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Dodgers vs Astros: Why the Dodgers have fallen behind

By Michael Wittman

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 01: Yuli Gurriel
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 01: Yuli Gurriel /
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 03: President and part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Stan Kasten, speaks to President of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Andrew Friedman, before game one of the National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium on October 03, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

The Dodgers front office has not been very bold

First off, let’s get this out of the way: This is not a bash party on the Dodgers front office.  I believe Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers’ front office has been very good at developing a deep roster that will compete for many seasons to come.  The homegrown talent they’ve developed and the under the radar moves they make rival any front office in the game, including the Astros.

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The one area where the Astros’ front office is far ahead of the Dodgers’ is at making bold moves. In 2017 the Astros took a risk on Justin Verlander and it has paid off big time.  This year they took on Zack Greinke who is now 36 years old but he has also helped fuel the Astros’ rotation that seemingly has only three starting pitchers.  For Gerrit Cole, the Astros dealt two top-five prospects including a former top 100 prospect in Joe Musgrove to Pittsburgh.

The Astros traded three top-five prospects this summer for Greinke and while it may hinder their future, it resulted in their second World Series.  The Dodgers have made big short-term upgrades at the deadline like Machado and Darvish, but those moves were not as bold.  Machado became a necessity when Corey Seager went down and Darvish was traded for a top prospect the Dodgers knew had no position in the NL.  The Machado trade involved prospects outside the Dodgers’ top ten.

Next. The top 3 free agent starters after Gerrit Cole. dark

The Dodgers have a stockpile of pitching and catching prospects so this is the off-season for Andrew Friedman to get bold.  Whether the Dodgers get back to the World Series in 2020 and win could depend on if the front office finally gets aggressive this winter.  If they choose to make minor moves then this team may fail to make the World Series again in 2020.

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