What We Learned From Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Victory

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) celebrates after winning the 2024 MLB World Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Thanks to the greatest World Series-clinching comeback in history Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers were able to spend Friday celebrating instead of preparing for a pressure-packed Game 6 against the New York Yankees.

As baseball’s winter begins, here’s four takeaways from the Dodgers’ eighth title.

1. The Dodgers are the best organization in baseball.

And this would be the case even if the Yankees won the World Series. The Dodgers have made the playoffs 12 straight years, a span in which they’ve won 1,129 regular season games as a front office run by former Tampa Bay Rays general manager Andrew Friedman has constructed a team that is remarkably deep beyond its Hollywood-worthy superstars.

The Dodgers’ 26-man World Series roster includes big-ticket free agents Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who will be paid more than $1.1 BILLION dollars by the club, as well as Mookie Betts, who signed a 12-year extension worth $365 million shortly after the Red Sox lost their minds in 2020 and dealt him to Los Angeles in exchange for a package that included Alex Verdugo, who made the last out of the World Series.

But the World Series roster also featured eight other players acquired via trade, seven players signed to smaller free agent deals (including Max Muncy, obtained as a minor league free agent in 2017 following two middling seasons with the Oakland Athletics) five players drafted by the team within the first five rounds.

The July deals for Jack Flaherty (who threw a team-high 22 innings in the postseason), Michael Kopech (a 3.00 ERA in nine layoff innings) and Tommy Edman (the NLCS MVP) also paid October dividends.

In other words: The most frightening thing about these powerhouse Dodgers is they’re not just a byproduct of an endless payroll.

2. But a dynasty may be impossible in the days of the expanded postseason.

Oct 6, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) strikes out against San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (11) in the first inning during game two of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

This is just the Dodgers’ second title in the last 12 years, so nobody needs to remind them of the randomness of a tournament that’s turning into baseball’s version of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 1998-2000 Yankees were the last team to win at least two straight championships.

While the Dodgers dominated the New York teams in the final two rounds, their playoff run was in danger of ending in the NLDS for a third straight season when the Dodgers fell behind the Padres two games to one with a bullpen game looming in Game 4. The narrative would be much different today if San Diego won one more game.

“It’s hard to win a championship regardless of what your team is like,” manager Dave Roberts said following Game 5. “There’s a reason why there hasn’t been a repeat champion since the Yankees did it. It clearly speaks to the difficulty — the playoff format, all that stuff.”

3. Roberts is on a Hall of Fame track.

Jul 10, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) signals to the bullpen to make a pitching change against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

With the aforementioned limitless payroll creating sky-high expectations and the role of Friedman’s staff in constructing analytically friendly game plans, Roberts’ job is a thankless one in which he’s the easiest guy to blame if things go wrong and the last person to get credit for the Dodgers’ success.

But Roberts is one title away from becoming a Hall of Fame lock — every Hall-eligible manager with three championships has earned enshrinement — and proved more than worthy of Cooperstown consideration in October.

He preserved the Dodgers’ bullpen by punting the two losses to the Mets in the NLCS and displayed his ability to manage on the fly in Wednesday night’s World Series clincher. When Flaherty was chased after recording just four outs, Roberts used his high leverage guys to keep them sharp for a potential Game 6 before he ramped up the urgency after the Dodgers tied the game against the Bad News Bears Yankees in the fifth inning.

Blake Treinen tossed 2 2/3 innings — his longest outing since 2016 — to earn the win before Walker Buehler, a two-time Tommy John survivor headed for free agency, recorded his first big league save with a perfect ninth and made it far more likely that Roberts will someday join Betts, Freeman and Ohtani in Cooperstown.

4. When it comes to roster construction, the Yankees could learn a thing or two from the Dodgers.

Aug 26, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) salutes the Washington Nationals bench before an at bat during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

While Friedman builds a powerhouse around the Dodgers’ big-name players. Brian Cashman has constructed a top-heavy team that grows very thin very fast behind the Hall of Fame-track trio of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole.

Players not named Judge or Soto batted .233 with 138 homers and 882 RBIs this season. And while the Yankees were able to easily make the playoffs despite the first-half absence of Cole, their non-Cole starters posted a 5.73 ERA in the postseason, including an 11.90 mark in the World Series.

The ceiling for these Cashman-constructed teams has become clear for the Yankees, who have won eight postseason series since 2017 — seven against AL Central foes and one against the Oakland Athletics. They have been eliminated by the eventual World Series champions four times and by the AL pennant winner two other times in that span. That ceiling grows a lot shorter if Cashman isn’t able to re-sign Soto and extend Cole, who can opt out of the final four years of his deal.