Dodgers: How the LA Roster Construction Compares to Rest of MLB Field

There are a lot of ways to build a baseball team. One of the things that has made the Dodgers so successful during the Andrew Friedman Era has been that they're very good at all of those ways.

MLB Pipeline put together an analysis of all 12 teams that made the postseason this season, counting how many players were acquired via each of six methods: free agency, trade, Rule 5 draft, waiver wire, amateur draft, and international free agency.

A cool visual of the evenly built #Dodgers roster. https://t.co/TOChitG5PT
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) October 12, 2022

This list can be a little misleading, because there aren't any great ways to distinguish between a huge free-agent acquisition like Freddie Freeman and a signing like Max Muncy in 2017, which didn't make waves anywhere other than the Muncy household. Similarly, the trades for Mookie Betts and Chris Taylor are treated equally here, despite having almost nothing in common.

Even with all that, this graphic still displays just how evenly this Dodgers team has been built. they draft well, develop well, trade well, and sign free agents well.

MLB.com also has a breakdown of how much value (in terms of Wins Above Replacement) came from each source:

DODGERS (58.4 WAR, 1st among 12 teams)

Homegrown:

8 (20.6 WAR)

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Draft:

6 (16.1 WAR)

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International:

2 (4.5 WAR)

Free agents:

8 (17.2 WAR)

Trades:

9 (17.8 WAR)

Waivers:

1 (2.8 WAR)

The Dodgers cruised to a franchise-record 111 victories and their 10th consecutive playoff appearance while getting strong contributions from a variety of sources. Aside from the (now eliminated) Mets, Los Angeles received more free-agent production than any other playoff club, led by Freddie Freeman, Tyler Anderson, Max Muncy and Justin Turner, and it also had the best waiver claim in Evan Phillips. Two of the Dodgers' three best players this season (Mookie Betts, Trea Turner) arrived via trades, while the perennially strong farm system contributed Julio Urías, Tony Gonsolin, Will Smith, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Lux.

Look, we're not going to beat this to death, but the next time you're on social media and some Dodger hater says their team is "built, not bought," point them to this article while also pointing out that having owners who care about putting a good product on the field is a good thing, not something to be criticized.