Los Angeles Dodgers' free agent gamble is so far paying off

This past offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers decided to gamble.

They let some of their key players depart via free agency – Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger and Tyler Anderson.  They had all been significant contributors to the record-setting 111-win season in 2022.

And they refused to jump into the lucrative (and expensive) free agent pool, opting only to sign two free agents (Noah Syndergaard and J.D. Martinez) to one-year contracts.

The gamble was that they believed – despite the subtractions and negligible additions – the team would still have enough to compete in 2023 without going over the payroll salary tax.  And saving all their stowaway acorns for the biggest prize of all this winter – Shohei Ohtani.

The early results – the Dodgers are winning the bet.

As of Tuesday morning, they were 27-15 with a three-game lead in the National League West – and seven games ahead of the San Diego Padres, who spent enough money during the winter to make the late George Steinbrenner blush.

And, remarkably, the Dodgers are doing it without any big surprises.  There’s no unexpected player having a career year.   The stars – Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw – are performing to their norms.

They’ve done it with balance and depth. Overused baseball terms, for sure, but essential ones.

They’ve also done it without supposed ace Walker Buehler who had Tommy John surgery last August and has not pitched since.  He is not expected back this year, but what a boost he would be in 2024.  And Gavin Lux is missing.  He was expected to take over at shortstop but injured his knee in the spring and is sidelined all season.

Steve Garvey, the great Dodger star and long-time desert resident, says he believes the Dodgers are where they expected to be.

“It was time to move on from some of the guys they let go and go with younger players," Garvey said. "Sure, they have question marks, but the pitching has been exceptional.

“And yes, Ohtani does factor in at some point in time.”

The pitching, with Dustin May (2.68 ERA) and Tony Gonsolin (1.42 ER) having solidified the staff headed by Kershaw and Julio Urias, a 20-game winner last year, has been reliable all year.

“I break down the season by thirds,” Garvey said.  “We’re still in the first third and we’ll see how they do these next three weeks or so).”

A critical May trip will be at the end of the month when the Dodgers go into Atlanta and Tampa to face two of the best teams in the East.

But so far, the Dodger gamble is working very nicely, thank you.

Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Los Angeles Dodgers' free agent gamble is so far paying off