Last year was so simple. The most famous player in the world signed with a megateam on the largest contract ever with a bizarre twist that most of it was deferred.
So there was not too much difficulty in our annual exercise in picking Shohei Ohtani at No. 1 in our 50 Most Interesting People in Baseball. But what do we do now when there is intrigue around Ohtani as he attempts to return to both pitch and hit this season?
And with Mookie Betts becoming a full-time shortstop? And the highly publicized jump of Roki Sasaki to MLB? And whether Clayton Kershaw is coming back yet again? And Andrew Friedman overseeing the latest Evil Empire? And Dave Roberts, without an extension yet, asked to lead a brigade of 120 wins and a championship or bust? And Korean star Hyeseong Kim joining the band, as did Tanner Scott, Blake Snell and Kirby Yates? And …
Well, you get it. It feels like the All-Star Game can be everyone vs. the Dodgers. It feels like that is what this season is — everyone against the Dodgers. They were not willing to just stand on a championship. Instead, they layered more talent on what was the sport’s most talented roster. They have built a payroll that with luxury tax penalties included will verge toward a half a billion dollars — or more.
