Former MLB GM Sees Dodgers Star as Underrated Heading into 2024 Season
The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers might possess the most loaded roster in franchise history. The offseason additions of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined former MVP Mookie Betts and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw to create a clubhouse full of household-name stars.
The Dodgers' front office did not play around this offseason. The "World Series or bust" expectations have already begun to follow the team, and for good cause.
With all this star power, is it possible they have anyone on their roster who is underrated?
They do, if you ask former general manager turned analyst Steve Phillips. In an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Phillips believes Dodger superstar first baseman Freddie Freeman is underrated on MLB Network's annual Top 100 players list.
"I think Freddie Freeman gets disregarded in some ways. Believe it or not, I think he's undervalued as a player. Even here at the channel, we have him at six. I put him ahead of [Mookie] Betts because Betts at second base, I think he'll be good, but I can't say he'll be a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman. Freeman has a shot at the Gold Glove."
According to MLB Network, Freeman was ranked as the game's fifth-best player coming into the year.
The 34-year-old once again was as great as he's been for most of his career. The first baseman slashed .331/.410/.567 with an MLB-leading 59 doubles. He fell one double short of becoming the first player since 1936 with 60 doubles in a season.
Freeman was elite in the box and possessed an elite glove at first base. There's nothing he can't do on the diamond, and there's no reason why he shouldn't repeat that success coming into 2024.
The Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches, and it's a scary thought that Freeman might be "undervalued."
That's how deep the 2024 Dodgers are, and the lefty slugger will keep doing his thing to help propel L.A. to title number eight.
