The Los Angeles Dodgers opened their offseason by doing what they do best — signing a big-name star to a massive contract and angering the fans of 29 other teams.
They started their yearly spending spree this week by signing free agent pitcher Blake Snell to a $182 million contract, adding another front-line starter and ace pitcher to their rotation.
It is a huge move not only because Snell is one of the best pitchers in baseball but also because starting pitching depth was a big concern for the Dodgers during the 2024 season and playoffs due to injuries. They never seemed to have a fully healthy staff, and they are apparently prepared to go out of their way to make sure that does not happen again.
The addition of Snell, as well as the return of Shohei Ohtani to the mound after recovering from Tommy John surgery, add some serious talent to a rotation that can already boast Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and several other high-upside arms.
If everything goes according to plan, it should be the best starting rotation in baseball on paper.
That does not even get into the possibility of whether or not they go after — and sign — Roki Sasaki (which can’t be totally ignored).
The problem is that things rarely go as planned with pitchers, and no team knows that more than the Dodgers, given their recent injury history.
Almost every starting pitcher on the staff has some sort of major and/or recent injury concern that can not be overlooked.
Ohtani has already had two Tommy John surgeries in his career and is going to be coming off the second of those next season.
As good as Snell is, he has started more than 24 games in a season just three times in his career and threw just 104 innings in 2024.
He looks like a monument of durability next to Glasnow, who has never started more than 22 games in a season and has only twice started more than 14 games.
That does not even get into the recent issues that have plagued Kershaw, Dustin May and Bobby Miller.
There is a good chance that at least one, and perhaps several, of those pitchers are going to miss time next season or be limited by their recent injuries.
The best way to counter that is to simply have as many pitchers as you can get. If there is one team that can afford that on a high-end level, it is the Dodgers. They seem committed to try and do just that.
