Positives and Negatives of the 2015 Dodgers

October 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick (47) reacts following the 3-2 loss against New York Mets in game five of NLDS at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne-Kamin Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Down: They still weren’t good enough

The Dodgers have sky-high expectations, as they should. The payroll narrative is also overrated, but they’re a large market team in a huge media market with a tremendously well-regarded front office, two of the best pitchers in baseball and a number of star-caliber players. Many teams would be content with a third-straight division win and a 92-win season.

The Dodgers can only succeed in one way, and that’s in winning a championship. That’s what their expectations are, and if there was any logic in baseball it probably would have happened more recently. There isn’t and the Dodgers haven’t succeeded in 27 years.

They weren’t good enough this year. Bullpen issues, an inconsistent offense and a crapshoot of a back-end of the rotation is not a great formula for a championship. As rough and harsh as it probably is, this season was a failure. The standards and expectations are unfair, but us Angelenos and LA sports fans are spoiled.

They were good enough to beat out the Giants, Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies over 162 games, but they couldn’t win three of five against the Mets and that ended up being all that mattered. And that’s why baseball is dumb. This team was quite good, but they weren’t good enough and no one will remember the good that came from the previous 162 games. They will look much different next year, but if there’s no parade through Elysian Park it will still be considered a failure.

Next: A Look at the Dodgers Offseason Needs