Dodgers notes: Quiet offseason, Julio Urías World Baseball Classic captain

The Dodgers’ sustained run of excellence — a .645 winning percentage since the start of 2017, and 21 more wins than the next-best MLB team during that stretch — is the backdrop for Ben Clemens’ summary of the team’s relatively quiet offseason at FanGraphs, noting that the Dodgers have a long way to fall before falling out of the “very good” class.

But still, Clemens has his reservations, in his piece published on Wednesday.

“I’m leaning towards doubting their chances in 2023. For the first time in years, I don’t have to jump through hoops to come up with reasons to do so,” Clemens wrote. “The Dodgers look like one of the best teams in baseball, but they no longer look, at least to me, like the absolute class of the league.”

“If you’re looking for a year where the Dodgers seem mortal, 2023 might be your best bet,” added Clemens.

Links

• Andre Ethier is on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, which means Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs details his career. All twelve of Ethier’s major league seasons came with the Dodgers after getting acquired as a minor leaguer before the 2006 season. “For many of the franchise’s fans, [Ethier will] provide fond reminders of an era when the good times returned to Chavez Ravine,” Jaffe wrote.
• In old friend alert news, former Dodgers catcher Tony Wolters signed a minor league contract with the Twins, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Elsewhere, pitcher Edwin Uceta was designated for assignment Thursday when the D-backs finalized their one-year contract with Evan Longoria.
• Also from Clemens at FanGraphs, he looked at how nearly all the top free agents have already signed, making this offseason tied for the most front-loaded hot stove season since 2000, by his methodology.
• I missed this earlier in the week, but Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías will the team captain for Mexico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic in March.