MLB Insiders left asking: Can anyone beat the Dodgers ?

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ

The Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite to repeat as the champions of Major League Baseball, having won their second title in five seasons with their domination of the New York Yankees in last year’s World Series. That team finished with 98 wins, the most in the game, but that was the first full season that the franchise had won fewer than 100 times since the 2018 campaign, when they won 92. They’ve won the NL West eleven of the past twelve seasons, and they have 41 more wins over the past five years (458), than any other organization – the second place Atlanta Braves. They have also been the best team over the past decade, winning 943 games, easily outpacing second place Houston, who lags 54 games behind the behemoths in Los Angeles. They have been the best team in the game for an extended period, and 2025 figures to be an extension of that dominance.

The Las Vegas betting odds show the Dodgers as being about 30% likely to win the title this season. No other team is above 12%. Like most championship rosters, the Dodgers had a handful of free agents from the 2024 team, and lost starters Jack Flaherty to Detroit, and Walker Buehler to Boston. However, Los Angeles was able pivot to deftly replace those rotation members, and inarguably, upgrade that aspect of their team. In November, Los Angeles signed 2023 National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell to a five-year $182 million dollar deal. When Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, a starting pitcher who was the best young hurler in that country (a 2.02 ERA in four seasons in Japan), was granted a release to seek employment in MLB, the Dodgers pounced. Since he is only 23, he is subject to international free agent rules, and like new teammate Shohei Ohtani, could only sign a minor league contract that promises him the major league minimum once he makes the roster.

Sasaki did earn a $6.5 million signing bonus, but he’s criminally underpaid for the talent he possesses. Fellow countryman and rotation mate Yoshinobu Yamamoto commanded a 12-year, $325 million dollar deal from the Dodgers the previous winter, and had Sasaki been at least 25, with six seasons as a professional, he would have qualified for a deal at least as lucrative. Sasaki’s desire to challenge himself against the best players in the world led him to seek an exit from his Japanese league team two full years before he would have been clear of the restrictions on his contract. He’ll now get that chance. The rotation of Snell, Yamamoto, Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow (3.49 ERA in 134 IP in 2024) is easily the most talented in the game. To that group, the Dodgers will eventually add both Shohei Ohtani and franchise icon Clayton Kershaw, both of whom are recovering from injuries, but should contribute in the first half of the season. The Dodgers are spending nearly $122 million on their starting pitching in 2025, which is more than eleven other teams entire payroll this season.

To support their gifted starters, the Dodgers invested heavily in their bullpen heading into 2025. They retained closer Blake Treinen, who has kept his ERA under 2.00 for the team since 2021. In addition, they signed the best left-handed closer on the free agent market, and the best right handed closer on the market, inking lefty Tanner Scott (1.75 ERA in 72 IP) to a four-year, $72 million deal, and righty Kirby Yates (1.17 ERA in 62 IP) to a one-year, $13 million pact. They still have Evan Philips (3.62 ERA in 55 IP), who led the team in saves last year with 18, as well as lefty Alex Vesia (1.76 ERA in 66 IP), who tallied five saves of his own. The team has committed nearly $67 million in payroll cash to their relief corps (according to Spotrac), tops in the major leagues, and more than both the White Sox and Marlins will spend on their entire team in 2025.

Lest you despair that the Dodgers are an unbalanced squad, recall that their team was second in the majors in runs scored last season, and they led the National League in HR’s. 2024 NL MVP Shohei Ohtani is looking to improve upon his historic 54 HR, 59 stolen bases campaign, the first player to eclipse the 50-50 mark in the long, storied history of the game. Their top five batters figure to be Ohtani, Mookie Betts, 2024 World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy, each of whom were at least 35% better than league average offensively.

