The abbreviated 2020 MLB season is complete and the Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions. They defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to clinch their first title since 1988. Now that the offseason is underway, here are the important dates you need to know for the winter.
Throughout the offseason my fellow CBS Sports MLB scribes and I will bring you a weekly roundtable breaking down, well, pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Let's begin the offseason roundtable series with a question about the defending champs.
Will Dodgers repeat in 2021?
Dayn Perry: I'll always take the field over any one team in a sport like baseball, which has so much structural parity and randomness. I'd pick the Dodgers to have the best overall record in 2021, pending offseason player movement, but I'm not going to predict they run the playoff gauntlet again. I'm a nay, and it's not a tough call.
R.J. Anderson: I agree with Dayn that you have to take the field. I suspect the Dodgers will have the best or second-best chance among teams to win the World Series entering next spring. That doesn't mean their probability of winning the World Series next year exceeds that of any other team claiming the title.
Katherine Acquavella: I'll say yay. The Dodgers aren't just in a great position for a possible repeat in 2021, they're also in a great position to begin a dynasty. The depth of this club is unmatched to any other in baseball right now. Sure, you can chalk this up to recency bias, but I'm going with it. Anyways, what comes after a drought? A whole lot of rain. Or, in this case, for the Dodgers, a whole lot of titles.
Mike Axisa: You know what? I'll say yay. My natural inclination is to say no because I'll almost always take the field over one single team, but this is not one of those times. The Dodgers are as deep as any organization in baseball, almost all of their key players are returning and in their primes, and they have the smarts and financial wherewithal to get any help they need. Los Angeles has been a juggernaut the last half-decade. I don't see that ending anytime soon. Head says no, heart says yes, and I'll go with my heart this time.
Matt Snyder: They are the obvious favorite and if you made me pick one team right now, I'd take the Dodgers without even a second thought. Regardless of how the offseason goes, they'll enter the season with both elite-level talent and top-shelf depth at pretty much every position. Sure, there are questions to answer, but they'll be the best team in baseball. Of course, we've had 100-plus win powerhouse teams in recent years win the World Series and show us just how hard it is to repeat (2016 Cubs, 2017 Astros, 2018 Red Sox). There will be other powers next season, such as the Yankees and Braves, along with the possibility that upstarts like the Padres or White Sox are ready to take the next step forward. The Dodgers are my top choice, but if I get to take 29 teams against them, I'll go with the field.
Nay.
