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Grading the NL West’s offseason: Can any team keep up with the Dodgers?

Everyone is angry with the Dodgers, which makes sense but might actually be a bit overdue.

Los Angeles has won the NL West in every single year but one since the 2013 season. Giants, Padres, D-backs and Rockies fans are already sufficiently frustrated with the evil empire operating in their midst. And if this winter is any indication, the future in the division looks a lot like the past.

The Dodgers have added six free agents this offseason — the same number as the rest of the division combined. Were there any non-Dodgers moves that could possibly move the needle, or is L.A. destined for another decade of dominance?

Let’s dive in.

  • Signed SP Blake Snell to a 5-year deal

  • Signed SP Roki Sasaki as an international free agent

  • Signed OF Teoscar HernĂĄndez to a 3-year deal

  • Signed OF Michael Conforto to a 1-year deal

  • Signed RP Tanner Scott to a 4-year deal

  • Signed RP Blake Treinen to a 2-year deal

  • Signed IF Hyeseong Kim to a 3-year deal

  • Extended IF/OF Tommy Edman to a 5-year deal

This has been a transactional avalanche so overwhelming, so intimidating that people feel moved to clamor for fundamental changes to the structure of Major League Baseball. The Dodgers, however, have no time for your gripes.

They’re too busy spending buckets of money.

This historic spending spree started less than a month after the triumphant championship parade, with the signing of 2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell on a five-year, $182 million deal. That addition, alongside the arrival of Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, gives the Dodgers a starting rotation that should steal souls and crush dreams all season long.

The successful courting of Sasaki showed a different side of the Dodgers’ juggernaut, as the club could not simply bestow the young hurler with a massive contract, given that his earnings were limited by his status as an international amateur. Yes, the gobs of money spent on the rest of the roster surely played a factor in bringing Sasaki to town, but so did the club’s culture and vaunted player development apparatus.

Meanwhile, the club’s financial dominance enabled the reinforcing of both its outfield and its bullpen. Being able to commit a combined $83 million to Teoscar Hernández and Michael Conforto in the corner outfield spots is a luxury. The same goes for the $94 million committed to relievers Tanner Scott and Blake Treinen.

The Dodgers, as is their right, are operating in a way few other teams can afford to. Whether all that splurging will allow L.A. to become the first repeat World Series winner in more than two decades — well, that’s what playing the baseball games is for.

  • None, so far

The Padres have not added a single free agent on an MLB contract. The Padres have not conducted a single significant trade. Their left fielder, All-Star Jurickson Profar, joined the Atlanta Braves. Their closer, Tanner Scott, one of the top relievers in baseball, signed with the rival Dodgers. A key member of their infield mix, Ha-Seong Kim, remains on the market, unlikely to return.

This transactional freeze is almost certainly a product of the team’s messy ownership situation, featuring a fight over control of the franchise between the widow and brothers of late owner Peter Seidler. GM AJ Preller has claimed that San Diego’s payroll will remain in the top 10 league-wide, but so far, the Padres have been frozen solid in a transactional ice age.

Trade rumors have bubbled around Michael King, Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez, all of whom are set to hit free agency after 2025. Shipping away one or more of that trio could bolster the team’s depth and carve out payroll space, but teams trying to win usually want to keep their good players.

Even with their inaction this winter, the Padres should be in the playoff mix, but it’s difficult to envision this team, as currently constructed, outracing the Dodgers in the division.

The Corbin Burnes deal is an absolute coup, a massive win for a franchise that doesn’t typically swim in the deep end of free agency. It’s extraordinarily rare for a player such as Burnes, one of the best pitchers in baseball and the best starter available this offseason, to leave even a nickel on the table. The Diamondbacks weren’t planning to make a run at the burly hurler, but once Burnes voiced his desire to play near his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, it became too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Adding Naylor as a replacement for Christian Walker, who departed to Houston in free agency, was a solid move. Naylor doesn’t have Walker’s track record of consistency or his defensive chops, but he’s a more than sufficient fill-in. The departures of Joc Pederson, Kevin Newman and Randall Grichuk are a sneaky big deal; that trio was critical to the D-backs’ league-leading offense last season. Adding another reliable bench piece or two would be a smart play.

Last year, Arizona missed the playoffs by a single game, in large part because their bullpen was unreliable. So far this winter, they’ve done absolutely nothing to remedy that problem. That’s the only thing keeping them from an A- grade.

The first winter under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey has been … fine. For years, the Giants had been looking for a major free agent to take their money. This offseason, Willy Adames, one of the better shortstops in MLB, happily obliged. The effervescent Dominican will boost the Giants — being able to pencil someone in at shortstop for the foreseeable future is a big deal — but Adames is not the game-changing offensive force this lineup has thirsted for since Posey himself retired.

Adames is a really good hitter but not necessarily a fearsome one. That player remains elusive for the Giants, who are seeking to reorient their ethos on the fly.

San Francisco’s other significant offseason move, signing future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to a one-year deal, plays into that cultural reshaping under Posey. Verlander will pitch this season at age 42 and finally showed significant signs of decline in 2024. The Giants are not expecting dominance from the three-time Cy Young. They’re hoping he can supply guidance, professionalism and dependability.

Is this roster significantly better than it was in 2024, essentially exchanging Adames for Blake Snell? Maybe? But it’s definitely not good enough to win the division, which is the ultimate goal for Posey and Co.

  • Signed 2B Thairo Estrada to a 1-year deal

  • Signed IF Kyle Farmer to a 1-year deal

  • Re-signed C Jacob Stallings to a 1-year deal

The Rockies are MLB’s odd cousin, always hanging out in the corner doing their own thing. They’re not bothering anybody, but they’re also not engaging much with the other 29 teams.

Colorado has not had a winning season since 2018, yet they’ve had the same manager since then and the same GM since 2021. They are rarely involved in rumors for free agents or trades; it’s just a weird situation over there.

As such, it’s no surprise that the Rox have made just a handful of moves this winter. Estrada and Farmer are nice pieces, but neither will turn Colorado into a contender. Such is life in the isolated hall of mirrors that is Coors Field.

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