Dodgers should consider tearing down team
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been trying to win the World Series is earnest for the better part of this decade, jacking up the payroll to previously unseen heights.
While the effort has been legitimate, the results have not. The Dodgers have failed to make it to the World Series and only reached the National League Championship Series once since 2009, falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013. Los Angeles has qualified for the postseason each of the last three seasons but has never appeared to be a serious contender to win it all.
Fast forward to 2016, and the Dodgers once again appear to be treading water. Los Angeles is 33-32 going into Tuesday night and sits six games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West. The Dodgers are an older team trying to win now, and yet it seems the franchise is spinning its wheels, wasting time while the aging players are going from good and expensive to mediocre and astronomically priced.
Los Angeles does have some bright spots on the roster under the approximate age of 48, with Corey Seager turning into one of the best shortstops in Major League Baseball. Seager is leading the Dodgers in almost all hitting categories, including a .284 batting average with 15 home runs and 36 RBI. Beyond him, Joc Pederson was supposed to be a breakout star in 2016, but has faltered to a .229 average and only nine dingers.
The rest of the lineup is either old or terrible Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .274 and owns a team-best .354 on-base percentage, but he’s losing power with six home runs at the ripe age of 34. Second baseman Chase Utley got off to a blazing start but has seen his average dip to .262 and at 37 years old, a renaissance probably isn’t coming.
Los Angles should start considering the notion of tanking the season and trading away Gonzalez and Utley for younger, cheaper players. In addition, start trying to build a quality rotation behind Clayton Kershaw, who outside of Kenta Maeda has zero help. Kershaw is arguably the best pitcher in the game with a 1.52 ERA, but behind him is a slew of question marks and more age in the form of Scott Kazmir.
The Dodgers are not going to challenge for the Fall Classic regardless of how much Pederson, Kazmir and others might improve throughout the next three months. Los Angeles isn’t as talented as the Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Giants or Cardinals. Five of those teams will make the playoffs, one will be devastated and the Dodgers will be out of the race by Labor Day.
Los Angeles has been competitive on the fringes for years. It’s time to break down the set.
