Dodgers: 3 biggest mistakes LAD made this offseason

2. Letting Alex Wood Walk to Giants

Didn’t think the Giants would be good. We get it! Same thing the Yankees did with the Red Sox and Adam Ottavino.

But … whoops. You fortified them.

So far, though Alex Wood has reverted back to being a “solid innings-eater” instead of ace incarnate (like … Kevin Gausman? Really, that’s their ace?), he’s still quite good, whiffing 65 Ks in 66 innings and posting a solid WHIP of 1.197. Losing Wood has been a double-edged sword for Los Angeles; they never could’ve foreseen their starting pitching depth getting tested in this manner, and they also could’ve never foreseen San Francisco being good enough to be able to use a roving six-inning pitcher like the crafty lefty.

When Wood walked away for $3 million guaranteed in San Fran, the team believed Tony Gonsolin, David Price, Julio Urias and Dustin May would all be competing for two spots in the most vaunted rotation this century had ever seen. Instead, Gonsolin came up lame and hasn’t been stretched out or effective. Ditto Price, who’s fully been committed to relief, and wasn’t really in the competition to begin with it turns out. May’s injury was extremely unfortunate, though certainly falls into the category of “Things That Happen in Baseball in 2021”. Urias? His start was wonderful, but his hard-hit rates have been trending downwards lately while his ERA’s risen.

Don’t thumb your nose at pitching depth — or divisional rivals — is basically what we’re saying.

And speaking of …