The Dodgers have fielded stacked teams during the previous 12 years, but none of them were as stacked as the team they have now.
A $1.4-billion winter last year was followed by a $465-million winter this year, the continued investments in the roster offering them a chance to do more than become the first team to defend its World Series title in 25 years.
The Dodgers have a chance to become the greatest team in baseball history.
They have a chance to win 120 games.
Read more: Plaschke: Invincible? After historic offseason, the Dodgers sure seem like it
Hold on — 120 games?
Is that really possible?
“Of course,” Dodgers veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas said.
Rojas mentioned how the record for wins in a season is 116, shared by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners.
“It’s just four more wins,” Rojas said.
Look at the nameplates above the lockers at the team’s spring-training facility and Rojas’ claim becomes self-explanatory.
Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki on one side. Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández on an adjacent wall. Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw near the doorway leading to the weight room.
“I think we have the talent on this team,” Rojas said. “It’s a really special team. If we combine that with the character and we get everybody on the same boat, I think we can win a lot of games.”
Other players said they weren’t thinking about winning a specific number of regular-season games, which, ironically, is why the Dodgers could take down the Cubs’ and Mariners’ joint record.
“I don’t care about that at all,” Betts said. “We haven’t played game one, man. We have to take care of Game 1.”
The importance of focusing on the next game rather than the win total or the championship was also emphasized by Muncy.
“We’re just trying to take care of business and put ourselves in a good position to make the postseason,” Muncy said. “That’s the most important thing, making the postseason. It doesn’t matter if it’s 90 wins, 120 wins.”
Muncy said the team has established a culture…