Offseason champion Dodgers' 3 biggest concerns heading into the 2024 season

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The Los Angeles Dodgers have had an historic offseason where they have spent over $1.2 billion on contracts. Of course, a big chunk of that comes from Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal, but that didn’t stop the organization from continuing to be aggressive.

The Dodgers then traded for Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot from the Tampa Bay Rays. After the acquisition, Glasnow received a five-year, $136.5 million contract extension. Next up was the highly coveted Yoshinobu Yamamoto, from the Nippon Professional Baseball League’s Orix Buffaloes, who penned a 12-yea,r $325 million contract. If you are keeping up with the math, you know we’re getting close to the end.

The Dodgers were then focused on getting an outfield bat who excels against left handed pitching. Well, Teoscar Hernández wanted to be on a team where he could compete for a World Series, and he fit the description of what the Dodgers were looking for. It was a perfect match that netted Hernández a one-year, $23.5 million deal. Finally, the Dodgers signed James Paxton to a one-year $11 million deal to fill out their rotation, particularly during Walker Buehler's early-season absence.

Talk about a haul.

Despite all that spending, the Dodgers' plan is by no means foolproof, as that is simply not attainable in professional sports. But $1.2 billion later, you think they would be pretty close, right? Well, actually, this Dodgers team does have its fair share of concerns heading into the 2024 season.

Dodgers' Biggest Issues After $1.2 Billion Offseason

High-Variance Rotation

The first, and biggest, issue the Dodgers could run into comes with starting pitching. As it stands, the rotation is:

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (RHP)
Tyler Glasnow (RHP)
Walker Buehler (RHP)
Bobby Miller (RHP)
James Paxton (LHP)

It also includes a few injured players, including Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. That rotation has the potential to be the best in baseball, but the floor could be deceivingly low. Yamamoto seems like a sure thing; his ERA in his last three seasons in the NBP's Pacific League has been 1.39, 1.68, and 1.21. In two of those three seasons, he’s also recorded over 200 strikeouts.

But remember, there’s no such thing as foolproof in professional sports, and Yamamoto is not immune to that notion. Pitching in MLB will be an adjustment for Yamamoto, which is not a knock on the NBP, the highest level of baseball in Japan. It’s just that everything will be different. The batters he faces, the environment, the umpires, the coaches, the literal baseballs —nothing will be the same. That can be a hard ask for anyone in any profession. His pure talent will likely help with the adjustment, and no one should overreact if he happens to get off to a slow start. Yamamoto was given $325 million for a reason: he’s extremely good.

Rotation Health

The other issue with starting pitching is injuries. Buehler is coming back after missing a full season due to Tommy John surgery. We’ve seen just how good a healthy Buehler can be, and pitchers have come back from Tommy John’s before, but again, it’s not an easy thing to do. When will Buehler return? That remains to be seen; it doesn't seem likely to be around Opening Day.

As for Glasnow, the Dodgers received some criticism after giving him a contract extension. It had nothing to do with him as a player; it was simply his ability to stay healthy. He’s only pitched over 90 innings twice in his career, in 2018 (111.2 IP) and last year (120 IP). There is no question that if Glasnow can stay healthy, he will be a major contributor, but the concern still lingers.

Finally, the most recent signing, James Paxton, is another player with a complicated injury history. In a shortened 2020 season, Paxton pitched five games and 20.1 innings; in 2021, he only pitched 1.1 innings before missing all of 2022. This was all due to a herniated disc and removing a cyst from his back, as well as Tommy John surgery. Like Glasnow, Paxton did have a relatively healthy year in 2023, where he pitched 96 innings.

It’s also worth mentioning that current free agent and Dodger legend Clayton Kershaw is not guaranteed to return to the team in 2024. And, even if he did, he would be missing half the season.

Shortstop Uncertainty

Another problem the Dodgers could run into is at the shortstop position. Gavin Lux is another name on a list longer than you would like to see of players returning from injury, after he tore his ACL and LCL in spring training last year. Lux was coming off a solid 2022 season where he had a batting average of .276, which included seven triples. You hope that he is able to return to form and even get better throughout the year, but it is yet another question mark for this team.

One benefit the Dodgers have is Miguel Rojas. Though he isn’t a dominant player at the plate, he is a good glove to have at shortstop and can help Lux ease back into things (and even give him some rest days).

Lastly, no matter how good the regular season may end up being, the organization needs to see results in the playoffs. This has been something the Dodgers have not produced recently. While that is a concern for the future, it will linger until that postseason success finally hits again. Maybe an Ohtani pep talk is all the Dodgers really need.

All these players are very talented professionals who are more than capable of overcoming any odds they face. But as the Dodgers are faced with such high expectations for the 2024 season, it’s important to remind yourself that there is no such thing as foolproof, and with a ceiling this high, it’s good to stay grounded every now and then.

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