In 2022, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost in a stunning upset to the San Diego Padres in the National League Divisional Round. That felt like rock bottom for the organization and after a 100-win season in 2023, the team appeared ready to put that early playoff exit behind them.
But it has not worked out that way. Not even close. Now, facing a 2-0 deficit in the NLDS to the 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers are on the brink of elimination, and perhaps the most stunning upset in team history.
Dodgers NLDS loss to D'Backs could raise difficult offseason questions
Losing in the NLDS would force the Dodgers to ask themselves many difficult questions.
Is Dave Roberts the right person to manage the team? Do you only strengthen what will already be a significant pursuit of Shohei Ohtani in the offseason? How aggressively do you pursue starting pitching help with a young staff and Clayton Kershaw possibly in his last season in the majors?
Let's dive into it.
Could Dodgers NLDS loss affect pursuit of Shohei Ohtani?
The Dodgers are going to pursue Shohei Ohtani. That's been the worst-kept secret in baseball. Just how much that pursuit is impacted by his latest elbow injury remains to be seen, but it's been abundantly clear for years that he's a player firmly on their radar.
Let's operate under the assumption that Ohtani will be the Dodgers' No. 1 target. It's unclear if he will choose the team with the highest dollar offer – it's possible he goes to a place he's most comfortable – but based on the reported list of teams that he considered when he was coming to MLB, it's clear that he likes being on the west coast.
If the Dodgers add Ohtani, where else do they look? The starting pitching market is an obvious area of interest, and both Lucas Giolito and Jack Flaherty grew up together in that area. Could they look to add either arm? Left-hander Jordan Montgomery is an interesting potential target, especially with Julio Urias' future in baseball in doubt.
But the Dodgers have little history of working with Montgomery's agent, Scott Boras, and that could make him an unlikely target.
One thing we know for certain: the Dodgers' offseason starts with Ohtani. They will look in the starting pitching market and attempting to re-sign J.D. Martinez should be another priority, though Martinez will surely be more expensive than his current one-year, $10 million contract.
But if they don't land Ohtani, their offseason will surely be considered a failure.
Would Dave Roberts' future be in jeopardy as Dodgers manager?
The most interesting and pressing question that the Dodgers would face if they are eliminated by the Diamondbacks surrounds the future of Dave Roberts.
Will they run it back with Roberts in 2024? Or would they look to bring in a new voice in hopes of getting back to the World Series?
The answer is unclear, and it's likely that the Dodgers don't even know. The team loves Roberts. They have been one of baseball's best regular season teams and despite the lack of recent postseason success, have been patient with him. They have long believed he is the right man for the job.
If the Dodgers' job opens up, it will immediately be the most coveted job in baseball. Could they entice Craig Counsell, whose current contract with the Milwaukee Brewers is up, to come to Los Angeles? Surely there would be an extensive list of people interested in the job and the team could pick from an abundance of top candidates.
But as one rival executive recently explained to me, this could be a situation similar to what the Golden State Warriors faced years ago when Mark Jackson was their head coach. He was the coach who got them consistently to the postseason, but they needed a new coach – Steve Kerr – to get them over the hump.
Now, the Dodgers could be facing a similar situation.