No other major league lineup features as many accomplished hitters, and Manager Dave Roberts has managed the Dodgers since the 2016 season, and has amassed a 851-507 record, qualifying for the playoffs in each of those nine seasons, winning four NL pennants and two World Series championships. His .627 win percentage is fifth all time, and is the best of any manager in the last 90 years. Roberts was nearing an extension with the club, and it would be difficult to imagine a different job that would be more attractive or potentially successful. His 2025 Dodgers are heavy favorites to become the first MLB team to repeat as champions since the 1998-2000 Yankees won three straight, and with their payroll and star power, the pressure to do so will be considerable.

Is there any team in the league who can stem the seemingly inevitable tide that is the Dodgers?

Here are a list of teams who may be up to the challenge in 2025.

National League:

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves made the playoffs in 2024 by winning the second game of a makeup doubleheader against the Mets after the regular season ended. That they were in a position to do so after the injuries they suffered was truly remarkable Their best starter, Spencer Strider, made two starts before going on the IL with elbow issues that required surgery. Their best hitter, Ronald Acuna Jr. was lost for the season after tearing his left ACL in late May. Manager Brian Snitker still led his team to 89 wins and a Wild Card berth, an achievement helped in no small part by an unheralded trade made by GM Alex Anthopoulos before the season started. Anthopoulos traded Vaughn Grissom to the Red Sox for oft-injured starting pitcher Chris Sale, and Sale made that trade look extremely one-sided, going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA, and leading the league in strikeouts with 225 while winning the NL Cy Young Award and becoming the first pitcher to win the Triple Crown in the NL since Kershaw in 2011. Unfortunately, Sale missed the playoffs with back trouble, and had to watch his teammates get swept out of the Wild Card Round by San Diego.

The Braves lost free agents Max Fried and Charlie Morton from their rotation, but with Strider likely to return at some point in the season, Sale, Reynaldo Lopez (8-5, 1.99) and second year righty Spencer Schwellenbach (8-7, 3.35) will lead the staff and hope to return to the playoffs in 2025. Closer Raisel Iglesias (34 saves, 1.95) anchors the pen.

The lineup figures to be more potent when Acuna Jr. slots back into it, but system products Austin Riley, Michael Harris and Ozzie Albies, each of whom signed long term contracts to stay in Atlanta, will feature prominently in the offense in 2025. Outfielder Marcell Ozuna was the team’s best hitter in 2024, leading the club in HR (39) and RBI (104), and figures to hit in the middle of the order with iron man Matt Olson (29 HR, 98 RBI). Ozuna and Olson were two of only four major league players to appear in all 162 games in 2024, and their durability and productivity will go a long way towards determining if the Braves can return to the playoffs in 2025. If Strider and Acuna Jr. return and perform to their career standards, the Braves will be a fearsome opponent this season.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies enter the 2025 season as defending NL East champions, having won 95 games before falling to the Mets in the NLDS. The club hasn’t won the World Series since 2008, but have been in the postseason each of the last three years. Led by their deep and talented pitching staff, they are capable of knocking off anyone in a short series, and imported talented lefty Jesus Luzardo from Miami to be their fifth starter. If there is any rotation in the game that could be considered comparable to the Dodgers, it is the Phillies. Their front four of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Christopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez went a combined 53-32, with each throwing at least 150 IP and having an ERA under 3.57. Wheeler finished second to Sale in the NL Cy Young voting, but the Phillies will send a well above average hurler to the hill every night, and those pitchers will be supported by a bullpen that has multiple experienced ninth inning options. The club lost Jeff Hoffman and 2024 trade acquisition Carlos Estevez to free agency, but imported Jordan Romano from Toronto to help close games. Lefty Jose Alvarado can also shut down late inning rallies, and figures to get as many chances as Romano to earn saves.

The Philadelphia batting order is anchored by lefty sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, who clobbered 68 HRs and drove in 191 runs between them in 2024. Schwarber led the NL in walks with 106, and his combination of patience and power out of the leadoff spot frequently led to run scoring rallies. Trea Turner had 25 doubles, 21 HR and 10 steals while playing solid shortstop defense, and righties JT Realmuto and Alec Bohm helped balance the Phillies attack from the right side. Free agent Max Kepler, signed from the Twins this offseason, brings another lefty stick to the club and will help beef up their outfield productivity alongside Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos, both coming off above average offensive seasons for the team.

