Looking for a Star? Check the Dodgers’ Bench.
The New York Times
For the Dodgers, deep pockets and extreme ambition make everyone expendable. Just ask players like Kiké Hernandez and Joc Pederson, who took their October magic elsewhere.
ATLANTA — The Los Angeles Dodgers are not for everyone. Sometimes, young players need to leave when they become eligible for free agency if they want regular playing time. And sometimes, accomplished players are brushed aside because the Dodgers have the ability and the will to acquire other, more accomplished players.
The Hall of Fame pitcher Waite Hoyt famously said, “It’s great to be young and a Yankee.”
To be young and a Dodger in an era of free agency, analytics, financial largess and sustained winning means sometimes reluctantly shuffling onto the injured list as the club manipulates its roster during the six-month grind of a regular season, or shuttling back to the minor leagues even if you were a contender for the Rookie of the Year Award.