Dodgers Find Themselves In Unfamiliar Territory In Latest Power Rankings

Entering the 2022 season the Dodgers were the consensus number one team in the power rankings with the addition of Freddie Freeman and keeping Trea Turner on the team for one more season. Now, the Dodgers have plummeted in the rankings with the huge roster turnover but still remain a respectable team.

Thanks to the losses, the Dodgers come in at number nine on ESPN’s most recent power rankings list. With the lack of big moves and glaring needs around the roster, the drop comes as no surprise.

It may be more surprising to still land in the top 10, but clearly the talent still left on the roster highlighted by Freeman, Mookie Betts, Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw along with their supporting cast still warrants a top 10 spot. Here’s what ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle had to say about LA heading into the new year.

Steamer (FanGraphs.com’s projections system) isn’t particularly excited about the additions of J.D. Martinez and Noah Syndergaard, which plays into a rather surprising ranking for the Dodgers. Why surprising? At this point, I almost take it for granted that the Dodgers will end up ranked first in almost any kind of projection-based ranking that I do.

The rankings also come at the heels of the potential low-risk high-rewards the Dodgers have been accustomed to doing so far.

What the forecasts can’t capture is the Dodgers’ uncanny ability to get acquired players to produce at a level a tier or two above what the numbers suggest. You know, players like Martinez and Syndergaard. And, for that matter, how will Cubs fans feel if, all of a sudden, the Dodgers turn Jason Heyward into a feared masher? Still, this doesn’t feel like it’s been a good offseason for L.A. The offseason, though, is only half over.

It’s not a great position to be in but the regular season is still a long way away. What matters most is the production in the postseason so any numbers until then remain something to merely keep an eye on.

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