Dodgers Don’t Win World Series Without Contributions From Roster Depth

All last offseason, the cries that the Dodgers were buying a World Series championship rang out. From the creative, big money free acquisitions that brought aboard top-end free agents like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the more conventional acquisitions like Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez, the Dodgers clearly won the offseason.

While such big moves may nearly guarantee contention, qualifying for and then navigating the postseason was far from assured. Though they survived an injury-riddled regular season and barely locked in the #1 seed in the National League playoffs, the Dodgers quickly found themselves staring at elimination in the NLDS, dropping two of the first three games to the Padres and facing one of the best pitchers in baseball in Dylan Cease in Game 4. The Dodger response? Despite all of the millions dished out in the winter, it was going to be a bullpen game for the mighty favorites.

We all know what happened next. The Dodgers quickly chased Cease, came back and disposed of the Padres by winning twice, defeated the Mets in the NLCS and then beat the Yankees in five to win the hardware.

Obviously, despite an injured ankle Freddie Freeman was the most valuable Dodger in the World Series. Ohtani pretty much dominated the Mets singlehandedly in the NLCS, but was otherwise pretty quiet this postseason. All hands were on deck with regard to the pitching staff, a comparable situation to the Texas Rangers’ winning effort in 2023. But it was the Dodger position player depth acquisitions who deserve a shout-out for their considerable contributions throughout this postseason.

Tommy Edman is a baseball everyman. The longtime Cardinal plays all over the field and does a little bit of everything. He was sidelined for most of this season by a wrist injury, but that didn’t stop the Dodgers from chasing him. They glommed onto the White Sox-Cardinals deadline trade involving Erick Fedde and sent some minor league prospects to Chicago to get Edman from St. Louis. He didn’t take the field for the Dodgers for another three weeks afterward, and then played predominantly CF and SS – the two most important non-catching positions in the field – for the club down the stretch. He finished very slow, going 6 for his last 49 and finishing his truncated regular season with a .237 batting average.

Last month in this space I profiled Dodger utilityman Enrique Hernandez. This is his second tour with the Dodgers – he was re-acquired from the Red Sox during the 2023 season. He became a free agent last offseason, and the Dodgers brought him back at a steeply reduced salary (he made $10 million in 2023, $4 million in 2024). In no way did the club expect him to be a primary starter for them this season. His multipositional status made him an insurance policy at a number of positions.

And the proceeds from that policy turned out to needed – 3B Max Muncy was injured for much of the regular season, and Hernandez plugged in there. He wound up playing every position but RF or C at some point during the regular season.

But it was in the long postseason slog that the value of both Edman and Hernandez really shone through. With SS Miguel Rojas sidelined by injury, both players became essential everyday guys. Edman started every game in the postseason, was the NLCS MVP, and batted .294-.400-.588 in the World Series. Hernandez continued his longstanding tradition of postseason production, highlighted by a .333-.333-.667 line in the NLDS and a .292-.393-.417 performance in the NLCS. He’s now a career .278-.353-.522 postseason performer with an astounding 15 homers in 259 plate appearances.

With the standard attrition that faces just about any club that plays deep into October, the Dodgers had a pair of guys that they could just move around like chess pieces and keep the trains running on time. With the injury to Rojas, Edman became the regular shortstop and Hernandez the primary center fielder. Edman also played some center, and Hernandez logged postseason time at second, third and in left. Both batted in multiple spots in the lineup, with Edman actually hitting cleanup at times.

Bottom line – the Los Angeles Dodgers are not World Series champions without these two players. Neither guy was part of the club’s Plans A, B, C or D entering the season, but their contributions turned out to be vital and invaluable. As a new postseason dawns and players like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and many others choose their employers, don’t overlook the other, smaller transactions, the roster fillers, waiver claims and minor league deals. Some will turn out to be much more important than you think.