The Dodgers, who claim to be gearing their organizational philosophy more towards developing the farm system and spending less on flashy free agents, are now rumored to be the front runner for flashy free agent Masahiro Tanaka’s services.
This comes after spending a four-year contract on Cuban second baseman Alexander Guerrero and overpaying Brian Wilson and J.P. Howell (granted, these moves were necessary) to return to the bullpen.
So despite the ownership going back on their word about financials, the Dodgers are poised to repeat as NL West champions and have an even better team than the one which lost in six games in the 2013 NLCS.
But no team is perfect—the Dodgers still have some glaring holes to fill, and fans probably won’t get comfortable with the 2014 team until those needs are addressed. Read on to find out where the Dodgers can still improve before spring training.