Eric Arnau
Staff Writer
An incredible 2024 MLB season has now officially wrapped up with the Los Angeles Dodgers earning their second World Series title since 2020. In what was a dream scenario and matchup for Commissioner Rob Manfred, the Dodgers took down the New York Yankees in five games, a gentleman’s sweep.
If Major League Baseball could have hand-picked their dream World Series matchup at the start of the season, there is a good chance it would have been Dodgers and Yankees. This series had everything, between LA vs. NY, East Coast vs. West Coast, Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani, or the four former MVPs in the series, this was truly a “Fall Classic.”
How did each team get here? The 162-game MLB season results in every team having to battle and go through a true journey to even get to the playoffs, let alone the World Series. The Dodgers (98-64) and the Yankees (94-68) were no underdogs, both earning a first round bye in the playoffs by having the best record in their respective league.
Los Angeles went through two tough opponents in their division rival San Diego Padres and then the New York Mets. At times, having their back against the wall, the Dodgers continued their magical run all the way to the final series of the season.
Fans were throwing out that the Yankees were not as battle-tested as the Dodgers during their run, clearly outmatching the young Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians before reaching the World Series.
Both organizations expect to contend season after season, not only because of pedigree, but the resources they have access to. The Dodgers organization showed that they did not waste their historic offseason, spending over $1 billion this past winter.
Do not get the big spending confused with the other contributions from this LA team in the postseason. Yes, the Dodgers big name guys and their three former MVPs came through from time to time, but they contributed their success to their lineup top to bottom and often it was guys like Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernández coming up big.
“Talent is a lot, but it’s not everything. You still have to be cohesive,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told ESPN. This team came together as a unit and got it done and Roberts was a big part of instilling the belief.
Tommy Edman was massive for the Dodgers to continue their magical run to capture their 8th title. Not known for his bat, Edman recorded 13 rbis in 16 postseason games while receiving NLCS MVP honors against the New York Mets.
Another big piece was the Dodgers pitching, especially their bullpen. “Lights out” sounds like an understatement for this LA bullpen during this run. In their postseason wins in 2024, the Dodgers bullpen recorded 57.1 innings pitched while having a 1.73 earned run average (ERA). Guys like Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech and Ryan Brasier deserve a ton of credit for their consistency and constant shut down pitching in this LA title run.
For the Dodgers in 2025, the blueprint will be simple, run this thing back and win the World Series again. For the New York Yankees it is back to the drawing board, and it gets a lot more complicated with some major offseason questions coming up. The largest one being right fielder and MVP caliber player Juan Soto hitting the open market this winter.
Soto kept it vague in the post game conference as expected from any Scott Boras client. “I’ll be open to listen to every team,” Soto said in a Yahoo Sports article. “I feel every team has the same opportunity.”
What a season it was in Major League Baseball. Congratulations to everyone in the Dodgers organization, especially FSC baseball alum, Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel.
