Los Angeles Dodgers: Becoming a dynasty seems inevitable after 2017
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Dodgers head into their Monday off day with a 79-32 record, resembling the ’98 Yankees and ’01 Mariners. Unlike the latter, Los Angeles has the potential to form a dynasty in Chavez Ravine.
Baseball is a game without dynasties. There are no three consecutive World Series match ups, no seven consecutive World Series victories. For the most part, the only dynasty that has existed in Major League Baseball is the New York Yankees, a team that was well before its time. Now, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the potential to change that narrative.
The Yankees have reached the Fall Classic a record 40 times, the next best mark is the Giants with 23 appearances and then the Dodgers with 21. New York has won more World Series than any other team has even played in. They have appeared in 36% of all World Series, winning 24% of all 112 and have made the postseason more times (52) than a third of the league has, combined (47).
For baseball fans, the Yankees are the only dynasty we know. However, most of this success came far before most of us were even born. Nine of the Yankees 27 world Series have come after 1960. Outside of the dominant stretch from 1996 to 2003, in which they won six World Series, the Yankees haven’t strung together a long line of success.
Still, winning six in eight years is very impressive, especially considering only four teams besides the Yankees have more than six World Series victories in their entire franchise history. But still, especially after that dominant eight-year stretch, baseball fans have not seen any dynasties.
Sure, we have the even year Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, but neither of those teams really dominated. Both were good teams at best that turned it up come October, we have not seen a team that has dominated from Opening Day until October, for multiple seasons that is.
Everybody expects the Chicago Cubs to become that with their youth, but 2017 has proven to be a World Series hang over. Granted, the team is 15-7 since the All-Star Break and has moved back into first place in the NL Central, but they are not the same Cubs that were blowing nearly everyone out last season.
Do the #Dodgers have enough to win the World Series this year?
— LA Sports Hub (@LA_SportsHub) August 7, 2017
Right now, the most viable candidates for a dynasty easily is the Los Angeles Dodgers. In a sense, the Los Angeles Dodgers are already the most consistent team in the MLB.
Los Angeles has made the postseason four consecutive times dating back to 2013, the longest active streak in baseball. Unless the team spontaneously combusts, a fifth appearance will tie them for the third longest postseason streak in MLB history.
Now, to be a dynasty you need to win multiple World Series, the Dodgers haven’t won since 1988. It seems absurd to give a team a dynasty label before they even win it all. However, these Los Angeles Dodgers are so talented, so deep and so young that it seems near impossible that they won’t be lifting the Commissioners Trophy come October.
Not to mention that the team has gotten great contributions from unlikely sources. Yasiel Puig has turned it around, Chris Taylor has shocked many and Cody Bellinger has taken the league by storm. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill have all experienced turnarounds and the already solid Dodger contributors are continuing to thrive.
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Not to mention the Los Angeles Dodgers still have a top ten farm system in all of Major League Baseball. The team’s only big loss this offseason will be Yu Darvish and they were great before them. The team could lose the likes of Logan Forsythe and Yasmani Grandal the following season, as well as Clayton Kershaw, is he invokes his player option.
However, Los Angeles showed last season that they can resign their guys when they need to. This Dodgers team gels nicely, they have chemistry, if they are winning there is no reason they can’t bring at least two of those three back.
The core in Los Angeles will remain. With youth on their side, this core will only get better as time goes on. With a great coaching staff led by Dave Roberts, there is no reason this team can’t win it all this year, next year, the year after and so on.
Next: Greatest Dodger teams of all-time
In many ways, these Los Angeles Dodgers mirror the 1996 Yankees. If Andrew Friedman continues to make smart trades, key signings and build this farm system, we could be seeing the beginning of a fun era of baseball in Los Angeles.