Opinion: With Mookie Betts on board, it’s World Series or bust for Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers, on the evening of Feb. 4, 2020, flipped the script and started acting like the mighty and powerful Dodgers once again.
They landed one of the greatest players from the Boston Red Sox in former MVP Mookie Betts, grabbed former Cy Young winner David Price and assumed a boatload of money.
Let the Red Sox worry about the luxury tax.
The Dodgers aren’t sweating it.
You’ll almost certainly see the Dodgers win at least 100 games this year, their eighth consecutive NL West title and reach the World Series for the third time in four years.
This time, they may be winning it, ending their 32-year drought.
The Dodgers, tired of simply winning division titles, delivered in a mighty way.
They now have Betts, the right-handed bat they desperately needed, to make them the most powerful lineup in the National League. He’ll be a lethal force surrounded by reigning MVP Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Max Muncy, not to mention Corey Seager, Will Smith and Gavin Lux.
They also have the best rotation in the NL with Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Price, Julio Urias, Alex Wood and Dustin May.
The Dodgers, who have resisted trading their best prospects in recent years, passing on the likes of Cole Hamels and Justin Verlander at the July 31 trade deadline, now are going for the gusto. The only prospect they surrendered was outfielder Alex Verdugo, sending him to the Red Sox, while trading veteran Kenta Maeda, who the team has just been using as a swingman
