrew Friedman: “I kind of like that people are writing us off some.” https://t.co/qq3AQYIl16
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 2, 2023
There’s never any shame in being the underdog.
Granted, that’s uncharted territory for the Dodgers.
But in a way, it takes the pressure off of them.
It gives them a chance to prove the doubters wrong, which is something the Padres did last season when they eliminated the Dodgers in the NLDS.
Los Angeles was the overwhelming favorite in that series, having won 111 games during the regular season as opposed to the Padres’ 89 wins.
Perhaps we could see a little role reversal this October, with the Dodgers as the Wild Card team and the Padres as the champion of the NL West.
San Diego was busy this winter, having signed Xander Bogaerts, Matt Carpenter, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Nelson Cruz.
Still, you can never count the Dodgers out.
This is a team that has reached the World Series three times in the past six years, and their goals remain the same.
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