President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski has given manager Rob Thomson (250-185 in three seasons) a playoff roster in each of the campaigns they’ve worked together. Philadelphia enters 2025 with the third highest payroll in the league at $286 million, trailing only the Mets and Dodgers, and expectations in the City of Brotherly Love are sky high. Team leader Bryce Harper is all-in on the team and the city, even getting a tattoo of the Philly Phanatic on his right arm this offseason to help celebrate his love affair with the mascot and the team’s fans. “I just love Philly. I love the Phanatic. It’s just fun,” he noted upon debuting the new ink in spring training last month. If the Phillies dethrone the Dodgers and win the title, joining the Eagles as Philadelphia champions, Harper might inspire a whole host of copycat tattoos.

New York Mets

The New York Mets will spend more on their 2025 roster than even the Dodgers, something no other team can say. Owner Steve Cohen will see $365 million of his dollars flow into the accounts of his talented players, and if the Mets overcome the Dodgers and win the World Series, it will have been money well spent. Cohen won the bidding for the offseason’s biggest prize, outfielder Juan Soto, whose seven-year career has been nothing short of Hall Of Fame caliber. Through his age 25 season, Soto has amassed 36.4 wins above replacement, tenth all-time in the history of the game.

Only Mike Trout and Aaron Judge (among current players with at least 3,000 plate appearances) have eclipsed Soto’s contributions at the plate, where he’s been 60% better than the league average since making his debut with the Nationals as a 19-year-old in 2018. His prowess with the bat earned him a 15-year, $765 million dollar deal, blowing past the $700 million the Dodgers pledged to secure Ohtani. Soto joins fellow superstar Francisco Lindor atop the New York lineup in what will be a fearsome array of talent, complete with the return of slugger Pete Alonso, who re-signed with the club on a two-year, $54 deal. With New York farm system products Brandon Nimmo (23 HR, 90 RBI) and 2024 breakout masher Mark Vientos (27 HR, 71 RBI) supporting Soto, Lindor and Alonso, the Mets will score runs. Their offense was seventh in the game in runs scored last season, and adding Soto will almost assuredly lead to a loftier total in 2025.

New York took the Dodgers to six games in the NLCS in 2024 before succumbing to the eventual champions, and have watched many of their free agents sign elsewhere in the aftermath of the Soto deal. Both Luis Severino and Jose Quintana decamped for new homes in 2025, each of whom made 31 starts for the Mets in 2024. They did retain Sean Manaea (12-6, 3.47), but he’s nursing a strained oblique and will likely start the year on the IL. The club expects a healthier 2025 season from Kodai Senga, who only made a single regular season start for the team last year, and will rely on both David Peterson (10-3, 2.90) and Tylor Megill to help prevent opposing rallies. The Mets stole another talented free agent from their cross-town rivals in the Bronx, signing Clay Holmes for three years and $38 million to convert from closer to starting pitcher. Holmes brings his bowling ball sinker to every matchup, and leads baseball in ground ball rate over the past three seasons (68.6% of balls in play on the ground).

If Holmes can translate that skill to be sustainable over longer outings, the Mets will undoubtedly improve the weakest part of their team in 2025. The Mets pen, led by Edwin Diaz (20 saves, 3.52 ERA) and farm system graduate Jose Butto (2.55 ERA in 74 IP) was leaky at times, with Diaz blowing eight saves on his own, and will have to perform at a higher level to allow the Mets to hold leads the offense provides. The 2024 Mets were a step away from their first World Series appearance since 2015, but the Dodgers ended their dreams of securing only the third championship in their history. Given that Cohen is at the ready with a seemingly limitless checkbook, the franchise should be able to address needs as they arise in-season, which makes the club a true threat to win their first title since 1986, a nearly 40 year drought that their friends with the Yankees never tire of referencing.