Dodgers: Losing Yu Darvish was Inevitable and Necessary

The long snooze-fest that has been this off-season may finally be coming to an end after Yu Darvish was signed by the Chicago Cubs. The question now is, can the Dodgers improve on last year’s success without a high-profile starting pitcher to back up Clayton Kershaw?

Kershaw made it clear that the Dodgers were a better team with Yu Darvish, and he wanted him back to spearhead a southpaw-heavy starting rotation. Well, that option has gone to one of the biggest threats to the Dodgers’ reign over the National League. Many Dodger fans (including myself) are worried watching other “super teams” get better while the Dodgers lose two big pieces to the same super team. But wake up Dodger fans, this is what needs to happen.

The Dodgers front office has made it clear that they want to fly under the luxury tax threshold this year so they can reset and plunge into the deep (and I mean deep) free agent class next year. For those who think this is not a big deal, it is because not only are there numerous big names in 2018’s class, but one of them is likely going to be Clayton Kershaw.

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Another concern is the concept of “super teams” rising in baseball. The New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers, and arguably the Washington Nationals are all at the top of their games and can be for a long time. If the Dodgers want to be a part of that group, they cannot be short-sighted. Yes, a major factor in the last two seasons has been the “one game at a time” mentality, but the front office needs to look outward.

Within the division, the Dodgers should be fine. San Francisco made some big splashes this Winter, but those splashes tie them up in age, injury history, and of course money. Arizona was the biggest threat last season, and it doesn’t look like J.D. Martinez is coming back. Colorado bolstered their bullpen, but nothing is remotely predictable when it comes to pitching with that organization.

Outside the division, the Cubs and Nats remain the biggest competition as has been the case for the last two years. Nothing’s changed, only the names. Looking at the Cubs, they improved long-term by getting Darvish over Jake Arrieta but not by much in the short-term. Wade Davis is gone and they will rely on Brandon Morrow, who has a long history of injuries, to anchor their bullpen. Not to mention, Morrow was good before the All-Star break but barely pitched for the Dodgers. He’s only pitched a couple of months in elite reliever status. He is still a question mark for a full season’s dominance.

In the American League, the Yankees are looking scary again. How they’ll perform will be entertaining this season. The World Champions even improved by adding Gerrit Cole to their rotation, which already features Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers, and Charlie Morton. These two teams look tough, but they were allowed to make these moves because they were under the luxury tax threshold.

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If the Dodgers weren’t worried about money they probably would’ve gotten Verlander instead of Darvish. Regardless, the Dodgers were bound for the playoffs before Darvish, they won the first two games of the NDLS and NLCS without Darvish, and he definitely didn’t help in the World Series. Sure it’d be great to have an inning-eating, star right-handed pitcher to back up Kershaw, but really his pay off wasn’t worth paying the luxury tax. The Dodgers have a strong enough rotation with Rich Hill, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, a stronger Hyun-Jin Ryu and a rising Walker Buehler to prolong the dynasty. It was hard to see Darvish staying a Dodger and now he isn’t.