Lost in all of the hype surrounding the Dodgers' offseason is the fact that they still had two perennial MVP candidates on the roster, to begin with. Both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were already under contract with Los Angeles before Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto agreed to join the squad.
Both have been imperative in the success that the team has seen over the years, and they will be relied upon again this year. They provide different skill sets to the team but are leaders in the clubhouse nonetheless.
Former MLB general manager Steve Phillips weighed in on the two Dodgers stars, saying that he would take Freeman over Betts. His reasoning was that he may trust Freeman a little more in a clutch situation.
"I'd put him ahead of Betts, because Betts at second base, I think he'll be good. But I can't say Betts is gonna be a Gold Glove Caliber second baseman. I don't have any belief that that's the case. And Freeman's got a shot at the Gold Glove and I think Freeman, who would you rather have at the plate in a critical situation? Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman. I'd put Freddie ahead of Mookie Betts."
Now, the Dodgers really can't go wrong with either of these two players. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts would trust either one of them to be at the plate with the game on the line, so it's somewhat of a moot point.
But these are champagne problems to have and the Dodgers have many of those. Both Freeman and Betts were MVP candidates last season, and will likely be once again this year.
Los Angeles is going to need both of them to continue producing at a high level this year if they want any shot at winning the World Series. Obviously, they have some extra help this year, but they are still vital to the team reaching their goals.
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